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.''
[...] 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.
[...]
"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. [...] 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.'' [...] 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.''
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