Why Would Border Security Be Free?

Maybe I’m missing something here…

According to a Canadian Press story, a proposed additional rail service offering from Seattle to Vancouver is in danger of being scrapped. The reason? The Canadian Border Services Agency is claiming that they will need $1,500 a day to pay for the extra staff it would require to process the extra travellers. The article points out that this works out to $500k a year.

Amtrak can’t pay it and neither can the Washington Dept. of Transportation that was pushing for the run.

BC politicians are fuming. The BC government spent $4.5 million to upgrade railway infrastructure specifically to accommodate this extra rail line offering. There’s also numbers ranging between $14 million and $30 million in how much money will be pumped into the local economy by adding this secondary rail line. They feel the CBSA should waive the fee altogether in light of the obvious benefit to the BC economy.

I have an idea: why doesn’t BC PAY the fee since *they’re* the ones who will see the biggest profit from this? Even at the lower end of the potential winfall, after the fee is paid you’re still seeing $13.5 MILLION dollars being pumped into the local economy.

I don’t understand why the BC politicians think that they somehow deserve extra border protection for free *just because* it’ll help their economy. Border protection is a service provided by a government agency that is already looking at cutting back their workforce. Why should this agency be forced to find alternatives within their organization to allow more officers to patrol a single transportation line that benefits only one city of a single province?

I don’t get it. On paper, this is a no brainer: pay the fee and get the added border officers. If I’m missing something, someone please explain it to me.