October 8, 2010

The Honourable Vic Toews

Minister of Public Safety
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Toews:

Last August, I stood proudly at Seattle’s Union Station with Premier Campbell and announced
the beginning of the second passenger train from Seattle to Vancouver, B.C.

After Washington taxpayers have invested more than $27,000,000 in this crucial passenger-rail
corridor, and we have included the corridor in pending applications for more than $80,000,000 in
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act spending, we were finally able to offer Washington
and British Columbia tourists the promise of better scheduling and more reliable train service.

We appreciated then-Minister Stockwell Day’s decision to allow the Canadian Border Services
Agency (CBSA) to provide border clearance services for the second train, without imposing a
proposed $1,500 per-day cost-recovery fee, during last year’s Winter Olympics. We also
appreciated the extension of the no-fee border clearances through September 30, 2010, on a
pilot-project basis, as CBSA determined whether the second train’s ridership and economic
benefits met our expectations and continued to warrant Canadian investment.

That determination is an easy one. Ridership into Vancouver has doubled to 70,000 passengers
since the initiation of the second train. Greater-Vancouver spending by passengers soared to
nearly $31,000,000. Washington and British Columbia Tourism and Transportation officials
worked together, tirelessly, to offer train discounts and tourism promotions. Canada enjoyed the
benefits of GST taxes on countless meals, shopping trips and hotel stays. The second train
served as a testament to the work of two committed governments to expand tourism and develop
economies. The bottom line is that Washington and British Columbia have lived up to our end
of the promise.

Sadly, CBSA just rewarded our partnership by unilaterally imposing a border clearance fee of
$550,000 (or more) per year and a revisionist statement that the pilot project was always planned
to end on September 30, 2010.

The CBSA fee will, at the end of the day, kill the second train. We cannot ask Washington
travelers to pay a higher ticket price to cover this border clearance fee, when no Washington or
United States fee is charged to travelers coming from Canada, and Washington State currently
pays all of the operational expense of the train. We cannot understand why you would risk the
obvious and significant economic benefits for your country and ours, the British Columbia
Province, and our state, during these times of fragile economic recovery.
The Honourable Vic Toews
October 8, 2010
Page 2

I have talked with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Premier Gordon Campbell,
Canadian Consul General Denis Stevens and Canadian Ambassador Gary Doer about my
concern regarding the CBSA border clearance fee. Members of Washington’s Congressional
Delegation, scores of Washington and British Columbia Mayors, Chambers of Commerce,
business-owners, and passengers share my concerns.

I ask that you stop the imposition of the CBSA fee and reward the strong economic partnership
that Premier Campbell and I have worked so hard to create and sustain. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Christine O. Gregoire
Governor

cc: The Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
[House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6]
The Honourable Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia
Paula Hammond, Secretary, Washington Department of Transportation