Battle over Peace Bridge stokes Canada-U.S. cross-border tension

National Post ^ | April 29, 2013 | Randy Boswell

[Squawk 8888]

Three U.S. lawmakers have launched a bid to scrap the “dysfunctional” binational agency that has overseen operation of the Peace Bridge between Ontario and New York for nearly a century, part of the escalating fallout from a dispute over planned improvements to the U.S. approach to the crossing that has pitted Canadian board members against their American counterparts.

The Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority — commonly known as the Peace Bridge Authority — and the key international link it has administered since 1923 have been hailed as symbols of the enduring friendship between the U.S. and Canada after the War of 1812, the key battles of which were fought near the present site of the Niagara River bridge that connects Fort Erie, Ont., and Buffalo, N.Y.

But that peaceful coexistence has been strained within the PBA boardroom in recent months, with Canada’s five, federally-appointed members and the five U.S. representatives locked in a deepening conflict over a planned, multimillion-dollar upgrade to roads and facilities on American side of the bridge.

[Gay State Conservative]

One of the clone they have for inspectors had a hard time believing that Hawaii was a state (wife’s girlfriend was born in Hawaii to Japanese parents)...

What I've seen of Hawaii (nothing but Oahu) suggests that it's the easternmost (or westernmost) prefecture of Japan.And then there's Chin Ho Kelly to explain. ;-)

[ntnychik]

Is Cuomo trying to burnish his foreign policy credentials?

[BfloGuy]

We do not need a new bridge but a method to get the cars and trucks through the gestapo of inspectors in a more efficient manner. The bridge could easily handle traffic on the busiest of days if the inspections were up to the task.

Thank you! I've been preaching that for well over a decade. Every time Sandy Beech does another show bemoaning the fact we still don't have another bridge, I want to scream.

In New York, though, something new -- anything new -- is looked upon as a substitute for progress. And, of course, they destroyed one of the last viable neighborhoods on the West Side screwing around for 20 years.

[OldNewYork]

Well said.