Musical Border Crossing

[Lew Taylor]

I have found that when people arrive at the border (whichever direction you
happen  to be heading) if you have your paperwork in order you may be
questioned, and even in some instances have your vehicle searched, but you
will be allowed to continue on your way.

I have received many calls from artists who want to perform here in the
states, but will outright tell me that they do not have all of their
paperwork in order -- if they even have any at all.  The ECMA, at their
annual meetings, give workshops to artists who wish to perform outside of
Canada and the thing that they stress is -- HAVE YOUR PAPERWORK IN ORDER.  I
feel bad for Mairi and for the people who wanted to see her perform (myself
included), but if her paperwork was complete, the guards would have had no
choice (regardless of their personal feelings) but to let her continue.
Most artists (at least the ones who want to perform here in the States) get
their work visas for a year.  They plan their trips and normally have no
problems.

This is not to say that the guards can't be complete ##$$@!@! but if your
papers are OK -- there's not much they can do about it.  I will not soon
forget the day that I spent 3 hours in the airport in Halifax (Canadian
customs) having all of my bags searched, and whatever else they did while I
cooled my heels.

Lew Taylor
The Cape Cod Celtic Festival




On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 10:41 AM, Francis Fougere <francis at fougere.ca>wrote:

> Hi Tim et all
> For my two cents I have generally found the opposite. As a Canadian who has
> sailed an Olympic class boat competitively in both the US and Canada I have
> crossed the border numerous times with a boat and a truck of gear, sails
> etc. I have found that the borders were manned at cross purposes. In the US
> the border guards are primarily concerned about security, even before 911.
> In Canada they are primarily tax collectors and before 911 they actually
> were Excise and Revenue officers. Talk about folks who get up on the wrong
> side of the bed every day. Garrison Keelor explains about why he will never
> ever again do a concert in Canada and it's a border crossing nightmare over
> import issues of equipment. In my experiences I only ever had one problem
> with one US border guard in Detroit because my passport was in a bag in the
> back of my pickup truck and not on my person. Almost every Canadian border
> crossing has been some form of a hassle. Since 911 the Canadian border
> guards have added some security issues to their mandate just to please the
> Americans. To be fair though I have been waived through by both sides many
> times but it's always the times that you are hassled that stick in memory.
> Francis Fougere
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cbmusic-bounces at locals.ca [mailto:cbmusic-bounces at locals.ca] On
> Behalf
> Of Tim Jaques
> Sent: February 14, 2009 7:35 AM
> To: cbmusic at locals.ca
> Subject: Re: Musical Border Crossing
>
>
> Mounties don't handle immigration and border stuff in Canada.  At big
> crossings they are sometimes there for security, drug matters, etc. but as
> in the US the harassment of hapless travelers is left to specialized
> agencies.   In addition,  the RCMP are often slaves to political
> correctness
> and preposterous policies to an absurd degree, and the biggest problem is
> actually to get them to act on anything.  However,  I've never found them
> rude.
>
> I have to say that the people at the US border are probably the most
> off-handedly obnoxious civil servants I've encountered anywhere.  I have
> come to believe that only persons terribly unhappy with themselves and
> their
> place in the cosmos, can be considered for that job. But yes, anyone
> crossing the border is well advised to have all paperwork in order.  Even
> then, some extremely ill-tempered or stupid individuals can cause problems.
> I guess that's the same for every aspect of life.
>
>
> Timothy Jaques
> Dalhousie, NB
> "We live in a free country where people have as much right to express
> outrageous and ridiculous opinions as moderate ones."   Mr. Justice Ian
> Binnie, WIC Radio Ltd. v. Simpson, 2008 SCC 40.
>
>
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