It was almost 3 years since we crossed the border. Since ARRIVECAN was dropped, Oct 1, it was now ok for us to come BACK to Canada without a vaccine. So, on NOV 13 2022 we decided to go to Detroit, FOR THE FIRST TIME since the COVID INSANITY BEGAN. I thought my wife and I might pick up a turkey for Christmas, a few cutting disks for my shop, and finish off with a meal at Olive Garden. That is what we planned.
We live in Windsor, Ontario Canada and, before covid, I commuted to Detroit several hundred times since 1974. Before we got to the tunnel, I made sure to break a $50 bill to have change for the tunnel fare. I should have realized that something might go wrong when I arrived at the Detroit Windsor Tunnel and the big signs read "NO CASH" "CREDIT OR DEBIT ONLY"
What happened to TOKENS, CASH? So I paid credit and I drove through the tunnel.
When I got to the other end the custom officer asked all of the customary questions. "Citizenship?" I replied "Canadian". Then he asked "Purpose of your trip?" and I answered "We will be going shopping and then perhaps a restaurant" Then he asked "When will you be going back?" I said, "by 8 or 9 pm, within 5 or 6 hours" Then he asked THE QUESTION I WOULD SOON DREAD........................
"ARE YOU FULLY VACCINATED?"
I said "NO"...
I'm sure, that before he asked that question, he fully suspected my answer, since I was already told by many vaccinated friends that US CUSTOMS never asks that question. His computer system probably flagged me, that I was a frequent traveller who hadn't been across since March 2020. If I had been vaccinated, I would have probably been across the border when it first opened up to vaccinated travellers in 2021.
Now if US CUSTOMS just turned me around and sent me back to Canada, that would have been bad enough but...
The officer put an ORANGE sticker on my windshield and said "Follow the officer ahead"
They directed us to a parking spot. They rifled through my wife's purse looking for I don't know what. They told me to put the car keys on the dashboard along with any electronic phones "Leave your keys and phones on the dash and go to the office" We found our way to the customs office and when we got there an officer signaled to me to bring my ORANGE sticker to him. Then he said to me "YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST LIED."
They gave me a big white piece of paper DENIED ENTRY...and sent us back to the car. I really hadn't looked at the paper and was still optimistic as I was walking back to the car. When I got back I noticed that not only were all of my car doors wide open, but also the hood was up exposing the engine. BECAUSE MY WIFE AND I DIDN'T HAVE AN mRNA GENE INJECTION, THEY WERE TREATING US LIKE CRIMINALS !
I handed the paper to the officer outside and they directed us to the toll gate going BACK TO CANADA. So now we have a record of "BEING DENIED ENTRY TO THE US" Many times when I crossed the border they asked "HAVE YOU EVER BEEN DENIED ENTRY TO THE US?" and for 45 years I have been able to say "NO" but now my wife and I will have this on our records.
AND IT DOESN'T STOP THERE. When I got back to Canada, I had to declare why I was back after only 20 minutes. "We were denied entry because we didn't have the vaccine." I replied. And guess what.? The officer on the Canadian side said that HE WOULD NEED THAT WHITE PIECE OF PAPER, WHY WE WERE DENIED ENTRY! SO NOW THIS IS ALSO IN CANADIAN CUSTOM IMMIGRATION RECORDS.
I believe when Trudeau lifted the ARRIVECAN APP he never intended to let an unvaccinated Canadian travel freely across the US-CANADA border. He did this while the Americans still had the border vaccine mandate in place. I hate to say this, but I fear that as soon as the US border vaccine mandate is lifted, Trudeau will again implement the mandate on this side. As a result, my wife may never again be able to visit her father in Montana and we may never be allowed to see our friends in the US again. Call me NEGATIVE but masks and vaccines, in Ontario schools and Universities, never fully went away and my daughter is burdened with a huge school debt for a degree that she was never able to finish. They are not relenting. They are not relenting... and now some dare ask us to just "move on".
Meanwhile on the Southern border of the US... don't get me started.
Dan Laskowski