U.S. budget cuts to affect Windsor, experts warn
There's still no budget between Democrats and Republicans in Washington.
That means $85 billion in government spending cuts won't likely be avoided.
Economists warn the cuts will hurt the economies of many countries, including Canada.
In Windsor, cutbacks on the U.S. side of the border could lead to much longer delays for travellers.
Windsor West NDP MP Brian Masse, the party's border critic, spent three days in Washington urging lawmakers there not to allow cuts to the border as it could mean massive disruptions in commercial flow.
As vice chair of the Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group, he had the ear of senators and congressional members.
"I'm hoping that the message was well received," Masse said. "We'll see what's going to happen over the next couple of days, but they appear to be on this destined path.
"If it takes place we're going to have to see the consequences and fallout afterwards, they could be quite significant."
Bill Anderson, a border expert at the University of Windsor, said the effects would be almost immediate.
"It looks like this is not going to be so much of a discreet event, but something that will probably get worse as we go through the next month, and will get to its absolute worst by about the beginning of April," Anderson warned.
Many Windsorites don't have a choice but to deal with daily border crossings for school and work.
"I go to school there so I have to go," said Richa Bhatia. "Maybe I would have to move to campus [in the States]."
Oren Barbalat said he crosses in Windsor twice a week.
"We leave an hour early now, so I don't know, we'd have to leave an extra twenty minutes or half hour earlier. It takes an extra hour out of your day," he said. "It's definitely not ideal."
Anderson said it's not just cross-border shopping and day trips that will be affected by the cuts.
"I think the influence on the greater North American economy is going to be very important," he said.
The CEO of the Canadian Trucking Alliance told CBC News he is very concerned.
He warned of waits as long as five hours.
It would be an inconvenience for truckers and manufacturers who rely on just-in-time deliver at factories on both sides of the border.
