The longest undefended border in the world is back to its original state now that the chain link fence in Tsawwassen has been taken down.
City of Delta crews removed the fence early Thursday afternoon.
“This morning, the chief of Delta police and city manager met to discuss the fence and concluded that it should be removed immediately. Crews subsequently removed the fence this morning,” Acting Insp. James Sandberg told the Optimist in an email.
He added that other options that could reduce the number of inadvertent crossings will be looked at later.
The city put up the fence Jan. 15 following a police review of a November 2023 case in which a Tsawwassen senior wandered across the Canada-U.S. border, became lost, and was found dead a few days later.
However, installing the chainlink fence, more than two metres high, separating Monument Park, in Point Roberts, from Tsawwassen, near English Bluff Road, proved controversial, with some saying it was illegal.
A few days after the fence was installed, Coun. Daniel Boisvert called for its dismantling, saying he was going to bring forward a motion at council’s Feb. 3 meeting.
With the fence removed Thursday morning, that’s no longer required.
The fence was located on the western side of Point Roberts, at Monument Park on the U.S. side, on the Canadian side.
". . . it is not Delta’s job to do international border policing,” Brian Calder, former president of the Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce said previously.
Boisvert said later by email that he fully agrees that it be removed. “I felt that this type of fence, barrier, wall … did not symbolize the trust that our two countries have shared for decades.”
He said Thursday that the International Boundary Commission contacted the City of Delta and asked that the fence be removed.
“We told them immediately that we already had plans to do that and we realize that it shouldn’t be there and we’re going to take it down, so I think they’re satisfied as well,” Boisvert said. “I’m sure that’s the end of it for them and it’s the end of it for us.”
The boundary commission’s website says that any construction that infringes on the three-metre zone on either side of the boundary requires authorization.
Boisvert added that he hoped that other Canadian cities along the border should keep in mind the same restrictions.
“I would also like to add that I am grateful to our U.S. neighbours for the trust and friendship we have enjoyed for decades. May that never stop,” Boisvert said by email.
