A family business serving Ontario and New York State since 1798.

History

For over 200 years the Horne family has operated the ferry service between Cape Vincent, New York and Wolfe Island. Horne’s Transportation provides the United States Customs Service (US Customs) and Canada Customs with office facilities and looked after their maintenance and utilities of those buildings. All non-land crossings such as bridge authorities, airports and ferries are required to provide facilities.

Security Pressure

In the summer of 2001 U.S. Customs told the operators verbally that their Cape Vincent office was no longer adequate. The winter of 2001/2002 significant time was taken dealing with zoning boards, architects and cost estimates to meet the US demands. The estimated cost of a building to house the customs office to their requirements was estimated to cost as much as $450,000 US or about $600,000 Canadian. Horne’s Transportation was not in a financial position to afford such a building. In 2002 US Customs agreed to use the existing facilities but they have advised Horne’s Transportation that this year they will not authorize the resumption of service until a new facility is available to them.

Potential Solution

Since Cape Vincent Township urgently needed a police station, which they could not afford, the community put together a detailed proposal for a "Combined Law Enforcement Agency Building" that could provide facilities for both the local police and US Customs had been approved by US customs and the municipal boards of Cape Vincent. The proposal would be contingent on state and federal funding and "Services in kind" from the Community of Cape Vincent. New York State has promised $125,000 in State money for the project. Cape Vincent has tried unsuccessfully to obtain Federal Funding. Cape Vincent will consider borrowing to cover additional costs and are proposing a lease back arrangement with the ferry operators. However at the moment it is unlikely that anything will be available before July. This proposal is currently frozen by the new demands placed on Horne’s Transportation by Transport Canada.

Transport Canada

On March 27th, 2003 the company was notified by Safety and Security, Security and Emergency Preparedness of Transport Canada of new security measures to be implemented this year.

The key elements in the new rules are:

1. The ferry service must verify before boarding, the identity of each passenger by means of a passport or other government-issued personal photo identification.
2. The ferry terminal operator must ensure that arrangements are made with a police force with local jurisdiction to provide police officers to patrol the terminal at regular intervals during hours of operation.

Future Implications

All proposals and plans to build a building in Cape Vincent are on hold until the Transport Canada problems are solved. Delays will put in jeopardy the start-up of operations. It is also still possible that in the future US Customs service will increase their demands on the Ferry service or Canada Customs may desire a new building that could make the ferry service uneconomical for the operator. If the service is cancelled, the impact on Wolfe Island would be significant.