Originally Posted by
MKE-MR
The other thing I'd say is that in my experience (flying out of and watching others pass through Canadian screening) the randomizer mat yields very few positives
Result!!
Originally Posted by MKE-MR
--in other words, gojirasan, if you are doing this to avoid the scans you should be very happy with the results, but if you're doing it for the express purpose of opting out, you may be rescheduling your ticket pretty often. Your first post made it look like you wanted to opt out to make a point, but in your subsequent posts it appears that you just want to fly free from harassment, so I'm not clear what your ultimate goal is.
No. It has nothing to do with making a point. I do just want to fly without being scoped or groped. Since I'm not even Canadian that wouldn't make much sense anyway. I'll let them handle their own political protests. Maybe you got that impression because I had no idea what to expect from the Canadian authorities in response to my retreat from the checkpoint. In the US you would have some expectation of ending up handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser. I just wanted to do my best to defend my (Canadian) rights if the same were to happen in Canada. Since police tend to lie, a video camera is essential if you think that you will need to defend yourself in court. In Canada it looks like I won't have to worry about maintaining video evidence to support my case or whether surrendering my ID will get me put on a no-fly list. None of the insane police state issues that are of so much concern here south of the border.
I'm not even sure what point there is to be made? That the TSA or CATSA is unjust? That police will lie and arrest you on trumped up charges? Phil Mocek already made that point and nothing seems to have changed. Well except that he has paved the way for others in similar situations to have at least some idea of what to expect.
I guess the latter is the only thing that my hypothetical scenario would have accomplished. Showing other Americans who considered traveling overland to Canada and departing out of there to entirely avoid the scope and grope whether the strategy is viable or will land you in jail. From the feedback I have received in this thread it seems clear that all of that is irrelevant. Leaving the checkpoint in Canada seems to be both legal and allowed by CATSA. So I wouldn't anticipate any problems in that regard. I really appreciate all of your answers. It is amazing how living in a police state makes you appreciate the freedoms in other countries so much more.