U.S. border fee proposal to be 'vigorously' fought by Ottawa

Ottawa "will vigorously lobby against" a proposal to charge every vehicle and pedestrian a fee to enter the United States at any land border crossing, says a spokeswoman for Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

The Department of Homeland Security wants Congress to authorize the study of a fee that could be collected from everyone who enters the U.S. at land crossings bordering Canada and Mexico.

Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade thinks a fee to simply enter the U.S. would be bad for business between the two countries.

"Canadian officials will vigorously lobby against this proposal," department spokeswoman Emma Welford told CBC News in an email.

"We believe that any fee on travelers crossing the Canada-U.S. border would be bad for travelers and bad for the economy," .

Welford said Canadians spend more $21 billion annually in the U.S.

Chrysler alone, for example, makes more than 1,600 customs entries in Windsor-Detroit every day.

The 2014 Department of Homeland Security budget proposal seeks increases in existing fees charged for services, including fees that air and sea travellers must pay when they enter the country.

But the agency also wants to study the feasibility of collecting a land border crossing fee for pedestrians and passenger vehicles along the northern and southwest borders of the United States.

No fees have previously been imposed on those who enter by car, bus or train.

The budget request says the study should consider a fee that could be added to existing tolls or to ticket prices for those arriving by bus or train.

According to the request, the study should include:

The feasibility of collecting from existing operators on the land border, such as bridge commissions, toll operators, commercial passenger bus and commercial passenger rail.

Requirements to collect at land ports of entry where existing capability is not present.

Any legal and regulatory impediments to establishing and collecting a land border crossing fee.

The budget doesn't suggest how much the fee would be. The study is to be completed within nine months.

The NDP's border critic and Windsor West MP, Brian Masse, told CBC News that even a study "is still very serious," and a fee could have "a serious economic impact."

Masse said the NDP would record its "strongest objections" to the study in a letter to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.

Masse said Canada "doesn't need passenger vehicles backing up at the border."

Roy Norton, the consul general of Canada based in Detroit, cautioned the proposal is only in its preliminary stages. He told CBC News that he's confident the proposal will fail and that "sanity will prevail."

The Canadian Snowbird Association is also against the proposal.

"While we appreciate the fiscal challenges faced by our friends in the United States, we would prefer the U.S. government focus on ways to reduce obstacles at the border that hinder trade and tourism," said Michael MacKenzie, the association's executive director.