@joey

glad to see you haven't lost interest in your thread.

So, care to answer the most important question: How does this benefit either Canada or the US?

The border is such a huge barrier and in most cases it is unnecessary. This is a extreme case. I think a better solution would be freedom of movement and employment between the two countries.

From where I am in Ottawa Canada, according to Google maps, I can drive to 34 different American states in the same amount of time that I can drive to the next province to the west. The border seams to me to be an intentionally divisive barrier. It divides people, ideas and travel. Therefore I would prefer to see our internal borders eliminated and have a common travel area like in the EU.

So, couldn't this be better solved with boarder reform? It seems like a lot of trouble for a small problem.

But things seem to be moving in the opposite direction. Once upon a time Canadians could get into the US using just a drivers license or some other photo ID.
Now you need a passport.
American "homeland security" being what it is, it's unlikely things will open up, as long as Americans are still convinced that Canada is where terrorists come from. (Spoiler alert: It's not.)

And, a Canadian/US Union is more likely?

All our borders are that way, Mafia, not just between us and Canada. It's an attempt to catch "would be"s no matter how they try to get through.

As far as passports required. I had to show my passport everytime I crossed a border on the train in Europe to. Showed it at the first stop in austria from Switzerland and at the first stop in Germany from Austria and again in reverse on the way out. Whats the big whoop?

I can imagine how the border might be frustrating for people who live right near it, but for almost everyone else, it's just a slight inconvenience. Some border reform would be nice and perhaps even possible, but if that's the only reason for wanting a Union...

why the fuck would america join canada you canadians are a bunch of pussies

Thus speaks our version of mapleleaf. Geez.

I knew you guys had to have a mapleleaf too, I was beginning to worry. I suppose you all have a point. But Canada and the US are supposed to be these neighbours who have this great relationship with one another, And for years, it really was that easy to get into the US from Canada (and vice versa). It's not as though it's always been this way. It was changed, and I think the reasoning behind that decision was flawed.

Yeah, but that's what happens when planes start falling out of the sky. A lot of innocent people are caught in the cross-fire and placed under suspicion.

Flawed or not, it wasn't discriminatory. All our borders were clamped shut, whether they be airports with security at the destination airports to try and catch illegal entry, sea ports (try to get off a cruise ship whose last port of call wasn't in the US) or land borders.

Just to clarify, I hope you guys realize that America doesn't actually think Canadians want to come in and destroy America. It was just done to keep actual terrorists from entering Canada and then just traveling south, thus getting into the US without having to go through the checks they otherwise would have to go through that the US has implemented to try and catch terrorists.

Maybe though, along with the initial border reform, the two nations could share intel and have the same customs processes? Then rather than fortifying just America's borders we could fortify America and Canada's outer borders against terrorists getting in but make the internal one between us much softer?

Yes, jman, we are aware that is the issue.

Well the thing is there is no real evidence that terrorists can get into Canada easier than the US. Our immigration process is just as rigorous as the American one, and there's no more chance of home grown terrorists coming from Canada than coming from the US.

It's not an indictment of Canada's immigration and customs. It's about control. the US isn't willing to let any other nation's immigration and customs department, no matter how good, take the place of our own. That is why international flights to the US have their own US run customs agents monitoring on boarding. But getting onto an international flight to, say, Germany doesn't involve anything remotely as tight as the return flight to the US requires. The US says "If you are coming in, you must go through *our* customs."

@Draugnar: I believe there is a difference between the parties. The Democrats are only 50% working for the rich, while the Republicans are 100% working for the rich.