Canada Doesn't Want You, So Stay Home!
by Boris Badenov
Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009 at 4:03 PM
Canada thinks Americans are scum. Don't be surprised if you are denied entry into Canada.
stephen-harper.jpg, image/jpeg, 389x421
I
haven't been to Canada since 1998. When I was younger, I'd drive up to
Montreal or Quebec City for the
weekend to enjoy another culture. For the most part, crossing the
border between the United States and Canada was a breeze. Friendly
border agents would wave me past after asking but a few simple
questions. They'd even smile. Those days are over.
Word
has been getting out that Stephen
Harper's Canada doesn't like Americans. Sure, the rumors that he had
an intimate relationship with George Bush remain unproven, but the
evidence demonstrates that Stephen Harper hates Americans at least as
much as Bush does. Ever since Stephen Harper, Canada's very own
neo-fascist leader, has been Prime Minister, the number of Americans
turned away at the border has been increasing geometrically.
Take,
for example, the married school
teacher from Maine that attempted to take advantage of this past long
weekend by planning a short trip up to Quebec City. He had hoped to
photograph the beautiful city during leaf-peeping season. When he
reached the border, Canadian gestapo ran his passport through the new
system provided to them by our very own FBI. It turns out that when
this middle-aged teacher was a teenager of about 18 years of age he
was charged with a traffic violation that required him to appear in
court. Like many teenagers, he was irresponsible then and didn't
show up. That ancient act of not bowing to authority showed up in
the FBI's NCIS database and this kind and honest school teacher was
denied entry into Canada. No one knows why the FBI entered such
trivial information into the NCIS. After all, it is supposed to
contain information on major offenses, not infractions, but the FBI
does screw up life for average Americans whenever it can.
A friend of mine shared with me
the
story of a couple she knows well. More than a decade ago, the couple
was having marital problems. In the midst of a physical fight
between the two of them, the police showed up, arrested both of them,
and charged both of them with a domestic violence charge. The couple
went to marriage counseling, worked out their problems, and are now a
happy couple. They decided to take a second honeymoon by visiting
Niagara Falls. When they stopped their car at the boarder post on
entry to Canada, the Canadian border guard swiped their passports and
read what the FBI had to say about the hubby and his wife. The
report said that both of them were spouse batterers. Since Canadians
are perfect and Americans are not, the Canadian border guard denied
both of them entry, though the two were now a happy couple.
Canada
claims that it bars only
Americans convicted of crimes that it considers to be felonies from
entering Canada. However, the evidence contradicts this. Some
border guards have said that Stephen Harper's government has
instructed them to turn away anyone and everyone listed in the NCIS
regardless of the seriousness of their crime and regardless of how
long ago that crime occurred. Under Canadian law, crimes such as
"disorderly conduct" are summary offenses that do not bar
Americans from entering Canada. According to the definition of the
NCIS, crimes like "disorderly conduct" should not be
entered into the NCIS database. Nevertheless, the FBI has been
entering such convictions of protesters and dissidents into the NCIS
and the Canadian border dingbats have been baring Americans from
entry based on those entries. Take
Ann Wright and Medea Benjamin of Code Pink as an example.
The
FBI blacklisted these two women from entering Canada by entering
their non-qualifying protest related offenses into the NCIS. Canada
then did it's fascist duty to the United States by baring these women
entry on their way to Toronto on invitation of the Toronto Stop the
War Coalition.
In addition to dissidents,
elderly
Americans convicted of smoking pot in the 1960s have been denied
entry to Canada. Indeed, it appears that Canada would deny you entry
for an overdue library book if the FBI entered such indiscretions in
the NCIS. The fault for this misuse of the NCIS falls both with
American law enforcement and with Stephen Harper's Canadian
administration. Stephen Harper is blacklisting Americans from
entering Canada with the cooperation of the FBI. As the Canadian
people are responsible for putting Stephen Harper in office, the
Canadian people are responsible for baring their neighbors entrance
on such trivial grounds. This speaks strongly to Canadian hypocrisy.
Canada is not the free society it claims to be.
Indeed, Canada has barred
several
famous visitors for what must be considered political reasons (under
the cover of criminal exclusion): American professor Williams
Ayers was denied entry to Canada
earlier this year. He had come
to Canada to give a lecture in Toronto at the invitation of the
Centre for Urban Schooling at the Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education at the University of Toronto. Anti-war British
MP George Galloway was denied
entry to Canada, citing him as a
threat to national security for his criticisms of Israeli policies
towards Palestinians. In 2007, South African Winnie
Mandela was denied entry to
Canada. No reason for her exclusion
was given.
Ordinary Americans have been
denied
entry to Canada for past offenses of driving under the influence. In
fact, if
you have a DUI or OUI on your record, don't even bother visiting
Canada, even if you do not plan
on driving there. Canada
considers you unfit to walk amongst Canadians. Interestingly, Mr.
Harper had absolutely no problem allowing war criminal George Bush to
come and visit him in Canada, despite George Bush's DUI
record. Mr. Cheney was able to
visit too, despite
two DUIs. In fact, he
was allowed to visit after his terms as Vice President ended.
This disparity in treatment proves that Canada's motives for denying
entry are political and racial.
Take,
for
example, Canadian Suaad Hagi Mohamud. Ms. Mohamud traveled to Kenya
to visit her ailing mother. Kenyan officials barred her from leaving
the country when they thought her lips did not look exactly like the
lips of her photo on her passport. Alerted to this, the Canadian
government urged Kenya to arrest its own citizen and denied her
assistance until an uproar over the incident arose in Canada. Ms.
Mohamud was held for three months in a Kenyan jail because of the
policies of neo-fascist Harper's government. Ms. Mohamud is not
alone. Canadian Abousfian Abdelrazik was denied entry to his own
country for six years simply because a foreign government accused him
of being part of al-Qaeda, despite the fact that he was found
innocent. Mohamud and Abdelrazik are not white.
Given
Canada's turn towards fascist
intolerance, it is time for Americans to refuse to visit Canada. Even
if you don't refuse, you very well may be turned away for the
most trivial of reasons, thus wasting your time and money. Don't
reward a government that doesn't want you to visit by spending your
hard earned money there. If you really want to visit a neighbor, try
Mexico or the Caribbean instead.
