Joint Exit Controls Weighed at Border

By ELIZABETH THOMPSON, NATIONAL BUREAU; February 25, 2009 - Canoe
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2009/02/25/8523606-sun.html

OTTAWA -- Canada has quietly begun talks with the United States on implementing a form of exit controls between the two countries, the president of the Canada Border Services Agency revealed yesterday.

"We have had ongoing discussions with our colleagues to the south in our sister agency in the United States on the possibility of implementing a program that would basically, at the land border, see our entry system used as their exit system and vice versa," Stephen Rigby told a parliamentary committee.

"So there has been consideration of how it might work. It would be a lot more streamlined and probably a lot simpler at airports. It would simply be another stop on your way to the gate."

'CLOSE SCRUTINY'

Should Canada decide to adopt exit controls, something Rigby described as a "significant policy decision," that would "require careful consideration and close scrutiny," their talks with their American counterparts would enable the border agency to offer advice on how the system could work, he said.

Rigby's revelation came as his agency came under tough questioning from MPs over why the number of outstanding warrants to remove people from Canada for immigration infractions has risen to more than 41,000.

Rigby said a recent pilot project found that some people sought on warrants weren't even in Canada any more but officials didn't know that because Canada doesn't impose exit controls on visitors.

Rigby said his agency puts a priority on tracking down those who have criminal records and is doing more "data mining" of other government databases in a bid to find those wanted on warrants.

"A lot of them are hiding in plain sight."