Riding the Tsunami: Canadian Marine and Port Security Developments Post 9/11

Geopolitics has placed transportation at the forefront of public policy in Canada. Transport Minister Tony Valeri has recently stated that his "primary objective is to do whatever needs doing to make our transportation system more efficient and more competitive" and that "one of the key challenges is certainly the security of marine transportation."¹ Although the 2004 Federal Budget contains an additional $605 million over 5 years to address security issues, it is still unclear how much of that funding will be earmarked for marine and port security initiatives.

The Minister’s enthusiasm builds on his predecessor’s efforts in 2003 which included:

• In January 2003, the federal government allocating $172.5 million for marine and port security;