You are right, because in many respects, you understand... It's one of the world's great mysteries. Often, people try to make things complicated instead of keeping them simple. There are many areas where people take pleasure in complicating things. We know very well that the Americans tend toward protectionism. In a certain sense, it would also seem that for security reasons they install systems that are, for all intents and purposes, irritants. Take passports, for example. The Americans consider them an irritant, but in fact, it is their country that wants to monitor people coming into the United States. Our borders have always been fairly open and, of course, we welcomed visitors to Canada the right way. Armed or unarmed, we gave them a warm welcome. I find that I had more problems returning to Canada and dealing with Canadian customs agents, when I travelled by land, than when I travelled to the United States. I always had the impression that I was dishonest and guilty when I returned to Canada.
For people from the United States, it's an irritant. It has even been proven that they are not interested in obtaining a passport or other pieces of identification. So that's another element that I would describe as being fairly protectionist. It's the same thing with customs. The problems people experience crossing the border, the slowdowns, and the duplication show that, as you say, there is something that is not working. How many years ago were new policies established? I don't know where the problem is. There is a lack of commitment and there are people who try to complicate things, because the border between Canada and the United States should be a model of fluidity.
I am looking at your short- and medium-term recommendations and your pilot projects. The border is long, very long. So we have to focus our efforts on being able to do a certain number of inspections, even if some travellers and shipments are pre-approved. So I don't know how you see the situation or how to fix it quickly. Could you give us a brief overview of how to go about this? I'm not pointing the finger at any one person, because I think there are many people contributing to the problem. How can we truly improve the situation quickly?