Owen Sound is getting tired of terrorism.
Local officials have had enough of a federally mandated, barbed-wire anti-terrorism fence that has turned a stretch of the local harbourfront into the very antithesis of Owen Sound's nickname: the scenic city.
The recently built fence, 60 metres long and more than two metres high, was mandated by Transport Canada as a means of complying with marine security regulations.
But while the fence may be designed to keep mayhem-making terrorists from aquatically infiltrating the Georgian Bay city of 21,753, Owen Sound's mayor thinks the contraption is absurd.
"I think the whole thing is a big disgrace," Mayor Ruth Lovell said during a city council meeting on Monday.
Ms. Lovell is especially offended by the barbed wire lining the top of the fence. She said the structure is ridiculous, given that Owen Sound welcomes an international ship about once every few years.
She suggested city council write a letter to the Prime Minister's Office, local MP Larry Miller and Transport Canada to express the city's displeasure over the fence and ask that, at the very least, the barbed wire be removed. The motion passed unanimously.
An official with the government agency confirmed yesterday that the structure was built to comply with marine transportation security regulations.
Since late 2001, Transport Canada has worked to implement stronger security measures at the country's ports. In the past six years, more than $930-million has been spent on marine security enhancements, according to Transport Canada.
In 2004, the agency created a new position: marine security director. Late last year, Transport Canada began implementing the Marine Transportation Security Clearance Program, a law originally put forward by the Liberal government, which allows the government to remove marine employees on the basis of "reasonable grounds to suspect" they are a threat to port security.
Transport Canada is also expected to implement security enhancements for Canada's domestic ferries as part of the marine transportation security regulations, the same set of regulations responsible for the Owen Sound fence.
With a report from The Canadian Press