Canada Never Again

[Jim_and_Barb]

A friend and I were accused of being drug dealers at the boarder by the Canadian BP. Here is what happened We were flagged by BP to secondary because of my friends past 42 years ago when he was 18. When they were searching the Fiver they found three bottles of medications that belong to my wife. Who was scheduled to fly up and meet us in Anchorage next week. She put her Meds in the fifth wheel so she would not be without while touring Alaska. The Canadians were going to fine us for her Meds and accused us of being dealers. They stated that the fines would be in the thousands just for possession and hundred`s for each pill over 200 count, not hard when she gets 90 day supply. Then they wanted to fine me $500 for the pepper spray I had in my door that has been there for years I had forgotten about. In the end they took my spray and returned all of the Meds and asked us if we paid $3000 to see a group of supervisors they might or might not let us in and the fee was not refundable. My question is if we were the bad criminals the treated us as. Why did they give us back the drugs and asked us to leave Canada ??????? So BEWARE IF YOU OR YOUR SPOUSE TAKE MEDS MAIL THEM TO YOUR FIRST STOP IN ALASKA. This is why I will never again will I ever set foot in Canada. :M This was a poor attempt to shakedown us for $$$$$$$$$

[Community Alumni]

This thread has deteriorated into a bashing of both sides and is therefore being closed.

[Tothill]

Jim and Barb wrote:
Please note my friends problem was over 40 years ago and he paid for his indescretions 40 years ago . Here in the States people are given a second chance and not thrown out with the dishwater. What does Canada do with their people who have paid for their problems ?????? kick em out an tell them don't come back?

Actually a Canadian with a criminal indiscretion in his or her past is not allowed into the USA. Not unless they apply for special permission which is expensive, time consuming and only good for one trip. Jail time does not have to have been the result of the charges.

Sorry that your friend did not check his situation out before you headed North. Official site

[lakeside013104]

Bstark wrote:

“Border crossings EITHER way, along with Mexcio, are essentially a******shoot at the whim of the high school drop out's mood of the morning.”

I challenge you, so to speak, to put YOUR money where YOUR mouth is and go through the chore of being selected to be a candidate for a border guard job on either side of the northern border.

One in one thousand applications are selected after initial application screening. Then comes the basic entry level written exam you must pass for further consideration. Then the physical aptitude exam is given, which you must also pass. Then the “oral” interview process, next the polygraph test and a drug screening test. If you pass all the above you are given a thorough financial screening that can go back thirty years or more. If you are still in the game you get to go through an intense mental screening process to weed out all the unstable personalities. Then you may or may not be offered a position commensurate with being able to pass twenty six weeks of border service academy training where just over 24 more practical and academic tests are given. Failing ANY one of these tests will ‘boot” you back to a civilian career.

NOW, Mr. bstark, stand up to the post and take my challenge and let me know how you feel about border guards after you become a border guard yourself. That is assuming that you ARE up to the challenge, but just maybe YOU are the high school dropout who has a bad mood in the mornings!

I predict that YOU will never come close to becoming a northern border guard for either Canada or the USA or even have a comprehensive understanding of what being a border guard actually involves. Good day.


Lakeside

[Wrong_Lane]

Some of these border crossing posts drive me nuts!!

The truth of the matter is that the laws for crossing either direction are pretty close to each other.

Canadians with past convictions, even for minor crap, are routinly denied entry when travelling south. Who would of guessed that neither country wants convicted criminals visiting?

Canadians cannot import weapons into the US, with some exceptions for LEOs on official business and hunting. American restrictions on entering the US with a firearm are pretty much identical to those US citizens face when travelling North.

Search and seziure -- you have no right to privacy when crossing in either direction. Part of crossing any international boundry is that the host country has the right to search you, your conveyence and anything in your possesion.

The drugs that belonged to someone not in the vehicle. Sounds like the excuse my kids would come up with. "Not mine, I am holding them for a friend"

Know the rules and be prepared!

[The_Texan]

JaxDad wrote:


As for your 5'er being a "secondary residence", the rules are almost the same in Canada & the US, if its parked on private property it could be (subject to certain conditions) a secondary residence, but when it's rolling down the road with a license on the back, it's a vehicle and no different than the truck pulling your 5'er.

This is spot on in the US and I imagine it is also true in Canada. YOU have NO rights at any International border including the US border as a US resident. I think it is funny that people think they have a right, but can never quote any law to support their claims.

I also imagine Canada is much more vigilant today, because there are so many illegal aliens in the US.

[sue_t]

Alaska, right. Imagine the difficulty if they had made it to Alaska and after touring around they began their journey home only to be stopped by either one of the two Yukon border crossings! It would have been much more difficult to return home from Alaska with the RV; ferry from Valdez or Whittier to Bellingham would be the only option.

So it is fortunate for the OP that they were turned around at the 48th parallel.

[wilber1]

Jim and Barb wrote:
While traveling the Fifth Wheel as well as a Motorhome`s are considered a your secondary residence that's why there are specific laws that address search and seizure in the states ,you would think Canada would follow the same. Did I forget to say the Fifth Wheel also my wife`s too as she is on the registration.

We do in Canada as well but they don't apply to border personnel in either country, or any other country I know of. Unlike the police who need a warrant unless something is in plain view, border personnel do not.

Please note my friends problem was over 40 years ago and he paid for his indescretions 40 years ago . Here in the States people are given a second chance and not thrown out with the dishwater. What does Canada do with their people who have paid for their problems ?????? kick em out an tell them don't come back?

