[BartSimpson]

desertdude wrote:

I'll have to agree with that. A friend of mine and his family landed in Canada ( Toronto I think ) and keep in mind hes Pakistani, Brown and Muslim ! and says he and his family was treated and welcomed very graciously into Canada.

More than I can say for what I've heard from people landing in the States. And little things like these actually influenced my decision to migrate to Canada. instead of the US, UK, Australia or New Zealand. Although I have a heck a lot of more friends in the US and UK.

As an outside third party who has interacted with both. I can give quite a list of Canada Vs USA but not wanting to start a flame war or a can of worms so I won't

It would not be opening a can of worms to be honest. I'd have to agree with you that Canada is friendlier than the US at the border. Lisa and I were up to BC over the weekend (pictures to be posted later tonight when I get home) to close papers on a new house and going in to Canada was a breeze. Coming back was a pain in the a$$. We crossed both ways at Sumas and going in to BC was easy.

"Hi, are you all from the USA?"

(passports were handed over)

"Okay, have a nice day!"

Bingo. That was all.

Coming back to the country we live in was a 35 minute ordeal as we had to explain our business in BC, where all of us were from, why we bothered to go to BC, and etc.

So I can imagine it being unpleasant if you're not from the USA.

[Brenda]

It's funny, I have it the other way around. Being an immigrant, crossing the border to the US is a breeze. Going back, showing my passport, PR card always has me answering questions. What are you doing in Canada, why were you in the US, since when do you live here, where do you live, what did you buy, park there, show the receipts and pay your taxes and duty...

[desertdude]

Isn't that a coincidence ! My better half is also named Liza although with a Z and not a s

[hurley_108]

DerbyX wrote:

It seems there are a lot of people with either dash cams or cell phones recording any and all interactions with officials like this. Plenty of posted stuff like that is available and verifiable as truth. This sounds like it could easily be verified. I'll drop the video link into the Snopes.com site. They usually respond by verifying stuff like this.

To my mind, anyone who routinely records their interactiosn with the authorities is probably spoiling for a fight and/or looking to preserve evidence of their side of something they know goes right up to the line of what's allowable.

Staged or not, truthful or not, this guy got no more trouble than he was looking for.

[BartSimpson]

desertdude wrote:

Isn't that a coincidence ! My better half is also named Liza although with a Z and not a s

And may God help us both.

[desertdude]

Is yours Catholic too !

[EyeBrock]

coaster_dot wrote:

EyeBrock wrote:

As long as you Yanks continue to have arrogant idiots controlling entry into the US, you will continue to leave a bad taste in people's mouths as they meet their first American.

I'm intelligent and well travelled enough to realise that not all Yanks are like the plonkers you have at the border, is everybody else?

Being somewhat used to enforcement and dealing with all kinds of people, I know you don't have to treat people like shit to maintain security.

Just excuses guys.

First the Canadians border patrol are just as bad if not worse then the US side. It all depends on what citizenship you have. Second, it's not like we can do anything about it. It's just something you have to live with if you want to cross the border...on either side.

Why can't we do anything about it? My experiences with the Canadian side have been 75% positive. One CBSA guy was rude to me last year and I called his supervisor from my work the next day and recieved a written apology.

I have no confidence in the US border patrols complaint process because they are all rude.

I also have found the UK Immigration guys to be idiots and I had a chat with one and his supervisor when I was last in LHR.

There is no excuse for rudeness in the police or border agencies. Saying you can't do anything about it is like admitting you live in a dictatorship.

People should be held accountable for bad behaviour. Stop making excuses.

[BartSimpson]

desertdude wrote:

Is yours Catholic too !

As a former Catholic, I grieve for you.

[desertdude]

Well its not so bad, she's ex catholic, although the inlaws arn't

[EyeBrock]

I'm the worst kind of lapsed Catholic. A half-Irish one. Rome owns the Irish-Catholics.

[BartSimpson]

desertdude wrote:

Well its not so bad, she's ex catholic, although the inlaws arn't

My poor wife had that problem. My family was a bunch of "devout Catholics" who didn't believe in God and would tell you so, they never went to church, they had no clue about the Bible, but if you said one thing wrong about the 'Holy Mother Church' suddenly they were the most ardent Catholics you'd ever met. And they were a pain in my wife's butt until I gave up and just stopped talking to them about ten years ago.

I mean it quite seriously that you have my sympathies.

By the way, I appreciate your new avatar.

The old Bush avatar...well, I'm just sick of looking at him.

[desertdude]

Well it wasn't bush. It was bush bin laden !