My vision would be that both sides of the border—the United States Border Patrol and DHS and CBSA—work hand in hand. It could be the start of a co-managed agreement whereby we look at setting a significant budget to advertise jointly, using a campaign that looks and feels the same, by both governments to both Canadians and Americans.
When WHTI was first announced, there was no discussion about a communications plan. We advocated back in 2005 for a communications plan to be put in place. There was some money allocated by our government here—close to $2 million, I understand—to promote document requirements, and the same in the United States. But that's not significant enough to penetrate the North American market; we need to step it up.
I understand Mr. Brison's comment with respect to delaying WHTI, and if we're not ready to implement WHTI it should be delayed. The challenge with another delay is that there's no urgency for Americans to get documents, when they keep believing it will be delayed and delayed. The transition time has been as hurtful as the actual implementation. We need to get Americans informed about what documents they need to cross the border, and that requires a penetration of their awareness levels by communicating to them through an advertising campaign.
I think there's an opportunity. Both groups work closely together, CBSA and DHS, so we should be working together on a communications plan that looks and feels the same to create more awareness.