Boater fine over (US/Canada) border crossing irks Thousand Islands residents

[alp227]

Source: CBC News

Boater fine over border crossing irks Thousand Islands residents

A group representing landowners from the Thousand Islands on the St. Lawrence River said the fining of an American fisherman who strayed into Canadian waters near Gananoque, Ont., has created uncertainty on both sides of the border.

On May 30, 22-year-old Roy Andersen, of Baldwinsville, New York, was fishing in the Gananoque Narrows when Canada Border Services Agency officers boarded his boat and informed him that he had entered Canadian waters.

Asked if he had phoned in to say he was crossing, Anderson said he hadn't. Agency officials fined him $1,000, which he had to pay on the spot with his credit card to avoid having his boat seized.

Orm Murphy the head of the Thousand Islands Association, said the incident created "terrific uncertainty" for boaters, many of whom had operated on the understanding that as long as the boater had a license to fish in the region and didn't drop anchor, they wouldn't be fined.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2011/07/25/ottawa-gananoque-border-fishing-incident.html

[MineralMan]

1. That's a knotty problem, indeed.

Here in Minnesota, we have lots of waters that extend into both countries. There's no line on the water, so crossing borders happens a lot. GPS can help, but it's not a panacea. I don't fish in those waters, so it's not an issue with me, but it sure is for a lot of anglers. If Canada's going to start taking a hard line on this, it's going to piss off a lot of anglers. Many of them book Canadian fishing trips, too, and retaliation may include a big drop in Canadian angling trips.

Where there's no line, there are bound to be incursions across borders. It's just inevitable. Tolerance is needed.

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. So they lose a lot of American dollars, and they also lose a lot of Americans.

Sounds like a wash, to me.

[RC]

2. Canada is becoming more like us, US, every day that passes.

[formercia]

7. We were the Assh0les first

The US set the Bar, now, the Canadians are catching up.

[itsrobert]

3. But what about the French, Ranch, and Blue Cheese residents?

?

[trud]

10. dressings, lol :-) n/t

[oldhippydude]

11. lettuce

ponder

[christx30]

4. What I would have done in that case

is to pay it with the credit card, then as soon as they left, got on the cell phone and called the credit card company and put a block on it as I sailed south. There is always at least a 12 hold on charges that high. They want to come seize the boat? Gotta talk to US authorities.

[MineralMan]

5. One question on this, though, that isn't answered.

Is this a new policy or is it the action of one border person who had a wild hair up his butt or who took offense somehow at this particular angler?

I don't know the answer to the question. It matters, though.

[LetTimmySmoke]

6. This sounds like a simple case of cop extortion.

[Captain Lee]

9. I've had that happen before

Canadian border control is official extortion.

Friend and I were going to Vancouver for the weekend. We got stopped by their Border Control by some guy with an attitude, put into a holding cell, our car was ransacked, and they did complete background checks on us. This was 1996, so WAAAAYYYY before the Patriot Act thing was started. Turns out my buddy had a DUI in Alabama 15 years prior. After hours of waiting, they declared him to be an official undesireable and unable to enter Canada unless he paid for rehabilitation training (I assume some kind of driver's ed). He didn't have to ATTEND the training, just PAY for it. Preferably in 10s and 20s, I'm sure.

We declined to pay, so a Canadian Mounty escorted us back to the border. To express our discontent, just prior to crossing back into the US, we tossed empty beer bottles into the lawn outside the Canadian crossing station.

Of course, since we were denied entry, the US side had to do their search and checks. However, they at least were apologetic about it and gave us good advice. Next time we go to Canada, lie. So next week I sailed right through on my way to Whistler.

[Devil_Fish]

12. That is a dicked move. the boarder goes right down the middle of that river.

the boarder also goes right through the middle of the great lakes.

[Bombero1956]

13. I have a question somewhat related to the issue of seizure

I just came back from Toronto and saw signs on the roadside that said that speeding 50 KPH beyond the speed limit was punishable by a $10,000 fine, roadside license revocation and seizure of your vehicle. How would that work with an American driver? I was sure to obey the speed laws there and by no means am I a speed demon but I had to wonder what would happen in the case of an American. How can the Canadian government revoke something they don't issue and how can they seize something another country's bank owns?