Today’s terror threat level is Red, as in the Red Maple Leaf!

It must be appropriations season in the US congress; as once again that scourge of the North is on the mind of American legislators.

Spurred on by a report by an investigative team, American politicians heard Thursday that the northern flank may be problematic in the fight against terror. A border that according to a number of US Senators is in need of immediate reinforcement and new technology to counter the menace from the North.

Our work clearly shows substantial vulnerabilities in the northern border to terrorist or criminals entering the United States undetected. That quote is from a presentation to the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday.

Ever since 9-11, more than a few American politicians have cast a nervous eye on their northern flank. Some have gone so far as to incorrectly remind Americans that the 9-11 terrorists originated in Canada, it’s a point that has been rebuffed time and time again by Canadian diplomats and politicians, but seems to get dragged out every time the need for more money for border security is needed.

This time it was a Government Accountability Office exercise which has once again called into question the Canadian frontier. Government investigators were able to cross from Canada into the United States carrying a duffle bag with contents that looked like radioactive material and never encountered a law enforcement official.

The lonely looking operative was seen criss crossing the Canadian border at a number of locations hauling his duffel bag across the line each time. It appears that he easily avoided the 972 Border Patrol agents that are posted across the northern border.

Senator Ken Salazar (D-Colorado) for one sees far too many terrorists under Canadian beds, as he demanded tighter security along the northern border.

"With the possible exception of the United States, there are more international terrorist organizations active in Canada than anywhere else in the world," said Salazar.

We’re not sure how he came to that conclusion, but it makes a dandy sound byte and revives the old Canada is a threat theme.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined in on the fears of the Northern nation; his contribution to Thursday's hearing was a scenario of uncontested operative’s carrying along dirty bombs across the vast frontier.

"They're simply wide open, waiting to be crossed by anyone carrying anything, even a dirty bomb or a suitcase-type nuclear device."

Both Stockwell Day and Prime Minister Stephen Harper tried to counter the brush fire on the southern range, but it’s not expected that their words will provide much relief from the fear mongering of the politicians.

Perhaps the net result will be more US border agents, more drones, more cameras and other high tech spy gadgets to keep the 49th parallel under constant observation. Maybe even one day, a fence or a moat.

While they have legitimate concerns over their security in the wake of 9-11, the simple fact is that horrific incident evolved from terrorists that were already living in the USA, as have a number of other high profile incidents before and after September 11th. All, with the exception of a Seattle bound would be terrorist Ahmed Ressam in December of 1999, for the most part have involved, mostly homegrown operatives and not interlopers from the frozen north.

The troubles may be a lot closer to home than the outposts on the northern border, but then it’s sometimes better to have someplace to point a finger at after all.

In fact, it all brings to mind a little Robin Williams number from a few years ago.