Sorry to burst the YYZ defenders bubbles, but I'd have to agree that out of T1 to the USA has been a CATSA disaster since the new rules are in place. I live in fear of the baggage size queen, empty every stick of paper and pens from my laptop bag, and feel the need to travel with a print out of the rules to be ready to defend myself against people who don't know the rules.

The OP may have had a particularly bad experience, but I wouldn't describe going through YYZ to the US as anything close to a good experience of late.