No Alaska natural gas can physically cross the border into Canada without a handful of government agencies - in the United States and Canada - blessing the event. But getting government permission for the gas itself to leave Alaska and enter Canada on its way to Lower 48 markets will be a relative snap compared to the years-long ordeal to sanction construction of the proposed multibillion-dollar natural gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope. It's like the difference between issuing a hall pass to the school nurse's office vs. actually building the school.