Canadian Border Tightens Due to Info Sharing

blu3 b0y writes "The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that new information sharing agreements have made it as easy for a Canadian border officer to know the full criminal records of US citizens as it is for their local police. As a result, Canadian officials are turning away American visitors for ancient minor convictions, including 30-year-old shoplifting and minor drug possession convictions. Officials claim it's always been illegal to enter Canada with such convictions without getting special dispensation, they just had no good way of knowing about them until recent security agreements allowed access. One attorney speculates it's not long before this information will be shared with other countries as well, causing immigration hassles worldwide."

Comments

Tit for Tat

[cdneng2]

This article isn't about Canada being a police state.

It was the US that wanted Canadians to have passports to enter the US. Canada implemented the same requirement for Americans entering Canada.

It was the US that wanted the sharing of criminal records for Canadians travelling into the United States, so Canada implemented the same thing for all Americans visiting Canada.

It was the US that instituted the tightened security measures, Canada just followed suit.

Canadians are already being screened this way entering the US, why are Americans upset when Canada starts doing the same thing?

Re:Funny

[Forseti]

That just doesn't make any sense...

I live next to a Canadian border. Believe me, U.S. Customs/DHS turns people away.

I'm with you so far. I lived on the Canadian side of the US-Canada border for a long while, and had a job where we had to travel to the states often. People get turned back all the time, even without criminal records.

A friend of mine is a permanent U.S. resident, but is not a U.S. citizen.

So, green card then? Or American-Indian status? Aren't any other PERMANENT visa types that I'm aware of...

He was born in Canada. But, he's not a Canadian citizen either as he was born on a Native American reservation in Canada.

Now that just doesn't make any sense. If he was born in Canada, Indian or not, he's a Canadian citizen. Canadians are even allowed dual citizenship! Plus, if he has Aboriginal status, which requires more than just being born on a reservation, then he has rights to freely cross the US-Canada border in any direction and immigration & customs on either side can't do shit to stop him, as long as he has his Aboriginal ID with him. Otherwise, according to you, he had a green card because of him permanent resident status. So, isn't this just a question of someone trying to cross the border without ID (never a good idea) rather than some ridiculous citizenship issue?

Exactly. This isn't really about data mining.

[perfessor multigeek]

C'mon, folks, look at the Canadian papers for five minutes and you'll know what this is really about. Canadians are enraged about "extraordinary rendition" of Canadians and their media has covered the issue intensely for years now. The DEA tried to seize Canadian property because a tunnel for running drugs ran under it. Multiple Canadians have been taken off and disappeared for years at a time, including a frickin' inkjet supply salesman who had the wrong five minute conversation with a guy suspected of being connected to Al Quada.

Canadians are pissed and they're sick of being treated like children by the Bush administration.

So this is tit for tat.

You Americans unfairly persecute Canadians? Fine. Let's see how you like it.

Even Conservatives are coming out in public to decry U.S. policies. Do you really think that none of them will find ways to get political capital out of this?

This isn't about better access to data. It's bloody well the best way yet they've found to show their anger. And don't forget for a moment that all of these cases create a bargaining chip.
"You want your citizens to have freeer access to Canada? Sure. What's in it for us?"

I guarantee you that all over the world people are laughing their asses off about this. And, frankly, I can see their point.

-Rustin