Other provinces ahead of us with enhanced driver's licences as alternatives to passports

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BY ALAN COCHRANE
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF

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Despite years of promises and planning, New Brunswick appears to be no closer to having an enhanced driver's licence -- a lower-priced alternative to a passport that will allow us to cross into the United States after border security rules get tighter on June 1.

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British Columbia is currently testing smart-card driver’s licences. When will New Brunswick follow suit?

After June 1, Canadians who want to cross the border into the United States by land will have to show a passport or other "accepted document" like a FAST Card or Enhanced Driver's Licence. FAST cards are mainly for professional truck drivers and so far only three Canadian provinces -- British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec -- have come up with their own enhanced driver's licences. But New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are lagging behind in the process, saying they are still looking into it.

Smart cards or enhanced driver's licences use computer chips to store information, including proof of citizenship, that can be scanned by security guards at border crossings. But enhanced licences are intended for travel by land only and do not replace passports. That means you can't use them for air travel to other countries.

Premier Shawn Graham has been saying for the last couple of years that New Brunswick should have its own version of the enhanced driver's licence. He has pushed the topic at meetings of New England governors and Eastern Canadian premiers and said it was a priority for his government considering the amount of traffic that flows between New Brunswick and Maine, but New Brunswickers are out of luck if they were hoping to get one before the deadline.

"The Department of Public Safety has been actively examining what changes would be required of our existing driver's licence for it to be used as a means of cross-border identification," Graham said in an e-mail response when questioned on this issue by the Times & Transcript yesterday. "We continue to work in co-operation with the other Atlantic Provinces on this matter. We anticipate recommendations to be made in the coming months to all Atlantic Provinces to determine the best regional approach."

The enthusiasm of the Graham government to bring smart cards to New Brunswick seemed to wane after officials received a report on the cards. Despite media requests, the government would not say what was in that report.

A spokesman for Service Nova Scotia said that province is also looking into the idea of enhanced driver's licences but there is no timeline for issuing them.

The Canadian Border Services Agency is urging all Canadians who are thinking about travelling to the United States after June 1 to get a passport. Passports are already required for anyone travelling to the United States (and most other countries outside of Canada) by air.

Joanne Ferreira, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Border Protection Agency, said the June 1 deadline will be enforced rigorously for travellers going both ways. The rules apply to Canadians entering the U.S. and U.S. citizens who have visited Canada and are returning home.

Ferreira said the Western Hemisphere Travelling Initiative is attempting to streamline the border crossing process. In the past, U.S. border guards had over 8,000 different types of identification that was acceptable. After June 1, it will be narrowed down to six. For Canadians, that includes passports, FAST cards or enhanced identification cards with embedded computer information chips. U.S. citizens face similar rules. She said only two states -- Washington and New York -- have begun to issue enhanced driver's licences while many others have expressed interest.

St. Stephen Mayor Jed Purcell says passports don't make sense for people who just want to duck across the border for groceries or a shopping trip.

"Smart cards would be the answer," says Purcell. "They tell us we should get passports, but when you get passports for the children too that becomes an expensive proposition."

Purcell says there is a long tradition in his border town of people zipping across the bridge to Calais, Maine to go shopping, catch a movie or buy gas and groceries. He thinks the new U.S. security laws brought into place by the Bush administration could change that for many people.

The current fee for a Canadian passport is $87 and it can take several weeks to get one. Canadians applying for a passport must have photos taken separately, have the forms authenticated, send the package to the nearest office and then wait for them to be returned.

Many New Brunswickers regularly make car trips to Maine or other New England states for shopping, sports events, concerts or family vacations. The border crossings at St. Stephen and Woodstock are about three hours away from Metro Moncton, making the popular shopping destinations of Bangor and Kittery within a day's drive. Even major centres like Boston or New York can be reached by car in about 12 hours via the U.S. I-95.

While high-tech smart cards with computer chips carrying personal information seem to be the answer, privacy advocates are worried the information could be hacked by terrorists, scam artists, identity thieves and other crooks.

The embedded chips hold the individual's name, birth date, gender, citizenship and other personal information that would be contained in a passport. The chips are read by an electronic scanner. Privacy advocates worry hackers could scan the card without the holder's knowledge and use the information for illegal purposes. Privacy experts suggest that unless the card is in a protective sleeve or has an on-off switch, there is nothing to stop someone from scanning it remotely without the knowledge of the cardholder.

Earlier this week, Quebec Premier Jean Charest unveiled a new smart driver's licence that will make it easier and quicker for people from that province to cross into the United States.

The new permit, which Quebecers can choose as an alternative to getting a passport, has an electronic chip that will certify the owner as a Canadian citizen. It was produced following lengthy negotiations between the U.S. and Quebec. It does not replace the regular drivers' permit or a passport but can be purchased for an additional $40 above the regular fee and will be renewable every four years. It will only be available to Quebec residents who are certified as Canadian citizens.

And the smart card doesn't replace a passport, so Quebecers who want to fly to the U.S. will still need a passport.

British Columbia is now carrying out a pilot project where 500 drivers have been issued with smart cards as a test leading up to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Manitoba appears to be the first province ready to issue the card.

Brian Smiley, a spokesman for the Manitoba Public Insurance Bureau, said that province is now taking applications for the smart cards and expects to start shipping them in about two weeks. He said people who apply for smart cards must submit to a criminal background check. People convicted of drug, firearms and some other charges are sometimes barred from crossing international borders.

Smiley said people in Winnipeg regularly cross the border to go to Grand Forks or Fargo, North Dakota. Minneapolis is about a six-hour drive from Winnipeg.

The Enhanced Identification Card for Manitoba will cost an extra $30 on top of the regular driver's licence fee. Non-drivers can get one for $50. The card is acceptable only for crossing the border by land and water, and only to the U.S. It will be not acceptable for air travel or to enter other countries.

Manitoba decided to make the cards available for people who make trips by car to the U.S. and because passports for a family of four would cost hundreds of dollars.

Officials in Saskatchewan recently decided to stop work on the high-tech licences because the electronic chip would hold so much personal information that it could be considered an invasion of people's privacy.

Privacy advocates are concerned that personal information contained on the computer chips could be easily stolen by hackers, criminals or scam artists, resulting in identity theft.

"There are a lot of technological practicalities that have to be addressed and that has to be done right," said Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe MP Brian Murphy. "This is like walking through deep snow. Nobody wants to be the first to do it. Maybe New Brunswick is right to stay on the well-worn path and not be the first and make the mistakes, but be third or fourth and get it right." Lisa Harrity, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Safety, said New Brunswick upgraded its driver's licences in 2007 with new built-in security features, including a magnetic stripe on the back. New Brunswickers have been required to have a photo on their driver's licence since 2005. But one thing the New Brunswick licences don't provide is proof of Canadian citizenship.

Peter Nelson, executive-director of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association, said truck drivers from Atlantic Canada who cross the border on a regular basis use FAST (Free and Secure Trade) cards to speed up their trip through U.S. customs. He said the FAST cards require a complete background, including criminal records check, on individual truckers. He says the system works well but the trucking association still supports the idea of a smart drivers' licence.

"The FAST cards are really better than a passport but the checks of vehicles and drivers have become so arbitrary at the border that we are telling drivers if they want to be safe, they should carry passports as well."