8/8/2019 Gregoire to Minister Toews

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October 8, 2010

The Honourable Vic ToewsMinister of Public SafetyHouse of CommonsOttawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Toews:

Last August, I stood proudly at Seattles Union Station with Premier Campbell and announced

the beginning of the second passenger train from Seattle to Vancouver, B.C.

After Washington taxpayers have invested more than $27,000,000 in this crucial passenger-railcorridor, and we have included the corridor in pending applications for more than $80,000,000 inAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act spending, we were finally able to offer Washingtonand British Columbia tourists the promise of better scheduling and more reliable train service.

We appreciated then-Minister Stockwell Days decision to allow the Canadian Border ServicesAgency (CBSA) to provide border clearance services for the second train, without imposing aproposed $1,500 per-day cost-recovery fee, during last years Winter Olympics. We alsoappreciated the extension of the no-fee border clearances through September 30, 2010, on apilot-project basis, as CBSA determined whether the second trains ridership and economicbenefits met our expectations and continued to warrant Canadian investment.

That determination is an easy one. Ridership into Vancouver has doubled to 70,000 passengerssince the initiation of the second train. Greater-Vancouver spending by passengers soared tonearly $31,000,000. Washington and British Columbia Tourism and Transportation officialsworked together, tirelessly, to offer train discounts and tourism promotions. Canada enjoyed thebenefits of GST taxes on countless meals, shopping trips and hotel stays. The second trainserved as a testament to the work of two committed governments to expand tourism and developeconomies. The bottom line is that Washington and British Columbia have lived up to our endof the promise.

Sadly, CBSA just rewarded our partnership by unilaterally imposing a border clearance fee of$550,000 (or more) per year and a revisionist statement that the pilot project was always plannedto end on September 30, 2010.

The CBSA fee will, at the end of the day, kill the second train. We cannot ask Washingtontravelers to pay a higher ticket price to cover this border clearance fee, when no Washington orUnited States fee is charged to travelers coming from Canada, and Washington State currentlypays all of the operational expense of the train. We cannot understand why you would risk theobvious and significant economic benefits for your country and ours, the British ColumbiaProvince, and our state, during these times of fragile economic recovery.

8/8/2019 Gregoire to Minister Toews

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The Honourable Vic ToewsOctober 8, 2010Page 2

I have talked with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Premier Gordon Campbell,Canadian Consul General Denis Stevens and Canadian Ambassador Gary Doer about myconcern regarding the CBSA border clearance fee. Members of Washingtons CongressionalDelegation, scores of Washington and British Columbia Mayors, Chambers of Commerce,business-owners, and passengers share my concerns.

I ask that you stop the imposition of the CBSA fee and reward the strong economic partnershipthat Premier Campbell and I have worked so hard to create and sustain. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Christine O. GregoireGovernor

cc: The Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities[House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6]

The Honourable Gordon Campbell, Premier of British ColumbiaPaula Hammond, Secretary, Washington Department of Transportation