The following is excerpted from the 26 May 2009 news release by Public Safety Canada.
The Honourable Peter Van Loan, Minister of Public Safety and the Honorable Janet Napolitano, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, toured port operations today on both sides of the shared United States/Canada border and signed an Agreement to make Shiprider -joint law enforcement teams stationed along the international maritime border - permanent. …
“Shiprider is a critical security partnership between the United states and Canada, improving our cross-border operations,” said Secretary Napolitano. “Through coordinated enforcement along our shared waterways, we can better interdict offenders trying to flee across our maritime border.”
Today’s agreement underscores the strong partnership between the U.S. and Canada and a mutual commitment to the safety of a shared border.
Shiprider enables the RCMP and the U.S. Coast Guard to cross-train, share resources and personnel and utilize each others’ vessels in the waters of both countries, such as the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. Working together, Canadian and U.S. law enforcement will help ensure that criminal organizations no longer exploit the shared border and waterways because of the inherent jurisdictional challenges associated with cross-border policing.
Minister Van Loan and Secretary Napolitano also emphasized the importance of managing the shared border in a way that not only strengthens security but also facilitates trade, jobs and economic growth. Specifically, both also reminded Canadian and U.S. citizens alike to ensure that they possess appropriate travel documents, as the June 1, 2009, deadline for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) approaches.
The Framework agreement on Integrated cross-border maritime Law enforcement operations between the government of Canada and the government of the United States of America is available on the Public Safety Canada website at: http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/prg/le/_fl/int-cross-brdr-martime-eng.pdf.
