Tracey had been following immigration issues before she had started to work with her husband, Peter Raymont, starting with the National Magazine Award-winning article The Uncounted Canadians written for Toronto Life in 1991 with the 1997 documentary Invisible Nation on the underground illegal immigrant community in Toronto. She then collaborated with Raymont to create the 2002 documentary The Undefended Border. Raymont says that scripts for The Border are often informed or inspired by real news stories dealing with terrorism, border security, illegal immigration and other contemporary issues. Raymont said that the series and the issues in the show are drawn from issues that currently face Canada and the rest of the world such as 9/11, the Darfur Crisis, human rights violations in China and trans-national crimes such as pedophiles and international crime rings. He also said that he wanted to show the Canadian perspective in facing national security issues that would affect the country. Raymont wanted to show viewers that Canadians are more understanding and open-minded than the Americans are. To honour Lindalee's work on creating the series, Raymont had given cards out to the cast and crew of the show to remind them that they should give credit to his wife, whose photo was on it, for being the driving force of the show as a means of honouring Lindalee for her work, after she died in October 2006 from breast cancer. Production Origin Conception of the series started in 2001, before the 9/11 attacks, when Peter Raymont and his late wife, Lindalee Tracey, pitched the CBC on a fictitious series featuring immigration/border security agents. That fall, shortly after 9/11, Raymont and Tracey began shooting a three-hour documentary mini series, commissioned by TVOntario and other broadcasters entitled "The Undefended Border" following Canadian immigration/border security agents. The CBC put "The Border" drama series into active development at the same time. Raymont had said that The Border is similar, but a bit different from "24 with a conscience." Production of The Border had hit some problems in Oshawa, Ontario where residents expressed concern when a Piaggio P.180 Avanti twin-engine plane was seen on Stevenson Road, which was located near Oshawa Airport. The plane's presence, as well the filming of gunfire scenes, had prompted residents to make calls regarding its unusual appearance in the area. Oshawa Airport manager Stephen Wilcox, in a press statement, assured the public on the events in Oshawa