Going to Canada? Check your past

[GooeyGUI]

Visitors with minor criminal records turned back at border

Going to Canada? Check your past

C.W. NEVIUS

Friday, February 23, 2007

There was a time not long ago when a trip across the border from the United States to Canada was accomplished with a wink and a wave of a driver's license. Those days are over.

Take the case of 55-year-old Lake Tahoe resident Greg Felsch. Stopped at the border in Vancouver this month at the start of a planned five-day ski trip, he was sent back to the United States because of a DUI conviction seven years ago. Not that he had any idea what was going on when he was told at customs: "Your next stop is immigration.''

Felsch was ushered into a room. "There must have been 75 people in line," he says. "We were there for three hours. One woman was in tears. A guy was sent back for having a medical marijuana card. I felt like a felon with an ankle bracelet.''

Or ask the well-to-do East Bay couple who flew to British Columbia this month for an eight-day ski vacation at the famed Whistler Chateau, where rooms run to $500 a night. They'd made the trip many times, but were surprised at the border to be told that the husband would have to report to "secondary'' immigration.

There, in a room he estimates was filled with 60 other concerned travelers, he was told he was "a person who was inadmissible to Canada.'' The problem? A conviction for marijuana possession.

In 1975.

Welcome to the new world of border security. Unsuspecting Americans are turning up at the Canadian border expecting clear sailing, only to find that their past -- sometimes their distant past -- is suddenly an issue.

While Canada officially has barred travelers convicted of criminal offenses for years, attorneys say post-9/11 information-gathering, combined with a sweeping agreement between Canada and the United States to share data, has resulted in a spike in phone calls from concerned travelers.

They are shocked to hear that the sins of their youth might keep them out of Canada. But what they don't know is that this is just the beginning. Soon other nations will be able to look into your past when you want to travel there.

"It's completely ridiculous,'' said Chris Cannon, an attorney representing the East Bay couple, who asked that their names not be used because they don't want their kids to know about the pot rap. "It's a disaster. I mean, who didn't smoke pot in the '70s?''

We're about to find out. And don't think you are in the clear if you never inhaled. Ever get nabbed for a DUI? How about shoplifting? Turn around. You aren't getting in.

"From the time that you turn 18, everything is in the system,'' says Lucy Perillo, whose Canada Border Crossing Service in Winnipeg, Manitoba, helps Americans get into the country.

Canadian attorney David Lesperance, an expert on customs and immigration, says he had a client who was involved in a fraternity prank 20 years ago. He was on a scavenger hunt, and the assignment was to steal something from a Piggly Wiggly supermarket. He got caught, paid a small fine and was ordered to sweep the police station parking lot.

He thought it was all forgotten. And it was, until he tried to cross the border.

The official word from the Canadian Border Services Agency is that this is nothing more than business as usual. Spokesman Derek Mellon gets a little huffy when asked why the border has become so strict.

"I think it is important to understand that you are entering another country,'' Mellon says. "You are not crossing the street.''

OK, but something changed here, didn't it?

"People say, 'I've been going to Canada for 20 years and never had a problem,' '' Lesperance says. "It's classic. I say, 'Well, you've been getting away with it for 20 years.' ''

A prior record has always made it difficult to cross the border. What you probably didn't know was that, as the Canadian Consulate's Web site says, "Driving while under the influence of alcohol is regarded as an extremely serious offense in Canada.''

So it isn't as if rules have stiffened. But what has changed is the way the information is gathered. In the wake of 9/11, Canada and the United States formed a partnership that has dramatically increased what Lesperance calls "the data mining'' system at the border.

The Smart Border Action Plan, as it is known, combines Canadian intelligence with extensive U.S. Homeland Security information. The partnership began in 2002, but it wasn't until recently that the system was refined.

"They can call up anything that your state trooper in Iowa can,'' Lesperance says. "As Canadians and Americans have begun cooperating, all those indiscretions from the '60s are going to come back and haunt us.''

Now, there's a scary thought. But the irony of the East Bay couple's situation is inescapable. Since their rowdy days in the '70s, they have created and sold a publishing company, purchased extensive real estate holdings and own a $3 million getaway home in Lake Tahoe.

"We've done pretty well since those days,'' she says. "But what I wonder is how many other people might be affected.''

The Canadian Border Services Agency says its statistics don't show an increase in the number of travelers turned back. But Cannon says that's because the "data mining'' has just begun to pick up momentum.

"It is too new to say,'' he says. "Put it this way. I am one lawyer in San Francisco, and I've had four of these cases in the last two years, two since January. And remember, a lot of people don't want to talk about it (because of embarrassment).''

Asked if there were more cases, attorney Lesperance was emphatic.

"Oh, yeah,'' he says. "Just the number of calls I get has gone up. If we factor in the greater ability to discover these cases, it is just mathematically logical that we are going to see more.''

The lesson, the attorneys say, is that if you must travel to Canada, you should apply for "a Minister's Approval of Rehabilitation" to wipe the record clear.

Oh, and by the way, if you don't need to travel to Canada, don't think you won't need to clear your record. Lesperance says it is just a matter of time before agreements are signed with governments in destinations like Japan, Indonesia and Europe.

"This,'' Lesperance says, "is just the edge of the wedge.''

