Blue Water Bridge Blues
 

Long story short: Had my first negative encounter with a Canadian Customs officer. I was visiting my best friend from High School( we've known each other for over 40 years) in Port Huron, and being a train buff and Canada-phile, I talked him into taking a train day trip from Sarnia to London( had never been there). Running late on the Bridge( very long story), we got to the Canadian side and then when asked by the customs agent our plans we related them to him and his incredulous response was: "why would anyone go to London for the day -- that makes no sense" He then went on to grill us about our background and plans and he continued to imply we must be up to no good because no one in their right mind would take a train trip to London for a day. When he finally decided that while we were obviously crazy we must not be a threat to Canada. Besides he insisted we'd miss our train( we didn't) so it didn't really matter.

Anyway we did make the train, had a decent trip to London ( although I wouldn't rush back) and returned to the States with little incident. Everyone else we met in Canada was, as usual, unfaillingly polite. Being from Michigan and having a grandmother from Newfoundland, I'm very familar with Canada and love visiting. This was my first negative experience with crossing the border and was so upset by it that I thought I would relate it if only to get it "off my chest".

ETM

Don't worry, they hassle Canadians doing mileage runs. The expanse of their view of normal travel behaviour is this ==> <== wide. I've usually found land crossing agents better than those at airports.

Not to make excuses but your story probably provoked concern that you could have been doing a drug deal. The fact that you weren't subjected to secondary inspection indicates that your version was accepted. The border agents have expectations of what constitutes a normal visit and a day trip by train to London, as you found out, is not a normal tourist trip.

While I appreciate and understand your comment, if you could see us two 57 year old doofuses and could have heard his tone of voice, I think you would have concluded that this was more than just a legitimate concern that we might be running drugs. He was exceedingly rude and disgusted with our very existence( maybe he just got moved to the am shift and wasn't a morning person!) Anyway, it was no big deal since we made our train and had our little day trip. It certainly hasn't deterred me from coming back to Canada( but maybe for more than a day the next time)

ETM

Same here. I have two friends that work customs. They started off at YVR but their general perception is/was that working at the airports sucks. Can't remember exactly why. They posted into other areas as soon as they could.


My customs buddy once told me that if something seems odd (eg. trip to London :confused:) they're supposed to quiz it in more detail. And they're supposed to ask or say things that take you out of your comfort zone to try to fish for a slip/true answer. I suspect some agents are more "professional" at this than others.