Organizing Across the Canada–US Border: Binational Institutions in the Niagara Region

Abstract

This article explores the experience of seven grassroots cross-border organizations that have formed in the binational Niagara region. It begins by introducing the binational Niagara region and noting the comparative paucity and weakness of cross-border institutions in the area. It then identifies a number of grass-roots organizational initiatives that in some formal way straddle the Niagara River – initiatives that scholars have typically neglected. Based on interviews with leaders in these organizations, I describe the various governance structures and processes that these organizations have adopted to accommodate Canadian and American interests. I then turn to a discussion of some of the challenges facing these organizations that stem from their binational nature. Two in particular – resulting (1) from the securitization of the border since 2001 and the recent implementation of the WHTI secure document requirements, and (2) from the problems associated with fragmented political environments on both sides of the border – are discussed, and a rough assessment of their relevance to the seven organizations is given. To varying degrees, these factors constrain the opportunities for existing cross-border institutions, and they serve as deterrents for the formation of more such entities. The information uncovered in these inquiries provides a snapshot of the uncertain progress toward the formation of a borderland region centered around the Niagara River in southern Ontario and western New York.