Government Relations Report Jim Sherb First Vice-President In what is widely considered to be a major upset, Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States over Hillary Clinton. As I write this, it has only been five days since the election but we have already received many inquiries that essentially ask what this means for travelling Canadian snowbirds. Frankly, it is too early to tell, but here’s what we do know. There have been no reports of any cross-border issues related to the election of Republican nominee and President-Elect Donald Trump. During both the Republican primary campaign and the U.S. general election, there were no policy statements or proposals issued which would suggest that a Trump administration would either seek to limit the amount of time for which Canadian citizens may temporarily visit the United States, or make border crossing more difficult. We will be closely monitoring any legislative or regulatory proposals which would impact our membership, as we have continued to do since our founding in 1992. As most of you have heard many times before, our Canadian Retiree Visa initiative is included in a bill commonly referred to as the JOLT Act. Although our proposal has met virtually zero opposition in both houses of Congress, some have raised a concern regarding one provision in the bill. A section of the Jolt Act would expand the list of countries which would become part of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. This program enables most citizens or nationals of participating countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or fewer, without first obtaining a visa. Some members of the Islamic State group (ISIS, ISIL) in the Middle East are European and most European countries are part of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. With the Islamic State seemingly on the ropes in the Middle East, many members of the U.S. intelligence community anticipate a mass exodus of European Islamic fighters back to their home countries in the next two to five years. Whether one agrees if this is a legitimate concern or not is beside the point; the United States does agree and now seems reluctant to expand the list of countries in the program. Recognizing this growing concern, we approached U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and asked her to consider introducing a standalone bill that contains only the provisions found in the JOLT Act which would create a Canadian Retiree Visa. Congresswoman Stefanik represents a border community and is well aware of the positive economic impact which Canadians have on her district. If you spend six months in Florida, guess what? You can’t legally visit the United States during the summer. In short, she gets it and agreed to sponsor our bill in the United States House of Representatives. On September 29, 2016, Congresswoman Stefanik introduced the Canadian Snowbird Visa Act (H.R. 6285) in the House of Representatives. It contains all of the provisions found in our previous proposal and has none of the political baggage. Congresswoman Stefanik is a Republican and, with Republicans now in control of theWhite House and both houses of Congress, we are hopeful that this increases the odds of our proposal becoming law. In my last column, I mentioned that on March 10, 2016, Prime Minister Trudeau and President Obama affirmed that both nations would proceed with the reciprocal exchange of entry and exit records of all cross-border travellers. Part of this agreement will mean an exchange of biographic entry information. Some of you sensibly contacted the office requesting additional information regarding what ‘biographic entry information’ actually is. The biographic information which will be shared includes first name, middle name(s), last name, date of birth, citizenship or nationality, sex, travel document type, document number and the country that issued the travel document. In addition to the biographic information that Canada and the U.S. currently collect about travellers at ports of entry, the date and time of entry – as well as the port through which the traveller entered – will be exchanged as part of the Entry/Exit initiative. Legislation must still be passed on both sides of the border before this information can legally be exchanged. We are keeping an eye on it and we will keep you posted. After many years of hard work as a member of your board of directors, this is my last term and my last column as your first vice-president and chairman of government relations. It has been a pleasure to serve all of you and I sincerely thank you for your support during all of these years. CSANews | WINTER 2016 | 11
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