Mr. Speaker, my petition calls upon the Canadian government to negotiate with the U.S. government to reduce United States and Canadian passport fees.
American tourists visiting Canada are at their lowest levels since 1972. It has fallen by five million in the last seven years, from sixteen million in 2002 to only eleven million in 2009. Passport fees for multiple member families are a significant barrier to traditional cross-border family vacations. The cost of the passports for an American family of four can be over $500. While over half of Canadians have passports, only a quarter of Americans do.
At the Midwestern legislative conference at the Councils of State Governments, attended by myself and 500 other elected representatives from 11 border states and three provinces, a resolution was passed unanimously, stating:
RESOLVED, that [the] Conference calls on President Barack Obama and the Prime Minister...to immediately examine a reduced fee for passports to facilitate cross-border tourism;
...we encourage the governments to examine the idea of a limited time two-for-one passport renewal or a new application; and be it further
RESOLVED, that this resolution be submitted to appropriate federal, state and provincial officials.
To be a fair process, passport fees must be reduced on both sides of the border. Therefore, the petitioners call upon the government to: (a) work with the American government to examine a mutual reduction in passport fees to facilitate tourism, and (b) promote a limited time two-for-one passport renewal or new application fee on a mutual basis with the United States.