Who would have thought a single, crazy night in college would follow you around the world?
Rules for getting

into Canada

For more information on offenses that prohibit entry to Canada, go to the Canadian Consulate's Web site at geo.international.gc.ca/can-am/seattle/visas/inadmissible-en.asp.

For more information on visiting Canada, go to cic.gc.ca.

This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Uh oh! They're on to me..... er us.

:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

 

[Falloutboy]

thats kinda bs

 

[Brutuskend]

Well, I guess I won't be going to Canada again any time soon.

 

[Wuffsunie]

I've heard it happening the other way -- Canada to the US -- a great deal, too. Why does this surprise anyone?

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: Brutuskend
Well, I guess I won't be going to Canada again any time soon.

Me either. We found this out in 05 when we were gonna make a short detour into B.C.. Oh well,...(my wife wanted a special syrup that's only available in Canada. We ended up having it sent to us and paying the shipping and duties on it. Probably still cheaper than driving .

 

[Old Hippie]

My GF and I were strip-searched, the car dismantled, and refused entry in 1981 because of my pot possession conviction in 1972. We didn't have the 'pleasure' of going to Canadian immigration, but after reassembling my car and returning to the US border were detained by US customs. From then on, my vacations were taken in a Southernly direction. I'm pretty sure I saw a sign at Jamaican customs welcoming all pot smokers.

 

[Schadenfroh]

They are trying to cut back on Bob going back and forth across the border:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_%28Twin_Peaks%29

 

[hjo3]

Good. Let's do the same thing to people who try to enter the U.S.

EDIT: Can't you have your record expunged after some number of years for minor offenses? That's what the East Bay man should have done.

 

[BoomerD]

Ironically, British Columbia is the source for most of the PNW's best pot...BC Bud...they just walk across the border with heavily laden backpack's full of the stuff...

 

[Feneant2]

It's the same way going into the US btw... I've read stories about the opposite.

I think it's f*cking stupid from both countries to do that, just like requiring passports to travel across the border.

 

[yllus]

Funny, last time I went to the States I didn't have my birth certificate nor my passport, and I'm half-Iranian and half-Saudi. That was two weeks ago. Getting back over into Canada was even easier.

 

[Mr Incognito]

Man, I knew that felony conviction would catch up to me someday.

 

[WobbleWobble]

Originally posted by: Wuffsunie
I've heard it happening the other way -- Canada to the US -- a great deal, too. Why does this surprise anyone?

Canadians get interogated too and are also not allowed to enter the US if you have a criminal record. Then again, Canadians have been accused of being too lax with border security :roll:

 

[KDOG]

Yet if the US does this, its considered "racist".

 

[Old Hippie]

Can't you have your record expunged after some number of years for minor offenses?

Yep. If they knew it was gonna be a problem, they probably would have.

 

[IGBT]

..haha. all you drugie dui types are going to be haunted by the information age. No more secrets.

 

[Fern]

D@mn, anyway to find out what our records say? I'd hate to be turned back at a border. Not only embarrassing, but majorly inconvenient & expensive.

I was arrested & spent the night jail while in college, it was supposed to be expunged etc. How can I check to make sure?

Oh, and by the way, if you don't need to travel to Canada, don't think you won't need to clear your record. Lesperance says it is just a matter of time before agreements are signed with governments in destinations like Japan, Indonesia and Europe.

I go to Italy about every year or so. This would suck.

 

[Old Hippie]

No more secrets.

It was never a secret. Canada is the 'Pot' calling the 'Kettle' black according to their laws. I can only assume they don't want/need my vacationing dollars.

 

[Eeezee]

You know how many Americans feel about the Mexico border situation? That's how the Canadians feel about us now

Just for clarification, there are a lot of people out there that really don't want Mexicans coming here at all, legally or not.

 

[slurmsmackenzie]

tell me about it!!! i drove from east lansing mich to upstate ny and it prolly would've saved me a great deal of time to shoot through canada instead of going around through ohio.... unfortunately my road trip buddy had a record and suggested we not go through canada.

HAHAHA one time on my way to the warped tour in buffalo i took a wrong turn and ended up at the border. all five passengers in the car had pot on them and luckily when i said i took a wrong turn and was heading to the fair grounds then just let me through to turn around with no real hassle. WHEW... that could've gotten ugly.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I grew uo near the Canadian border and back in the good old days they were more concerned with anyone bringing in alchohol and heaven help anyone bringing in cigarettes. Tax stamps used to take precedence over a little weed and border towns used to like American's (or at least our money). Times change.

 

[George P Burdell]

It's their country, they can do what they want.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: George P Burdell
It's their country, they can do what they want.

Indeed they can, but why do people not feel the same way when the USA cracks down?

Edit...fitsd my spaleng..

 

[RichardE]

Originally posted by: Old Hippie

No more secrets.

It was never a secret. Canada is the 'Pot' calling the 'Kettle' black according to their laws. I can only assume they don't want/need my vacationing dollars.

We were going to legalize it, than the US had a big hissy fit. So at the border we will be all tough on everyone, but at schools/clubs the worst that happens if you have to stomp out your pot stash infront of the cops.

 

[meltdown75]

So if you have a criminal past, it *might* be difficult to cross the border? boo hoo.