VANCOUVER - The Olympic motto is faster, higher, stronger - and a group of Canadian and U.S. government and business leaders wants that to apply to the border during the 2010 Winter Games, as well.

Members of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region issued a border charter Tuesday with suggestions for both the American and Canadian governments to help speed up the flow of traffic between the countries.

With commercial vehicles now taking longer than ever to get across borders and tourism from the U.S. into Canada plummeting, governments need to pull out all the stops to get traffic moving, the group said.

"We appreciate the work done to date; there's more work to do before the region plays host to the 2010 Winter Games," said John van Dongen, B.C.'s minister of public safety.

The charter covers three elements of border management - keeping people happy, keeping it safe and keeping it moving.

It calls for increased use and implementation of frequent-traveller programs that use new technologies like radio frequency identification that help speed people through the border.

The charter also calls on the federal governments to beef up border staffing and develop better traffic management procedures for peak times.

An estimated 5,000 additional people and 2,500 cars will cross the border each day of the Games than normally do, van Dongen said.

And no one wants the legacy of the Olympics to be how long people sat in line at the border, said Stephen Regan, president of the Council of Tourism Associations.

"We have an unprecedented opportunity to showcase what a welcoming border, what a secure border we have," he said.

"If we lose this window, and it's on our watch, it will be a huge regret for the tourism industry."

The group will also set up a border solutions co-ordination council which will issue an annual report card on the state of the border.

But one critic said it's time to stop talking and start doing when it comes to border management.

B.C. New Democrat Harry Bains, the party's Olympic critic, said with only 18 months to go, there's no guarantee any of this will be in place by Games time.

"Here's another photo-op, the signing of more documents. I think what they needed to tell us today was what actions are being put into place," he said.

"We cannot afford not to put this plan as officially as we need to do it. Eighteen months are just going to go like a blink."

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