Mayors from Canada and the United States have called for delays in a controversial U.S. plan that would require a passport or security card to cross the border.

The mayors and other top government officials held a day-long meeting in Windsor, Ont.

"We want to have a border that is free and open for the economic and cultural vibrancy of both countries," said Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.  

The U.S. Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative would require that all Canadians and Americans entering the United States by air and sea to carry a passport or secure identification card by Jan. 1, 2007.

The start date for land crossings is scheduled for one year later.

The initiative was part of tougher border security measures devised after the al-Qaeda attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Dan Onichuk, the mayor of Fort Frances, Ont., said the passport plan could end the close relationship between his community and International Falls, Minn., just a few hundred metres away across the Rainy River.

"I have six children. For me to get passports to go visit my family, my friends, that's going to cost me $700," he said.

"It's a very scary proposition."

Other people object as well

The concern over the security measures hasn't been limited to mayors of cities adjacent to the border. Politicians and business leaders throughout Canada and in several northeastern states have objected that the measures will hurt tourism, slow the flow of people and goods across the border and damage the economy of the border states.

"Our business community is highly integrated with U.S. companies, and our manufacturing sector depends on the efficient cross-border flow of goods," said Toronto Mayor David Miller.

Approximately 40 per cent of Canadians hold a valid passport, compared to only 23 per cent of Americans.

The U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, said while at a business summit in Edmonton earlier in the week that certain types of travel would be exempt from the planned regulations.

"In particular, we will not be, for example, including in this set of regulations a requirement for passports for ferries or private watercraft, recognizing that this is a particular form of transportation that we don't want to interfere with," said Chertoff.

"We don't want to force it into the model we might use, for example, with international jet flights or international sea travel."

While in Washington to visit President George W. Bush earlier in July, Prime Minister Stephen Harper urged the U.S. Congress to push back the current timetable.

The U.S. Senate seemed to share Harper's concerns, unanimously passing legislation in June that would delay implementation of the border plan to June 1, 2009.

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy said at the time the travel pass plan would be "a train wreck on the horizon" if they proceeded on the current schedule.

The U.S. House of Representatives has yet to vote on the matter.