12
view . summer 2008
A
nd the area now has a new
champion in Dr. William
Anderson, formerly of Boston
University, and recently
named Ontario Research Policy Chair in
Cross-Border Transportation Policy at the
University of Windsor. As Chair, Anderson
will head UWindsor’s new Cross-Border
Transportation Institute, overseeing its twin
tasks of providing policy options and expert
opinion to decision-makers, and developing
an interdisciplinary graduate program.
Just how important the Institute is
to UWindsor is highlighted in the Vice-
President Research’s five-year plan for
2006-to-2011. The report identifies the
Institute, along with health issues, as
areas that will become “nationally and
internationally renowned by the end of
this planning period.”
Among the challenges facing Anderson
and the Institute, as well as the entire
NAFTA trading bloc:
• A soaring Canadian dollar and increasing
global competition are threatening to
erode the tight Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade
relationship under NAFTA.
• Since the 2001 terrorist attacks in the
United States, security concerns, in the
U.S. particularly, have led to occasionally
severe delays at the border crossing.
• The thickening border and the failure – so
far – of governments in Canada and the
U.S. to build a better gateway between
their countries have hindered business
and put future investment at risk, says
the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’
Association. Indeed, the Ontario
Chamber of Commerce estimates
that border delays cost the province
$5.25 billion annually.
• In spite of such attempts as Free
and Secure Trade (FAST) lanes to
speed the flow at the border, there are
inconsistencies between Canadian and
U.S. regulations. The Toronto-based C.D.
Howe Institute, for example, cites the
requirement for anti-theft immobilizers in
new cars in Canada, while U.S. lower-
cost, entry-level vehicles are exempt.
To be sure, the benefits of NAFTA and
the Windsor-Detroit crossing are bringing
major benefits to Canada and the U.S., as well
as to Mexico:
• For one thing, U.S.-Canada trade has risen
at nearly double-digit rates annually since
NAFTA’s implementation in 1994, and
the number of daily crossings between
Windsor and Detroit is expected to
increase to 90,000 in 2020 from 54,000 in
2008, the Chamber of Commerce, says.
• Chamber President and CEO Perrin Beatty
estimates that three million Canadian jobs
and 7.1 million U.S. jobs flow directly from
greater bilateral economic integration,
with $1.5-billion in trade moving between
the two countries every day, 40 percent of
which travels through Windsor-Detroit.
Anderson, who holds dual citizenship and
studied the economic effects of infrastructure
projects while he was at Boston University,
as well as statistical analysis and research on
Canada-U.S. trade when he previously taught
at McMaster University, seems well suited for
his new job.
His former Boston University professor,
Dr. T.R. Lakshmanan, said he possesses
“tremendous intellectual curiosity and
openness to other points of view,” adding
that he has the “imagination and the ability to
bridge different viewpoints, which is needed
to build institutes.” Dr. John Eyles, who
knew him at McMaster, describes him as a
“passionate investigator, a warm and funny
colleague”, who did “careful and thoughtfully
produced” research. “He engaged with all
stakeholders in a measured and respectful
way,” said Eyles.
Anderson, who took up his position
on July 1, will need all the imagination
and engagement he can muster because
of the breadth and depth of the issues
surrounding the border file. Still, he’s starting
on the job just as authorities appear to be
finally breaking down some of the most
troublesome political roadblocks that
have developed over the years. There are
recommendations on the table for a new
border crossing between Windsor and
Detroit, as well as a feeder route to Highway
“Improving and expanding
trade is the key to
greater prosperity for
our peoples.”
PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER
