Canada’s ‘pause’ of remote border crossing permits puts some Minnesotans' lives, and livelihoods, in limbo

Darin Fagerman, a former Minnesota state trooper and retired conservation officer, built a solar-powered cabin eight-tenths of a mile into Canada on Saganaga Lake. Far from any roads, it is a remote wilderness paradise.

Fagerman can reach his cabin in less than two hours from his home outside of Grand Marais, Minn., by crossing the international border with Ontario on his boat with a Remote Area Border Crossing Permit from the Canadian government.

But now Canada has put an indefinite “pause” on that option. That means Fagerman instead must drive four hours to the Pigeon River port of entry near Grand Portage and then backtrack to Saganaga Lake on the Canadian side by vehicle and either two boat rides or a 25-mile snowmobile trek.

Fagerman is one of many Minnesotans upset as Canada Border Services Agency officials say their program to renew such permits or process new ones is under review. The officials have not said how long the process will take.

Besides affecting cabin owners, the indefinite pause on the permit applications and renewals could complicate the work of fishing guides this summer. It’s already prompted some canoeists to cancel wilderness trips to Quetico Provincial Park, across the border from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

The situation also worries Minnesotans who own resorts and other businesses in remote areas of Canada near the U.S. border.

The pause affects remote crossing permits along the border in Michigan and Minnesota, too. Of the five eligible areas, three are in Minnesota: One applies to the Canadian shore of Lake Superior, and the others apply to the Northwest Angle and a stretch of backcountry more than 250 miles long from the Pigeon River, west to the Boundary Waters and Lake of the Woods.

Fagerman had a remote crossing permit that was good for 365 days; it expired a few weeks ago.

“It’s pretty sad,’’ he said. Because he’s retired and has extra time, Fagerman said, “I can use it [the cabin], but for my friends and family, it’s tough for them.’’

Fagerman and others have pleaded for help from Minnesota’s congressional delegation. They’re frustrated by a lack of answers from Canada and want to know how long the stoppage will last. They also want to know what changes to the program might be in store.

The Border Services Agency has said only that it is reviewing and updating its procedures as part of a regular assessment. It said the assessment is “to respond to current service needs and evolving trends, while ensuring the safety, security, and prosperity of Canada.’’

Agency spokesman Luke Reimer said last week in an email to the Minnesota Star Tribune that “timelines are not yet available’’ to resume the processing of applications.

“The Agency is committed to notifying the public ahead of any significant adjustments to our programs and services,’’ Reimer wrote.

Meanwhile, he said, travelers who do not hold a remote crossing permit and wish to enter Canada must present themselves at an open port of entry. Other traditional crossings in Minnesota go through International Falls, Baudette and Warroad.

In late January, Republican U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, who represents northeastern Minnesota, wrote to Canada’s minister of public safety demanding answers about the service interruption.

“Our constituents can no longer access their properties in Canada; they are unable to bring supplies to them or manage damage during these harsh winter months,” Stauber wrote. “Some of our constituents operate small businesses in remote locations in Canada and rely on these permits daily.”

He also criticized the Canadian government for walking back a Jan. 16 statement that all existing remote crossing permits would be extended until the end of this year. Four days later, Canada said the statement was released in error.

“Your agency’s startling incompetence has upended our constituents' livelihoods,” Stauber wrote.

On Thursday, an aide to Stauber said the congressman’s office has not received an answer.

While the pause was first enacted Sept. 25, it’s an open question along the border whether the review of Canada’s remote crossing program is being delayed as political payback for President Donald Trump mocking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and saying he wants to absorb Canada into the U.S.

People caught in the dispute said they worry the rhetoric out of Washington, D.C., isn’t encouraging.

“Canada is a proud country,’’ said Donny Sorlie, a Minnesotan who owns a resort on the Canadian side of Saganaga Lake. “I don’t think Trump caused this, but I don’t think he’s helped it.’’

Sorlie and his wife, Lisa, live in Cook County but run the Chippewa Inn. Many of their guests drive to the end of the Gunflint Trail and travel to the resort by boat. The short trip requires each guest to hold a remote crossing permit that clears them to cross the international line that divides the lake.

“It’s really discouraging,’’ Sorlie said. “We can’t even take reservations.’’

The Border Services Agency told the Star Tribune that it doesn’t “capture” permit issuance statistics by state but that 90% of the 7,300 permits issued in the current fiscal year have been to Americans.

In the fiscal year that ended last March 31, the agency issued about 9,000 permits.

A recent story by CBC News in Canada featured a group of Canadians from the Thunder Bay Adventure Trails Snowmobile Club who were unhappy with their country’s permit pause. One of the group’s traditions is to ride directly into the U.S. at Gunflint Lake.

Adrian Tessier, the club’s president, told the CBC that some permit holders felt blindsided by the change.

Joe Henry, executive director of Minnesota’s Lake of the Woods Tourism bureau, said the holding pattern — if continued — would hurt Northwest Angle resort guests by altering fishing norms. Guides who serve the Angle’s 15 resorts encourage their guests to obtain a remote crossing permit so they can stop on Canadian islands to take a break from fishing. It’s a tradition to serve clients fried walleye for lunch.

“We get along very well with our Canadian counterparts,” Henry said. “We don’t want this to develop into a tit for tat.’’

For canoeists who want to paddle and portage into Quetico Provincial Park on canoe routes that start in the Boundary Waters, the outlook for summer is uncertain depending on location.

Each August, for example, a group from Ely journeys to the Lac La Croix First Nation in Canada to deliver a birchbark canoe handmade by the Ely Folk School as a ceremonial gift. But now the three-day powwow that typically follows is on hold, trip organizer Paul Schurke said.

“A key component of those trip logistics — the remote access border permit that allows us to paddle into Canada without going through a customs station — has suddenly been indefinitely suspended,” the Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge owner told the Star Tribune in an email.

Jennifer Zup Hayes of Zup’s Fishing Resort and Canoe Outfitters on Ontario’s Lac La Croix said she’s been taking reservations from Minnesota paddlers for Quetico trips that don’t require a remote access permit. Resort staff members pick up customers at the border, take them to the Canadian customs station on Sand Point Lake and then ferry them into Lac La Croix, a jumping-off point to various Quetico routes. Sand Point Lake is a seasonal port of entry that Zup’s expects will be open.

Quetico park officials wouldn’t comment on the effects of the permitting pause. A supervisor referred questions to the Border Services Agency.

But Quetico’s Facebook page advises paddlers to keep an eye out for updates. ‘’With 83% of Quetico’s visitors coming from the U.S., this could affect your upcoming travels and trip planning,’’ park officials said in a recent post.

In Ely, outfitter and guide Steve Nelson of Spirit of the Wilderness has advised clients who want to explore Quetico this year to book a trip on the chance the border-crossing permits will become available in time for the paddling season.

For backup, he said, those same clients are booking trips inside the Boundary Waters. They’ll cancel one of the trips depending on what unfolds.

“It’s a sticky wicket,’’ Nelson said. “We’ll see what happens.’’

Jake Steinberg of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this report.