Double taxation just sucks :(

Actually, I believe it's the pre-tax amount.

No, it's the after tax amount, unless you received a tax rebate from the foreign government.

CBSA Site - I Declare

It's our government's way of showing how much it cares.

I was fully expecting a full cavity search upon my return LIM-YYZ this weekend when I reported zero purchases for my 30 day stay this time. The officious Asian female 20-something CBSA agent looked me in the eye and said "nothing for a month long stay?" I replied "Once you have been to Peru a few times...". She wrote huge oversized letters and numbers on my card and sent me on my way.

Upon exit at Customs, the agent simply waved me through. I don't want to jinx things but I haven't been sent to secondary for years now, ever since a weekend websaver trip YYC-FRA. :D

yeah, exactly, IMMIGRATION. canadians are not subject to IMMIGRATION. and customs is not IMMIGRATION. customs is GOODS. so they have no right to ask imm related questions beyond identifying my citizenship. anything else, i ask them what that has to do with the bottle of martini blanc or the dirty underwear in my luggage.

i love all the guys on the national ski team. they're so well off (i mean, how many kids in the ghetto had time to go skiing) such that they know better than the rest of us anti authority scumbags. i'd rather have my civil rights violated in downtown ottawa in the blind hope that it's making the streets safer from this invisible threat, ja?
life must be hard in the chalet.

there's responsible enforcement, and then there's this

I think it's best that we both stick to what we know here.

so if there is no dissatisfaction on the part of the BSo that i am in fact a canadian citizen, i must answer any and all questions pertaining to my self?

or am i just hallucinating here...

and don't pull the "answer truthfully" garbage, not answering a question is not in contravention of "answering truthfully" line, and i already answered truthfully on my E311.

As long as you signed that E311. :P

Sanosuke!

I think that, instead of avoiding his point (which is a good one, unless refuted with reliable information), you should explain *why* he is wrong...

Why start now?

STILL no rationale for why Canadian border entry is so annoying and questioning to their own citizens vs. other countries.

I once again re-entered UK today, not a peep.

Simon

Because in other [i.e. more civilized] countries, immigration agents examine passengers. Then, after the baggage claim, customs agents examine the goods being imported by the said passengers.

In Canada, passengers are [idiotically] questioned by customs agents, while they are not yet in possession of the goods being imported. Since the front-line customs agents are, obviously, physically unable to examine the goods, they try to examine passengers' minds.

One main reason I got CANPASS and then now Nexus was to avoid the inane questioning by the often gestapo-like officers when reentering Canada... made me feel really welcome home ... how you can speak to my yellow Nexus ticket as I breeze by you! Oh and if it appears it is my middle finger holding up the card ... must be a mistake ;)

My understanding is Customs and Immigration officials 'interview' arriving pax in Australia... just like Canada.

The difference is the attitude:

http://www.customs.gov.au/webdata/re...ngers_0801.pdf

I wonder what the equiv sentiment would be at Cdn. airports.

MCM.

Refuse to answer questions, fine. Just expect a lot of delays every time you travel as we verify your declaration.

I honestly can't figure out why some people here seem to have such a chip on their shoulders. I'd say a good 98-99% of the returning Canadians I see on a daily basis are pleasant and easy to deal with. The interaction usually goes something like this:

Me: Scan passport. "Where are you returning from?"
Them: "India."
Me: "Purpose of your trip?"
Them: "Visiting family."
Me: Code declaration card free to leave. Hand it back along with passport. "Welcome back."

OR

Me: Scan passport. "Where are you returning from?"
Them: "Cleveland. Was just there for meetings for the day talking about how to respond to an RFP."
Me: Notice the traveller spent $100 over his exemption. Code declaration card free to leave anyway, instead of wasting his time to pay a few dollars in tax. Hand it back along with passport. "Welcome back."

Of course I do get the odd individual, usually in a cheap business suit carrying a crisp, unopened copy of Financial Times (a superb publication, by the way), who seems to feel he is exempt from examination upon entry because he pays taxes or because he is President AND CEO of his own company, employing only himself. Some of the most pleasant people I deal with, though, are corporate executives. Shocking, perhaps, that a CFO, COO, or corporate board member would have social skills.