Canadian Customs rolls out the UNWELCOME Mat...
Traveled north from Washington State to Vancouver BC to attend VancouFUR 2013 last Friday. I've made many trips across the border for vacation and recreation--uneventful border crossings and never expected to be treated like a criminal by Canadian Customs. I was driving my Toyota Camry and had my friend Eternally Cloudy along. Car was loaded with typical stuff for a con, 3 fursuits, assorted clothing, two laptop computers, two digital cameras and a couple of smart phones. Anyway, we were pulled in. Over the course of better than 2 hours we were searched, the car was searched, everything in the car was dumped out in piles and pawed through and then randomly tossed back. Our computers were hauled in, accessed--who knows what information they copied and stored away (I was threatened with arrest because I was so rattled that I couldn't remember the randomized password quickly enough.) They turned on and accessed both phones (they had been turned off at the border.) They even removed and examined the camera memory cards. What did they find with all this--NOTHING. The lead agent even had the gall to "welcome" us to Canada after they were through (with a grin on his face.) I probably should have turned around at that point but we repacked the fursuits and everything and furried on. Anyway, lesson learned: we don't want you up here, stay in the USA where you belong. So, I won't be back for VancouFUR 2014. In fact, I really don't think I'll consider crossing the Canadian border again (at least not in this lifetime.) Oh, and as I foot note, I realize these customs people have a job to do but like the TSA folks, a little "power" seems to go to their heads prevailing over any common sense approach to the job.