CanuckTravlr
TUG Member
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2016
- Messages
- 2,011
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- Location
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Resorts Owned
- HGVC Ocean 22
I agree there have been some improvements under the current administration. Perhaps read my comments and the two articles in my post #19. The US and each state is certainly free to set its own rules. I can then freely decide as to whether I wish to abide by them, or else not visit. But if I choose to cross the border, I am certainly not going to deliberately lie and break the rules.
There was nothing "inadvertent" about these two offenders, which got the ire of many others here as well. Deliberate offenders, IMO, should not get the same treatment as those who inadvertently make a mistake. I'm not sure if it was a "couple" or just two individuals. I have certainly seen nothing indicating it one way or the other. So how do you think they should have been treated in the middle of a pandemic? A $500 fine, a slap on the wrist, "bad boy (or girl)" and be sent on their way? If so, we definitely don't agree. While the fines were certainly large and unusual, there has not previously been such an egregious case. As I pointed out, the fines could have been higher or even involved jail time.
Also, please don't put words in my mouth. Now it seems you are being defensive. Where did I say I have a disdain for Americans or Florida? Both my wife and I have many friends and family in the US and have spent time over many decades travelling and visiting there (in 37 of the 50 states so far). That includes multiple visits to Florida, including one coming up in November, if the land border is open. We enjoy visiting Florida, but I don't have to like everything about it. I was only using it as a example, since I am somewhat more familiar with it.
If you want to comment on our rules and fines, then turnabout is fair play. It has nothing to do with a dislike of individual Americans or even individual states, so stop trying to make it so. I referred specifically only to the "idiot-fringe-element" (my choice of terminology), not Americans in general. That interpretation was yours. Many of your own countrymen describe them the same way these days, but to be clear I am not talking about any particular "political" group, but those who don't feel the rules apply to them. They also exist here and in many other countries.
With respect to the Kinder Surprise Eggs, this is an ongoing issue, mostly inadvertent. I used it somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Many Canadians and Americans have been surprised to learn of the rule. As you suggest, it is normally a minor offence and is handled by a brief time spent in the border office and the confiscation of the offending candy.
There have though been a couple of times where an overzealous border guard has taken it a bit too seriously and threatened more serious treatment. To lighten the mood a bit, here is a piece of satire done a few years ago, poking fun at the rule and painting a more "serious" scenario involving a fictional group of women in BC, who were supposedly caught deliberately and knowingly breaking the rules by smuggling in large quantities of Kinder Eggs. Just like our two recent border offenders, if it were true, I would expect them to be dealt with more harshly than someone just making a mistake!
Canadian Kinder Surprise smuggling ring broken up by US officials | CBC Radio
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