International Boundary Commission

The International Boundary Commission (French: Commission de la frontière internationale) is an international organization responsible for surveying and mapping the boundary between the United States and Canada, maintaining boundary monuments and buoys, and keeping the three-meter-wide boundary vista clear of brush and vegetation, and deciding on applications for permission to build within the six-meter-wide (almost 20 feet) vista.

History

The commission was created in 1908 and made permanent by a treaty in 1925.[1] It is headed by one commissioner from the United States and one from Canada.

Building near the boundary

The treaty establishing the commission provides that every power line, pipeline, railroad, highway, or other structure crossing the boundary or built within three meters (about 9 feet 10 inches) of the boundary must await authorization from the commission before construction work can be done. Various "line houses"—buildings through which the international boundary crosses—were built on the boundaries between the state of Maine and the province of New Brunswick, and between the state of Vermont and the province of Quebec, before any requirement for the commission's permission existed. Some of these still stand on the boundary between Vermont and Quebec. The most well known is the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, intentionally located astride the boundary. The International Peace Garden, built in 1932 on the boundary between Manitoba and North Dakota, required authorization from the commission.

People

The current commissioners are Kyle K. Hipsley of the United States and Peter J. Sullivan of Canada.[2]

David L. Bernhardt, currently President Donald Trump's nominee for the position of Deputy Secretary of the Interior, was the commissioner from the United States in 2007–8.[3]

Controversy over the president's authority to dismiss the U.S. commissioner

In July 2007, the Bush administration relieved U.S. Commissioner Dennis Schornack of his post in connection with a dispute between the boundary commission and the U.S. government over private construction near the border.[4] Schornack rejected the dismissal, saying that the commission is an independent, international organization outside the U.S. government's jurisdiction, and that according to the 1908 treaty that created it, a vacancy can only be created by "the death, resignation or other disability" of a commissioner.[5] The Canadian government said that it was taking no position on the matter,[6] but Peter Sullivan, the Canadian commissioner, said on July 13 that he was ready to work with David Bernhardt, who had been designated as the acting U.S. commissioner by President Bush.[7] In October 2007, U.S. federal judge Marsh Pechman ruled that the president can fire the boundary commissioner.[8]

References

  1. ↑ History of the International Boundary Commission
  2. ↑ http://www.internationalboundarycommission.org/en/about/commission.php
  3. ↑ President Donald J. Trump Announces Key Additions to his Administration, The White House, April 28, 2017, retrieved May 14, 2017
  4. ↑ "Blaine couple, U.S. agency settle border wall case". Seattle Times. January 15, 2009.
  5. ↑ Bowermaster, David (July 12, 2007). "Firing by Bush rejected by boundary official". Seattle Times.
  6. ↑ Fong, Petti (July 26, 2007). "Politics delineates boundary dispute". Toronto Star.
  7. ↑ "Fired border official's job filled quickly: White House refuses comment on former bureaucrat involved in lawsuit over couple's fence". Globe and Mail. July 13, 2007.
  8. ↑ https://www.pressreader.com/canada/toronto-star/20071014/281792804661593
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