Originally Posted by
ypqRD
That question "how is THAT a business trip" "why would THAT be business for you" etc happens to me just about every time. I really don't know why. I'm coming HOME. You have to let me in. Is it that proving it is a business trip makes my lack of purchases acceptable? Is the world full of people who say it was a business trip when it wasn't, and whose defenses crumble in the face of that single question?
I'm really troubled by stories like this.
What a Canadian was doing outside of Canada is no Canadian authority's business, unless there's a perfect profile for a sex tourist, which BSOs likely mis-interpret 9999/10000 times. When questioning gets like that, I would say "are you questioning my eligibility to go past those doors at the exit?"
Of course, cBSa guys would say it is a question pertaining to your goods. How your profession and which conference you visited pertains to the laptop and cellphone you are carrying beats the hell out of me. The cellphone and or laptop are legal or not. Being a luddite in possession of a laptop is not a crime and it doesn't provide any "indicators". If they were smart (and yes, there are smart BSOs out there), they would realize that the goods would speak for themselves. The business card for a tech company, the hotel bill at the same resort of a conference named on a lanyard in the luggage, the boarding passes matching the days of the hotel reservation, the corporate travel itinerary, and a laptop running linux speaks for itself and doesn't require questioning, except maybe "oh man, what happened to BSD?".
...whereas a liar would be obvious and subject to escalating of the progressive search, and yes, without the need for stupid questions. BSOs have this obsession with trying to catch people lying without any sort of incriminating physical evidence. Maybe cBSa guy could elaborate why new & stupid officers ask such irrelevant questions while performing customs inspections.
All of this being said, all six of my CBSA encounters this year have been great. Including the guy at PIL in YYZ T1 who told me that his wife would be better off with that prada purse than mine. 2007 was a very engaging year, however.
...it's still not as charming as that short bald guy in YYC CBP who keeps asking me to buy him lunch, or that medium height bald guy working the crew line who once told my wife to use the machines even though the hall was completely empty with 7 agents at PIL (half of them on their cellphones waiting for the shift to end) and only us in line, all because he doesn't want the responsibility of making a judgment call himself.
Originally Posted by
CBSAguy
"Study", "Personal", or "Business" are all very vague and often require clarification for various reasons.
Maybe write to Stockwell Day and get him to expand the E311. And while they're at it, why not require all of us to submit to fingerprinting? Then that way StatsCan can get more information on us, because most Canadians are fine with it.
As a Canadian, how is this question at all important? Maybe as a topic of conversation at PIL to see what I'm really up to [ie: "how's school?", "got lots of defense contracts?", "how was the vacation", etc] , but even that is frivolous. Maybe cBSa guy can tell us the real reason: StatsCan use.
Originally Posted by
Sanosuke
Actually, Customs here in Canada *HAS* asked me for a business card and what I did for a living when I returned to YVR from a trip to LAS last year. And my home town is YYC They asked me _this_ in secondary. They also asked to search my camera and laptop. Go figure. It certainly proves that we are not immune to these types of searches at all. That is the reason for secondary!
Sanosuke!
they can certainly inspect the contents on your camera. it's a good. just like a business card you are importing is a good. asking you for a card is pretty stupid of them, they can just come across it in an inspection of your goods. if they're asking for your consent, it's obviously because they are over-stretching their authority. if they wanted your business card, they would get your business card. i would never willingly give a card to a BSO. asking your career is not a matter pertaining to your goods. it's pertaining to your personal life. as a canadian, this is a non issue. it can't be asked. cops break rules all the time; it doesn't make their acts any more constitutional. BSOs over-stretch their authority repeatedly. i don't know why you are still disputing this fact. it's like you're filibustering on a commons vote to determine if the sky really is blue. your contributions on FT are great but you're really not making sense here. maybe you're assuming i'm saying BSos cannot ask
anyone including non-permanent residents (eg: a Japanese citizen working in Canada on a visa) immigration related questions?
Originally Posted by
taupo
Dignified or not, in his own unique way Cur raised some excellent points.
as i am the guy who takes the bottle of absolut from the bar to the cyber-cafe in the MLL all so i can hoard two work stations to myself (one playing solitaire, the other playing minesweeper and acting as a coaster for said bottle), i'd say my posts are in a more non-dignified kind of way
