30 metre-long B.C. fence along stretch of U.S. border sparks international investigation


A black chain wire fence without control erected in BC along the border between the United States and Canada is now the subject of international investigation and could violate a more than 200 -year treaty, according to an immigration lawyer.

The fence, approximately 30 meters long, was placed at the end of English Bluff Road in Tsawwassen, a community within the Vancouver subway suburb of Delta, BC, on January 16. That side of the border is next to a park in the state of Washington. Point Roberts community.

The International Limits Commission, a bi-national organization responsible for regulating construction near the border with Canada-United States, confirmed to CBC News on Wednesday that it did not authorize the fence and is now investigating the matter.

The Delta Police Department recommended that the fence be built to prevent people from involuntarily crossing the US. Uu. After an incident of 2023 in which a Tsawwassen senior went out to walk and did not return home.

It was found dead a few days later at the Roberts point after cross -converting to the United States, the police force said the fence was implemented in collaboration with the city engineering team.

The fence in Delta is just centimeters from a sign that says: “There are no construction or trees less than 10 feet/3 meters of the international limit.” (Mike Zimmer/CBC)

Monument Park at the Roberts point, which has a space covered with grass that extends across the border to Canada, is a place where Canadians and Americans have historically been able to meet for picnics without going through the border patrol. It became a particularly popular meeting place during the COVID-19 pandemic when the borders were officially closed.

War of 1812 Treaty

In 1814, Great Britain and the United States signed the Treaty of Gante, which ended the War of 1812, agreed to return to the borders prior to the war, according to the United States immigration lawyer, Len Saunders, who interprets the treated so that structures near each side of the border could not be built. (Canada was still under the rule of the British crown).

The fence in Delta is just centimeters from a sign that says “without construction or trees” less than 10 feet or three meters of the international limit.

“Who put this close obviously I was not reading this poster,” Saunders said.

“The Canadian government, directly through the municipality of Delta, has violated the Treaty of Gante,” he said, added that he has surprised that the fence has not yet been demolished.

People feel on both sides of a sign
During the days of Pandemia, when the border was closed, the people of the United States and Canada gathered in Monument Park on both sides of the border between Point Roberts, Washington and Tsawwassen, BC in this photo of the July 6 file 2021, a Canadian family, on the right, visits with Americans, left. (Ben Nelms/CBC News)

Benjamin today, associate professor of history specialized on the border with Canada-United States at the University of Saskatchewan, says that treaties such as Ghent’s Treaty still have weight today, since they define how the border looks.

“When you have a bisted community, any kind of attempt to handle community or local problems always faces this international border uncomfortable,” he said.

“It is quite common throughout history, in the last 100 years, that local people present solutions that do not combine well with national or international objectives.”

Rob Russo, professor at the Peter A. Law Faculty A. Allard at the University of British Columbia that focuses on immigration, said the Ghent Treaty could apply to the fence of the Delta, but added that it also seems that a municipality acted outside from its jurisdiction in the construction of A Building near the border.

“I guess it will be eliminated very quickly,” he said in a statement.

Movement to tear down the fence

The mayor of Delta, George Harvie, said that neither he nor the rest of the council knew about the fence before he went up.

Harvie said a motion to eliminate it will be presented to the Council on Monday. He told CBC News that he expects a unanimous or at least for a large majority of the councilors to vote in favor of the motion.

He said that the Council will immediately notify the commission of international limits of its actions and carry out an investigation to determine how a fence was presented without its knowledge to prevent it from happening again in the future.

Canada and American flags blowing in the wind
The Canada Border Services Agency said it was not involved in the installation of the fence and sent questions to the Delta Police. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

The Canada Border Services Agency said it was not involved in the installation of the fence and sent questions to the Delta Police.

While there was not a fence before this part of the border, there were border patrol cameras that monitor the area. Many other parts of the short edge are marked by a variety of private property fences or, as Harvie described, low barriers that prevent cars from crossing.



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