"The world's longest undefended border."
What a proud boast that was for the U.S. and Canada to share. What magnificent freedoms the claim represented: the freedom of movement, where one could zip across an international border with just the flash of a driver's license; the freedom from worry, which came from the knowledge that to the north, Americans had trusted friends.
And what a crushing shame it is that as of Monday, the boast can't really be offered any more.
The days of the passports and the armed guards have come. The days of the greeting and the wave have gone.
The tightened rules, which go into effect Monday, may lead to some marginal increase in national security. But they come at a terrible cost, and not only to the border economies.
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By making travelers carry passports, the U.S. and Canada have lost something deeply precious: They've lost a neighborliness and good will that have benefited countless millions over the years.
Our nations gave up that rich relationship far too easily and with nowhere near enough of a fight. But even today, as the red lights by the security-cam lenses wink on, and the guards prepare to lower the gates, it's not too late.
There is a practical, high-security way to bring back the "olden days" of easy passage.
There is a way. Is there a will? Of course, if Americans demand that the job is done. And Americans in Northern border states such as North Dakota and Minnesota should take the lead.
The way forward is to think of the new rules as a temporary fix. The permanent solution will come about when the U.S. and Canada coordinate their efforts at their coastlines, not their internal border.
When that day comes -- when the countries cooperate fully on a joint North American security perimeter -- then the internal controls can be lifted, and citizens will be able to freely cross the border again.
Both countries should work toward that goal.
An impossible dream? Certainly not. Remember, even as the U.S. and Canada are scanning, listening and screening, motorists can breeze across once-war-torn Europe without even stopping at international borders. The Schengen Agreement of 1985 began the removal of internal border controls in favor of a single external border, exactly as the U.S. and Canada could do.
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Furthermore, such an agreement actually is much talked about in Washington and Ottawa, and at high levels, too.
The talks began not long after Sept. 11 and have continued ever since.
Deep differences remain. For example, "a big area of difference is refugee policy," reported Macleans magazine last week.
"There is a perception in Washington that Canadian asylum rules are too lax. ... A big difference is what happens when they (asylum seekers) arrive. In the U.S., asylum seekers are routinely detained until their cases are decided. In Canada, they are rarely detained. ...
"Ottawa has since tried to remedy this, but there is little interest in adopting the detention-heavy U.S. model, which is criticized by some human rights advocates."
And there are other differences, such as policies for sharing databases of suspicious people.
But the gaps aren't unbridgeable. One by one, they can be spanned -- as happened last week, when Canada and the U.S. agreed to let the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the U.S. Coast Guard ride in each others' vessels during border patrols.
As of Monday, the once-3,000-mile-long open border will have shrunk down to a single stretch of North Dakota-Manitoba landscape. At the International Peace Garden, Americans who enter from the south will be able to enter into Canada, roam the Canadian side of the gardens freely and re-enter the U.S. without showing a passport or pass card.
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But the Peace Garden is not a memorial garden. It's not a monument to days gone by. It's a tribute to the U.S and Canada's living, breathing friendship.
Let's nurture the garden's bud and help it grow until its blossoms grace the full border once again.
