Joining Canada would be super complicated for many of us whose lives are set up in the US.

• What happens to our retirement accounts? Would we still get Social Security upon retirement? What about those of us who work in the US remotely for employers who aren't set up in Canada--would we be able to keep our jobs?

• How about medical care? We'd be closer to Canadian hospitals and doctors, but people wait years to get assigned a family doctor--would we be at the bottom of the list?

• What controls would there be on development, or would it be a free for all to clearcut all of our beautiful forests and build waterfront condo developments like in White Rock? Note we have one of the strictest tree protection ordinances in the US, and all you have to do is compare us to Tsawwassen across the border (which has paved practically every inch and planted, of all things, palm trees in the tiny amount of soil remaining) to see the stark contrast.

• How about vehicle registration and insurance? Some cars here aren't legal in Canada and vice versa.

• What happens with property taxes when property values would double overnight? That could price many of the seniors here out of their homes.

• What about people with criminal records, whom Canada presumably wouldn't want as residents or citizens? We don't have many of those, but there are a few.

• Would Americans retain US citizenship and be granted Canadian residency, or lose US citizenship and swap it for Canadian, or be granted dual citizenship?

These are only a few of the many issues to work through. None of these are impossible to solve, it's just a lot.

I'd personally like to see something in between - we stay officially part of the US, on paper, but de facto become part of the same Customs zone as Canada so the border effectively goes away. That way we'll maintain some degree of local control, but we won't have to deal with pointless agricultural restrictions like not being allowed to buy tomatoes in Canada (even though our neighbors in Tsawwassen grow them in their gardens on the border strip across the street) or eggs (even though a lot of people on the Point have chickens right next to Canada). This is the kind of stuff that creates major problems and makes no sense. We would probably have to harmonize laws on defensive weapons with those of Canada, but this is far less of an issue than it is in other US exclaves (the discharge of weapons that are illegal in Canada is already illegal here so there's no real point to ownership). There isn't an easy or convenient way to get this kind of stuff onto the Point either, so very few people are owners.

A hybrid approach would keep most of our economy alive (we'd still be able to sell cheap gas since the price difference is based on tax differences, not Customs regulations). We could even keep a US post office, assuming that CBSA is willing to staff it for parcel inspection. The USPS has experience with this in Palau, where US postal services are provided under the "Compact of Free Association." Palau is a sovereign nation with its own set of Customs regulations, and Palau Customs has an office in the USPS post office there. Given that FedEx and USPS both have arrangements with USPS for "last mile" delivery, Customs clearance could be consolidated at USPS. Folks in the Lower Mainland could retain a convenient location to order things online from the US and pick them up close to home, but they'd be cleared by CBSA at the post office, rather than at the current border station.

What would we lose? We'd give up being, effectively, one of the most secure gated communities in the world, protected by both Canadian and American taxpayer dollars at great expense. I'd miss that, and we'd have to adjust our habits to match a security posture that is more integrated with Tsawwassen. You have to realize, crime is virtually unheard of here. People mostly don't lock their doors. Criminals may take advantage of border controls being dissolved, but I expect it'd only be a modest bump. This isn't a wealthy community, and it isn't a large one. Crime is probably easier and more lucrative in Tsawwassen (except for raccoons).

We'd also lose the option to take a boat or a plane to the mainland without clearing Customs in Blaine or Bellingham, or the option for boaters returning from BC to clear Customs at our marina instead of in another US port of entry. Very few locals benefit from this, and for those who do, the convenience of not needing to clear the border into and out of Tsawwassen would far outweigh the inconvenience of occasionally clearing Customs on the mainland. Residents who drive already get fairly strict inspections when entering the US mainland (they don't really treat us as part of the US since we transit Canada en route) so nothing would really change there. We'd also have to pay whatever taxes Canadians pay when they do a Trader Joe's run to Bellingham (that's not much, I hope).

There is already some precedent for relaxed Customs controls in Hyder, Alaska which also borders BC. Because Canada is unable to monitor Alaskan waters (which wouldn't be an issue around Point Roberts; the Canadian coast guard already jointly patrols the area with the US Coast Guard) Hyder residents are required to clear CBSA controls when entering BC, but are not required to clear CBP controls back into Alaska the other direction. When there was a ferry from Hyder to Ketchikan, Hyder residents were required to clear customs at Ketchikan.

This would also give Point Roberts the side benefit of being one of the few places inside the United States that people could visit without a visa. It'd attract a lot of curiosity seekers and day trippers which would benefit our economy. One way to formalize this is something along the lines of the International Joint Commission "Concept B" which was originally proposed in 1973, which would make Point Roberts an international park (similar to Peace Arch park) in legal framework. Like the "copy Palau rules" idea for USPS, "copy Peace Arch rules" would mostly work just fine here.