It was standing room only at the Community Centre in Piney Wednesday night. About 200 people were there to voice concerns over reduced hours at Canadian border crossings at Tolstoi, South Junction and Piney.

Canada Border Services Agency has indicated that beginning November 26th, hours of operation at Tolstoi will be 8 am to 8 pm during the summer and 8 am to 6 pm between Labour Day and Victoria Day. Currently, the Tolstoi crossing is open from 8 am to 10 pm. At South Junction, the new hours will be 8 am to 8 pm, instead of 8 am to midnight, as is currently offered. And, at Piney, the new hours will be 9 am to 5 pm, where currently that crossing is open from 9 am to 10 pm.

Provencher Member of Parliament Ted Falk says he showed up to Wednesday's meeting about 30 minutes early, and by then the parking lot was already nearly full. He notes residents voiced a broad range of concerns.

Falk says one of the concerns is that many people in the southeast corner of our province are employed in the United States. If the Piney crossing closes earlier, they fear having to drive all the way to the Sprague crossing, just to get back into Canada at the end of their shift.

Another concern is that medical services south of the border will no longer be as accessible in the middle of the night.

"There were several instances of emergencies in the past where having the border open would have been a matter of life and death," says Falk.

He adds there is a large Hutterite colony near Piney. They have expressed concern that pregnant mothers will have to drive all the way to Steinbach, rather than south to Roseau if their baby is born at night.

Falk says other people noted how Roseau is where they do their shopping, play sports and take swimming lessons. There were also examples given of cross-border marriages and how closing the port of entry early can be a hardship for those visiting family. Even the local Churches were present to explain how the change will impact their ability to conduct evening services.

"There was a lot of passion, a lot of people took the opportunity to vent their frustrations," says Falk. "They already feel that they don't have the services that most Canadians, most Manitobans enjoy when it comes to cell service and amenities and now this was just one more thing that they are going to have to deal with."

Also, present Wednesday, was the Mayor and Economic Development Officer from Roseau. Falk says they were there to communicate the impact this will have on their communities if Canadians are not allowed to come and fill employment spaces and participate in recreation activities.

Falk too had a chance to speak Wednesday. He says he thanked CBSA for being good stewards of tax dollars but urged the agency to consider the concerns of local residents.

"When you look at the big picture and you take a look at how it's going to negatively impact the social life, the economic life, the health life of folks that live in those border communities," he says. "Compared to the minimal savings that the CBSA is going to experience from the reduction in hours, I don't think there is even a fair comparison."

Falk says he thinks there is a chance the CBSA will reconsider its decision.

"They said the writing was on the wall, they didn't say it was carved in stone and so walls can be painted," he says. "And I pleaded with them to reconsider their decision."

A similar meeting takes place Thursday (November 15) at 7 pm at the Tolstoi Ukrainian National Hall.

"They need to see that the community really does care, that a border crossing with flexible hours is something that's important to them. If they attend these meetings and express those concerns in a respectful way, I think CBSA is going to listen," says Falk. "I hope this evening, that the Community Centre in Tolstoi will be at capacity."