So long, Canada

[babylonsister]

So long, Canada

Strict new border policies are turning Canada into a foreign country. Is this any way to treat our neighbors?

By Edward McClelland


May 1, 2008 | WINDSOR, Ont. -- It was a snowy March night in Windsor, Ont. On the stage of Jason's Executive Lounge, the French Canadian stripper seemed to be asking herself, "Why did I bother to undress?" A royal-blue robe draped over her forearms as she danced to the low-volume disco bip-bip-bipping out of the nightclub's heavy-duty speakers. A muted floodlight cast a pale glow on her bare belly. Three men sat alone at their tables, sipping cranberry-juice cocktails and bottles of Labatt's Blue. The dancer's eyes wandered toward the door. She'd come all the way from Montreal and gotten naked for this?

It wasn't a wild night at Jason's, the club that had founded the "Windsor Ballet," the string of nudie bars whose hormonal scent once lured carloads of American men across the Detroit River to indulge in un-American activities. The drinking age in Ontario is 19. You can buy Cuban cigars at Fidel's Havana Lounge, a once busy tavern-humidor. Even prostitution is legal in the privacy of your own motel room.

"It used to be everybody went back and forth," reminisced Brad McLellan, manager of Jason's Executive Lounge. "It was, 'Where you going? Have a good time.' Then the U.S. side started tightening up after 9/11."

Five years ago, Jason's canceled its lunch specials, long popular with Detroiters off the domestic leash during business hours. Border inspections caused such long backups that customers couldn't get back to the office on time. Now the nightclub has a new headache -- the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), a law that's bringing the phrase "May I see your papers?" to America's frontiers.

In January, the Department of Homeland Security began demanding proof of citizenship -- such as a birth certificate -- of everyone who enters the United States by land. Starting in June 2009, the rules will be even stricter: a passport or similar federally approved document.

Already, Windsor has lost half its American business -- visits dropped from 7.5 million in 1999 to 3.76 million in 2004 -- and McLellan expects to lose even more. "I think the Americans will probably stop coming because it's a hassle to them unless they have a cottage {in Canada}," McLellan said. "A lot of Canadians will stop going over, too. When you get four people who want to go to a Red Wings game, and two of them have a passport, and two don't, they're going to stick together."

more...

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/05/01/canadian_border/

[orangerevolution]

1. What countries are not foreign countries

in your opinion?

Just curious.

[Demeter]

3. If You didn't live near the border, you wouldn't understand

Canada and US were sisters. Now we are estranged by a psychopath.

[Demeter]

2. And It's Just As Bad On Our Side

but there's a madman in charge, and no adults willing to take him out or on.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. But what about the North American Union?

Won't that make us all one big happy family?

:sarcasm:

[pegleg]

5. Don't hold your breath. It'll only get worse from here on out.

Someday you won't be able to travel anywhere without papers. Ain't freedom great?! Thanks Mr. Bush

[Preston120]

6. Hey, We have secret courts, secret police, state secrets act.

Makes you think were in the Soviet Union before it went bust.

[depakid]

7. People also shouldn't forget that Canada can and does refuse entry for old misdemeanors

on people's records. If border agents run your record and find something like a reckless driving ticket or a DUI (could be 20 years old) they'll kick you out of the country.

http://www.canadasborder.com/

[Doctor_J]

8. Great. When WWIII breaks out, Canada will be on the other side

Is there any country except Israel that * hasn't made an enemy of ?

[Billy Burnett]

9. Never.

Kanada will continue to be an Amerikan bootlicking country.