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“Someone’s got to watch the watchers,” he said. “Fundamentally there is no oversight of CBSA.”

Privacy is a risk that the government acknowledges in their posting of the proposed changes.

“There may be insufficient oversight to ensure that program owners and other government department partners are accountable for how personal information is used and shared under the Entry/Exit Initiative,” the document states.

The push for entry and exit controls dates back to 2001 and the days after the 9/11 attacks. The Americans instituted the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, that was the government program that required Canadians to use their passport to enter the United States even at land border crossings.

In February 2011 the Canadian and American governments agreed to a new plan on perimeter security called Beyond the Border. That plan called for exit controls.

“This has been a slow multi-year plan like boiling a frog in water. The government is hoping no one will notice,” Kurland said of the long process to get to this point.

While American border officials share information with CBSA on Canadians that enter the United States at land crossings, there are no exit controls by sea or air.

Under this new plan airlines will be required to submit multiple reports on who will be flying out of the country as far out as 72 hours before the flight and up to one hour after take-off with full information on passengers and crew.

The government estimates that the new regulations will add as much as $11 million a year to government costs and as much as an extra $18 million in regulatory costs for businesses.

blilley@postmedia.com