The only unfriendly Canada border guards I've run into are when you fly in – the people at the customs booth tend to be a little curt, but are by no means hostile.
]]>you'd be supprised actually you are EXACTLY who smugglers love to use as Mules because you don't look the part
]]>border guards shouldn't be allowed to set you up for a joke like that esp when armed
]]>my husband and one of his friends got strip searched when entering Canada in 2003. So they aren't always all nicey nice…
]]>With or without rubber gloves?
Was it the 'merica grope?
And some Mejicanos are nice to…touch. In certain places. With your appendages, and stuff.
]]>I will say that there does seem to be a bit of a culture difference between the US and Canadian guards. The US seems to be constantly struggling to do a better job and catch everything. The guards don't seem relaxed or comfortable. It's like they're being held accountable for every single decision. Every person through is another test. They even stress out over their wait lines. It seems like a type-A personality culture. The canadians seem to be relaxed and satisfied with the job they're doing. It seems like they take a longer-term approach. They try to improve things systematically. But at the same time, they realize they won't be perfect and seem to be okay with that.
]]>Hate to burst your bubble but the US border is just as big if not a bigger bunch of [insert explicative here] when it comes to crossing the border for work.
I got the exact same, well actually worse treatment when work sent me by car since it was so close. I got detained, had to wait hours to get my passport back and then sent back since I didnt have the right "papers". 2 days latter I crossed at a different border crossing since the same papers were fine then though I still was hassled for almost 2 hours.
Sad thing is there are no other certified professionals in my line of work in that part of the states – none were willing to travel there either.
As a tourist, I've found flying in Canada to be ridiculously expensive! I wanted to go from Ottawa to Vancouver, and ended up saving about $600 by just taking the bus to NY, flying to Seattle and busing up to Vancouver.
Yeah, I got put in a waiting room at the BC/Washington border control for about 20 minutes while they discussed behind closed doors about me spending only a day in NY. Oops.
With a ratio of 5:1 American to Canadian teams, it's a matter of odds 😉 Besides, we all know Bettman won't let us win the Cup… where's the ratings in THAT?!?!?!?!
]]>Better NHL players sure, after all the majority of the players on most NHL teams are Canadian, but I wouldn't say better teams. I mean come on when was the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup?
]]>We're glad you came up!
]]>it was more than twice to fly to toronto. Like over $700. I actually cancelled the con when I found out, then someone suggested flying into Buffalo.
]]>Another 10 mins or so and they'd have gotten to "know" me in the biblical sense.
]]>They just wanted to get to know you better.
]]>Back in high school, my group of friends were bored one weekend, and we decided to drive to Canada (we live in Illinois). Drove up there, parked the van, walked to the border, turned around and came back. So…I've been to Canada, but I've never left the US.
This was pre-9/11, but it was still interesting explaining to the guards what we were doing. Apparently, neither "it seemed like a good idea 12 hours ago" nor "we thought it'd be funny" are acceptable excuses. Also, no…neither high nor drunk, just really odd.
]]>It's a very specific shade of lavender.
]]>We have those, too, we just keep them in zoos. Same for the polar bears.
]]>See, that's what I was wondering. This is an important question to have an answer to before attempting any border crossing.
]]>It was [EH HEM] pleasure. There was no [EH HEM!! COUGH COUGH] business conducted.
]]>I'm pretty sure Joel was there on business. I don't think he flys to Buffalo and gets someone to drive him over the border for fun. I'll grant you that they probably thought it was tourism though.
]]>Apparently, some other jackhole – indeed, one of the jackest of holes, if that was a thing – had left a suitcase with what appeared to be a bomb in the luggage compartment of the bus. Actual quote from the CBP people x-raying the abandoned suitcase: "Oh, that's not good!" – after that, we were all led to a room where they took our passports, did some basic questioning and we had to sit and wait for something like 6 hours while they closed off the tunnel + a couple of blocks of Detroit, lots of cops etc showed up, complete with the Hurt Locker outfit, little robot and what have you.
When everything was kinda sorted out, we had to wait for an hour, maybe hour and a half, for the next bus from Canada, cuz our driver had been awake for so long, he wasn't allowed to drive the bus to the station. Finding out we could have walked to the station in fifteen minutes or so was just… great.
Still, made it back safe and sound, got a story to tell family and friends, and I'll never forget when the guy in charge asked if everyone was sure that nobody wanted to admit they owned the suitcase – "You're not in any trouble, we just want to know so we can give it back to you."… *after* they had blown the damn thing up! 😛
]]>My God.
The gays have won!
]]>The US agents at the Canadian side of the ferry crossing north of Seattle are D-Bags. They couldn't understand why my mother and I would have crossed in to Canada for dinner with friends of ours, nor how it would be possible that we weren't bringing anything back with us. When I finally said, "OK, we're bringing back the food we ate… I'm sure some of it isn't digested yet, do you want to inspect it?" the agent finally backed off.
]]>Um – everywhere does the two-lines thing, the UK included. Except in the UK it tends to be European Union and Rest of the World, of course.
]]>The hilarious thing is I have military plates, ID, clean cut hair, the works. Definitely the profile of a drug smuggler.
]]>Nonsense! There is never too much of a good thing!
]]>Other times they are helpful and informative, like the guard (US) who informed us whom to contact to obtain official duel citizenship for our children. But my favorite was the US guard who was looking at our passports after asking "Citizenships?" My husband answered, "3 Canadian and one US" as he always does. The guard leaned forward to get line of sight with me and, with a big smile said, "You know, we'll take you back any time you want." Made us all laugh.
]]>Seriously kids, we're just like you guys, but with funny accents, better NHL teams and polar bears!
]]>seriously, i need to know.
]]>I resisted the urge to say “They tried to blow me up for a while,” as I figured using any reference to explosives would just get me sent to Guantanomo, so instead I said “Uh, the Queen sort of rules it?” They then went and made a phone call, took IR scans of both my thumbs and took my photo and informed me that it would be a criminal offence if I stayed past the limit on my Visa.
That’ll teach me to come from Europe!
]]>She laughed, waved us through and said "Go, just go!" LOL
]]>hear hear! Phoenix is that you?
]]>Great comic and commentary!
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