Either side will jump on anyone who has had a criminal conviction and a DUI is a criminal offense in Canada. A few years ago a fellow who worked with my wife took his wife and kids to Disneyland. He wound up in the LAX slammer and was put on the next flight back while his family stood there and watched. His offense was a pot possession charge when he was in his late teens.

People who have had convictions need to get it sorted out before they try and cross.

Your treatment does sound somewhat over the top though.

[bstark]

dennisgt60 wrote:
This thread is very educational as my wife and I look forward to visiting Canada upon our retirement next year. It's been 30 plus years since our last brief visit there and crossing back then was a breeze. The world has changed a great deal since then and we understand the reasons to be much better prepared and knowledgable with respect to laws/rules. Thanks to all for the education and we look forward to seeing Canada.

Now there's the correct atittude.

rife throughout the O/P's post is the assumption he would be simply allowed to breez through without any complications while not taking the time to educate himself about this changed world we live in now.

I wonder how he would have liked having his rig torn apart by two agents while a National Guardsman stood there facing us with his rifle at port arms between us and our rig just days after 9/11? I wonder if he forgets the reason why all of these rules and regs have come to be universally applied through database sharing.

To remind him: they came to be because they were insisted upon by the government of the U.S. after the terrible event of that day. Canada was accused of being lax in our border control. A couple of high profile political figures (McCain for one) stating (immediately proven wrong but nevertheless without any apology) that those terrorists entered via Canada.

Now here is the kicker for this fellow; had he indeed simply got waved through the Canadian entry point, who'se willing to bet his passage through the U.S. one on into Alaska or upon his return to the U.S. with his convicted friend in tow might have given him a real load of hurt to whine about.

In short he took it for granted as a U.S. citizen he could simply drive across without any research or possibility of complication with a person who had a previous conviction without the deemed rehab'd certificate, a bunch of drugs not belonging to anyone in the vehicle AND a "prohibited weapon".

ANY ONE of those would see me barred for life from ever gaining access to the U.S. EVER again unless and until I had expended a considerable amount of money to have an adjudication made on my behalf and I own property down there.

Border crossings EITHER way, along with Mexcio, are essentially a******shoot at the whim of the high school drop out's mood of the morning.

In summation: if this happenstance, that is experienced daily by Canadians crossing into the U.S., leads you to deny yourself the travelling pleasure of touring Canada it will be your loss alone.

[Little_Kopit]

Two sides of this border crossing in these days have not been covered.

1. Since the assaults on the World Trade Towers, etc. of Sept. 11, 2001, there were "accuse the Canadians, couldn't be Americans fault" types saying that those who made the attacks entered the USA from Canada.

This approach/attitude/blind spot has been disproved again and again and again, but there are still those who won't believe otherwise.

& you know perfectly well Canadian Border Guards have this in the back of their minds during most of their working days. It is something to make them more likely adhere strictly to the regulations.

==================

2. Partly because the USA has the geography it has and so many US citizens/residents live much more than 100 miles from the border*, there are those who don't understand:

- Canada is a different country. US laws do not apply in Canada.
- US citizens may be special friends to 99% of Canadians, but that's not a part of any law.
- Thus, no special privileges for being a US resident/American ciizen.

......if still puzzled, please google word: "sovereignty".


* Most Canadians live within 100 miles of our joint border. I don't know the numbers.

:C

[RangerJay]

Jim and Barb wrote:
Please note my friends problem was over 40 years ago and he paid for his indescretions 40 years ago . Here in the States people are given a second chance and not thrown out with the dishwater. What does Canada do with their people who have paid for their problems ?????? kick em out an tell them don't come back?

Like others - I think your pain was self-inflicted.

The information on your friends 40 year old record would have been sourced from U.S. authorities - it is not the job of a Canadian Border Services Agent to determine, on the spot, who should, or should not, have a "second chance". It is unfortunate that your friend did not initiate action to have the record cleared many years ago.

Rules around previous records, medications and Bear spray have been around for a long time and are easily researched.


Jay

[lonnie4801]

The customs officers are employed by the Canadian government and tasked with enforcing the laws passed by the Canadian government.

Would you want our customs officers looking the other way when someone tries to bring products banned by our government into the US.

Think about that. Know the laws of the country you are traveling to. "I FORGOT" is never a legal reason.

[woodhog]

You can bring "Bear Spray" into the country, but NOT Pepper Spray.

It has to say Bear Spray on the container.... designed to be used against animals, not pepper spray, MACE etc which is designed for use against human animals...

[Mootpoint]

rockhillmanor wrote:
Thanks for all the info from our fellow Canadians.
For those of you that Snowbird 'every' year to the states does it get any easier for you to cross the border when they see on your record that you do it every year?

Nope!

A friend of ours was told they could be fined $500 and denied access to the US because she said she had a bag of peas in her freezer and it turned out to be green beans. :h

I haven't been stopped and searched crossing the border in all the years and numerous times I have done so. My turn will come some day and I am expecting it.

[Community Alumni]

rockhillmanor wrote:
Thanks for all the info from our fellow Canadians.
For those of you that Snowbird 'every' year to the states does it get any easier for you to cross the border when they see on your record that you do it every year?

I would say that coming home after snowbirding for the winter doesn't get easier, the agents ask a lot of questions about what you may be bringing back after a few months. It's not an issue, just not any easier.

I will say however when we cross weekly to & from our upstate NY campsite in the summer months, as soon as our cards are scanned, the history appears and is is often just a wave-thru. We spend 3-4 days a week in the US throughout the summer.

... Eric