And we thought the Mexican border was bad

[RTR]

First off, Maverick, my apologies. I was intentionally trying to push your buttons, and it wasn't a fair attack on my part. Haven't been myself lately.

In reality at most crossings that I have been at, I only deal with the officials of the country I am entering.

In this instance it really doesn't matter.  watermelon happens every day from both sides of the border (although, I would hope that if he were trying to enter Canada under the same circumstance, someone wearing a uniform would have clued in. Much as you would have hoped the same when he was trying to enter the US).

Really doesn't matter what his country of origin was. What matters is that we haven't trained our border guards / customs agents hard enough.

Okay...back to my scotch.

cheers,
RTR

[Torque]

both countries require you to declare and have proper permits when transporting, sure toad not for small game but the big games hunters endure the paper work.

[Ripper29]

Nash, You got it perfectly. Thanks for explaining the complicated situation for mavrick  

[storch]

Originally posted by RTR
First off, Maverick, my apologies. I was intentionally trying to push your buttons, and it wasn't a fair attack on my part. Haven't been myself lately.

In reality at most crossings that I have been at, I only deal with the officials of the country I am entering.

In this instance it really doesn't matter.  watermelon happens every day from both sides of the border (although, I would hope that if he were trying to enter Canada under the same circumstance, someone wearing a uniform would have clued in. Much as you would have hoped the same when he was trying to enter the US).

Really doesn't matter what his country of origin was. What matters is that we haven't trained our border guards / customs agents hard enough.

Okay...back to my scotch.

cheers,
RTR

who have you been then?

[Maverick]

To those who questioned if I have crossed the border. Yep I have, pre 9/11 for both Canada, Panama (our little Noriega dust up) and Mexico. Post 9/11 Mexico only now. The check points I went through had both sides co located or at least in close proximity. I passed the Canadian folks on the way out well in sight of the Officers. I would have thought any on the Canadian side would have been just a little bit concerned seeing a guy matching the description of that guy going out of their country.

FWIW I found the civilian Canadians to be nice friendly folks. Their Customs people on the other hand were particularly, if not obsessively, concerned that no American be prepared to defend themselves on entry into Canada.

RTR no offense taken.

[Toad]

Originally posted by Torque
both countries require you to declare and have proper permits when transporting, sure toad not for small game but the big games hunters endure the paper work.

I could look it up, but I had to have lots of paperwork to bring in two shotguns. They taxed my ammo as well as I was over their minimum. (Well, yah.. .I was on a month long safari through Canada and the Dakotas.)

The customs stop took nearly two hours. Interestingly, when they found out I was a pilot for a major airline, I kinda got the once over. Yet my son, a college student traveling with me, got quizzed for about 45 minutes. Lots of time waiting for them to grill other travelers too.

Like I said... ND and SD will do just fine for hunting.

[Torque]

toad save the predictable patriotic fervour. big game hunting in canada is still a big draw, regardless if you stay home because of the antics of bored custom agents. plenty of wealthy people pay huge amounts of money and endure the paper work to do so, you negate oh well.

[StarOfAfrica2]

Originally posted by Torque
i guess now mav and star we really know what irony is. you just need a permit to bring any legal weapons across, hunters do it all the time.

Glad to know you learned something.  

So reciprocate and teach me something.  What in Gods name does requiring permits for bringing legal weapons into Canada have to do with a man walking up to a checkpoint with a sword, knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw?  Where did the requirement to get permits come into this?  And what is your point?  Are you trying to say that if this man had taken the time to properly register his weapons with the Canadian govt. that the border guards wouldnt have taken them away from him?  Are you trying to say that Canada should legalize swords and brass knuckles for hunting big game?  

I could care less HOW he was armed, or what they did with the weapons he was carrying.  My point was that the man was openly carrying weapons and a chainsaw, had blood stains on at least his clothes and the chainsaw, and no one was able to find an official reason to detain him in this post 9/11 day and age.  Yet its perfecly legal, and they find precedent to wiretap people's homes and internet connections without a warrant for giving money to a charity.

That last comment is hypothetical, I am not aware of a specific case where such a thing has occured.  Its something that has specifically been argued however, so I included it as a counterpoint.  

Also, this is not a personal attack on you Torque, just a response to the sarcasm in your post and your attempt to divert the topic of the thread.  Have a nice day.

[Maverick]

Originally posted by Torque
i guess now mav and star we really know what irony is. you just need a permit to bring any legal weapons across, hunters do it all the time.

Torque.

BTW I had no weapons with me when I went to Canada. Just my BMW motorcycle, clothes and a tent. I had nothing to declare, no weapons and no reason for them to practically strip search 3 folks all on BMW's. The only ones checked from the full ferry we were on.

[Torque]

star, here is a more detailed story. there is no irony to be had. overly zealous canadian customs?

here

mav, i'm not disputing the behaviour of canadian customs agents and i've crossed the border about thirty times. processing is always a hit and miss situation. sounds like someone you were with had a name that sent a red flag, been there myself going south, yeah it wasn't pleasant. i find no difference between the two countries.

[StarOfAfrica2]

Ah I see the confusion.  Just because I can see the irony in the statement originally made by Mav, based on his experience, doesnt mean I am trying to argue that Canadian customs folks are overzealous, or that I share his experiences or belief.  I wouldnt know myself, I've only been to Canada twice, first through NY about 30 years ago, second through Minnesota with some friends about 10 years ago.  I have never had a bad experience with any customs official.  Been to Mexico a couple times, never had a border guard even look at me twice.  All I was saying was, given the situation that was explained, I could see the irony of it, if you couldnt.  If you disagree with Mav on the way the customs folks treat people, thats a different topic, and between you two.  

I also tend to agree with the folks in that article you linked.  It bothers the hell outta me that the US customs guys let him through.  Maybe they thought they were "puttin one over" on the Canadians by letting the guy skip his trial date.  Whatever the reason was, that guy should never  have gotten across the border without at least having local law enforcement notified to watch him.  If the report on the rest of their behavior is true, I hope they all lose their jobs.  If this nutjob had been another terrorist and they let him through that easy, I'd expect them to go to jail.

[Iceman24]

What gets me thinking is that they only catch the dumb serial killers, Gacy, the 44 killer, ted bundy, dahmer all those guys messed up somehow and were caught, imagine all the really smart ones like hannibal lectar that we'll never no about... they only catch the dumb ones