Is your licence loaded?

Canadians may one day be carrying loaded drivers licences, with the help from their friends south of the border, says U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins.

During a speech today to the Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting and awards ceremony, Wilkins (shown) talked about the need to balance national security with trade and tourism promotion.

He talked about the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and how it will change life for people regularly travelling to the United States.

"Like it or not, this is coming and we have to prepare," the ambassador said. "We have to work through issues together, and this enhanced drivers licence, if we ever use that as a secure document, is an idea that the Canadians have proposed."

Wilkins said that security is important to maintain trade and tourism.

"When we secure our borders we make it safe for U.S. citizens and for our visitors," he told chamber members. "The best thing all of us can do right now is not look in the rear-view mirror and figure out how this is not going to work, but figure out how it is going to work."

Wilkins was referring to the move by the U.S. Congress and Homeland Security to make passports mandatory for anyone entering the United States by land on February 1, 2008.

The enhanced drivers license offered in the states of Washington and Vermont will be electronically loaded with proof of citizenship and other information, beginning January 2008 and is being offered in response to Homeland Security's Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).

This initiative could require presentation of a valid U.S. passport or another Department of Homeland Security-approved document by U.S. citizens re-entering the U.S. by land or sea as early as January 2008, but more likely by late summer 2008, said Wilkins.

It would also require such documents for citizens of other countries wishing to enter the United States for any reason by air, by land or by sea.

"The implementation date will be determined based on a number of factors, including the progress of actions undertaken by the Department of Homeland Security to implement the WHTI requirements and the availability of WHTI compliant documents on both sides of the border," says the official WHTI website.

"Vermont has now joined Washington to bring in the enhanced drivers licence program," Wilkins said. "Several Canadian provinces have also expressed interest in the program and I'm sure these states would make the technology available to their Canadian friends who want to put in similar programs."

The U.S. State Department and Homeland Security are accepting enhanced drivers licences from Washington and Vermont as a viable alternative to a passport and many believe that acceptance will become more general if the pilot programs in those two states work out well.

Under the program, for an additional fee, drivers in Washington and Vermont can have their driver's license loaded with their passport information that would not be visible to the naked eye, but could be read electronically similar to the way information is loaded and stored on a credit or bank card.

"BC was the first province to express interest in the program and it will take a while for them to see if the licensing systems are compatible enough to do it," Wilkins said in an interview after the event. "Meanwhile, everyone should go out and get a passport."

The loaded licence could offer a lower-cost alternative to Canadians planning to travel to the U.S. than getting both a drivers license and a passport, but not any time soon.

Wilkins urged Canadians to join Americans in applying for a passport as soon as possible so that friendly relationships between the two countries can continue to flourish and grow and so that these two friendly countries can continue to work together to solve common problems.

"I can tell you that the United States, Homeland Security, the president and the State Department have listened to the concerns of Canadians and Canadian officials," he said. "As a result, Homeland Security is now working toward having enhanced drivers licences in the United States and your provinces."