TORONTO, ONT. - It could be another life line for a daredevil who says it is his dream to walk across the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope.
Nik Wallenda was in Toronto Friday morning as part of an on-going battle to convince Canadian officials to agree to an event that he and his supports say could bring hundreds of thousands in tourism dollars to both sides of the falls. He pleaded his case to Ontario Tourism Minister Michael Chan, who, according to Wallenda, seemed very receptive.
"This was more about getting that door opened up with the parks department, hopefully, we'll see," Wallenda said. "I'm hoping that Minister Chan will suggest that to them, that maybe, again, he may have some answers that they didn't realize that we had answers to because again we simply didn't have the opportunity to explain it to them."
Wallenda has requested permission to cross the Niagara Gorge from Canada to the United States. New York lawmakers signed off on his plan last year, but last month the Niagara Parks Commission denied it, saying it didn't fit into the natural mission of the parks system in Ontario. Wallenda and his manager are hoping the tourism minister could help override that decision, but they don't expect to hear final word on Friday.
If the Canadians still refused, Wallenda's Plan B had been to walk across the Falls entirely on the American side of the border. But shortly after Wallenda met with Canadian officials, New York State announced it will only allow a international tight-rope walk.
In a press release, the state park's department wrote:
"A walk limited to the American Falls is not what New York approved or envisioned in legislation authorizing Nik Wallenda to traverse the Niagara River Gorge from the United States to Canada. The costs to New York State of managing a walk only across the American Falls would exceed $1 million in direct state expenses, while, because of the physical topography of Niagara Falls and crowd safety concerns, the number of people who could watch such a walk would be extremely limited. As a result, despite the costs to New York State, the vast majority of people on the U.S. side would be turned away from the park and never see the walk."
State Senator George Maziarz says the decision by NY's Parks Department may put pressure on the Canadians to say "yes."
MAZIARZ: I think the opportunity to do this, as it was originally intended from the U.S. Side to the Canadian side is still very much alive.
REPORTER: If you're a betting man, do you bet that this does actually happen?
MAZIARZ: I'd say it was always 50-50, but we've come a lot farther than most people would think we would get.
Some estimate Wallenda's tight-rope walk across the Falls could generate $120 million for the local economy on both sides of the border. Canadian lawmakers from the area also seem to warming up to the idea.
If the Canadian government gives Wallenda the green light, Senator Maziarz said the walk would have to happen sometime between April and June for logistical reasons.