Stop finger pointing on passport issue says MPP Arnott

Waterloo-Wellington MPP Ted Arnott made the following statement in the Ontario Legislature on May 10th, 2006 about tourism and the pending passport issue:

Mr. Ted Arnott (Waterloo-Wellington): For weeks now the provincial government has been playing a political game in this House. Through members' statements, staged questions and petitions, they've attempted to blame Prime Minister Stephen Harper for the US proposal that all travellers crossing the border may soon be required to carry passports.

Just for a moment, let's accept their rationale. If it is all the federal government's fault that this passport issue is looming on the horizon, then where was the federal Liberal government on September 23, 2004, when the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act was introduced in the US Senate? Where were the Paul Martin Liberals when this bill was being debated and when it was passed by the Senate on October 6, 2004?

Where were the federal Liberals when it was being debated in the House of Representatives and passed that same month? Where were they when the Senate and the House were discussing the bill in conference? Where were they on December 17, 2004, when the bill, having been passed by the Congress, was presented to the President?

Why didn't Prime Minister Martin forcefully defend Canada 's tourism interests when he met the US President on November 30 and December 1, 2004, before the American security bill was law? And why didn't he push for a Canadian exemption when he met with the President on two subsequent occasions?

Any fair-minded review of the facts would conclude that blaming the federal government for this problem means that 95% of the blame rests with the former federal Liberal government. But blaming another level of government yields no solution. It's time for the provincial government to stop pointing fingers and begin to take constructive steps to solve this problem, working co-operatively with governments across Canada .