They Claim Our Border is Unsafe

Before I had access to a car, I used to take the bus to the US every now and then to visit friends in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Perhaps because people riding a bus are automatically assumed to be a bigger potential problem than people travelling in cars, crossing the border was always a hassle.

On one occasion, I almost didn’t make it across because I was not carrying anything that showed I was commited to staying in Canada, like utility bills for my place of residence, rent receipts, or school records, none of which are things any normal person would bring with them on vacation. Protesting that as a Canadian citizen I would rather live in Canada didn’t make a difference. “Everyone wants to live here”, she claimed. I finally made it across because I reminded the customs officer of her son, she said.

The next time I showed up at the border I had a file folder with everything she had requested the last time: rent receipts, an overdue library book notice, a gas bill and a paystub. The unfriendly customs official asked me if I had anything to prove I was planning on staying in Canada. I confidently produced all of the evidence I had brought with me.

“If you brought all of this stuff, it must be because you don’t think you’re going to make it across the border. Why did you bring all of this? Have you been refused entry before?” And so began another 1/2 hour of hassles.

What I didn’t realize then was that if I looked like this guy:

And I was carrying “a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chainsaw stained with what appeared to be blood”, I probably would have been fine. That’s what Gregory Despres was carrying when he crossed the border into Massachusetts from New Brunswick, according to this bizarre story in the Toronto Star today.

According to the story, “Bill Anthony, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the Canada-born Despres could not be detained because he is a naturalized U.S. citizen and was not wanted on any criminal charges on the day in question.”

He did admit that it “sounded stupid” that someone carrying a bloody chainsaw could cross the border. But he said that they did everything they could to see if there were any outstanding warrants against him, and when they found nothing, they had to let him pass. In fact, Despres was due in court that day to be sentenced for assaulting and threatening to kill a man named Frederick Mowat last year.

Frederick Mowat is the son-in-law of a man named Frederick Fulton, whose decapitated body was found on his kitchen floor in Minto, NB. His wife Veronica was found dead in a bedroom in the house, stabbed to death. Despres is now in jail in the US awaiting extradition for murder charges.

And they claim that the border is unsafe…I wonder why?