It's planned that by 2008 all Americans will have to produce their passport when coming back from Canada - this is seen here as a major slap in the face by the Bush Administration.
But the border dissatisfaction for the Canadians is mainly around agricultural trade and the way the US treated Canadian beef producers back in 2003 when a mad cow case was discovered in Alberta. The border was shut to Canadian live cattle exports, the price of cattle fell from C$1300 ($1900) to C$15 and the border wasn't reopened until mid-2005. Even today the industry hasn't recovered.
The big economic news here is the oil boom, and in particular the exploitation of Alberta's oil sands. There are all kinds of exciting mining techniques being tried to extract the oil and the province is absolutely booming. Diamond discoveries also have led to a boom in that industry.
In fact, labour is in such short supply that McDonald's staff are being paid $20 per hour and we've seen several shops closed simply because they can't get labour. Inflation is up, and the fear is that the Bank of Canada will be raising rates to kill the party - sound familiar?
This Canadian version of inflationary times is slightly different from our own, or the energy-fuelled inflation gripping the US. But the theme is the same - whatever the primary source of price increases, economies are running so hot that labour pressures have surfaced. Productivity gains are struggling to keep up with the higher cost of labour and businesses are having to put up prices.
In many ways we're finding Canada more similar to New Zealand than it is to the US. Certainly it's cooler up here, and as we move into the Yukon and soon Alaska, the gauge will continue to drop. But the landscape is also similar to New Zealand's - the Canadian Rockies are like our Southern Alps, although more majestic thanks to their sheer size.
Also, the forests here just seem to go on and on - for days on end we seem to have been riding through the forests of British Columbia and the Yukon. Presumably the Arctic temperatures we'll encounter as we move further north will bring that to an end.
But there's a tragedy afoot in the pine forests here, in the form of the pine beetle. The beetle has been around for yonks and traditionally kills off pines of a certain age and recedes in the winter as the cold hits.
But climate change or whatever has meant that the winters here aren't as cold and the beetle has moved into overdrive. As a result we have seen thousands of hectares of pines laid to waste by this thing - the locals tells us you can hear them coming, like a plague of locusts.
The devastation is just tragic and one wonders what will happen to this land covered with dead trees.
Finally, a difference from New Zealand's backblocks: the wildlife here is as majestic as the scenery. We've been captivated by the black bears, and grizzly bears (brown), moose, beavers, elk, bald eagle and lynx that we have seen.
We've been very fortunate to come across a grizzly and her two cubs in a clearing in the Canadian Rockies.
Bears are the most gobsmacking - their fearsome reputation, coupled with a cuddly appearance, captures the imagination.
So to get the grizzly on film was a privilege. Watching a beaver at work is pretty cool, too.
* The latest travel blogs and photos from the Backblocks America road trip are on World By Bike.
