Crossing into Canada was an absolute nightmare. I should preface this by saying it could have been much worse. That said, we were treated like criminals. Even though we had no good reason to be concerned, Jacob and I were extremely nervous and uncomfortable as we sat in the waiting area anticipating our interrogation.
We were questioned profusely by a young "gentleman" with zero personality, the van was thoroughly tossed, and about an hour-and-a-half later we were safely on our way to Vancouver. The horrible feeling stayed with us for quite some time and resurfaced in full not 30 minutes down the road when I was pulled over by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Flashing lights in my rearview mirror were the last thing I wanted to see. At least I knew we were clean and legal, but my worst fears started to mount as I speculated as to the reason for the stop.
Apparently there is a group of people who refer to themselves as "Freemen" who believe the laws don't apply to them. They go around doing whatever they please and have even killed police officers in the past. The RCMP who pulled me over suspected we were a part of this group because of the odd license plates on my vehicle. The van has antique plates from Virginia and in his defense, they look totally homemade.
It only took a few moments of conversation to defuse the situation and Jacob and I agree that this fellow was by far the nicest policeman we had ever encountered – just a really great guy. We talked about our border crossing experience and he told us the U.S. guys do the same thing to Canadians all the time.
It's a real shame that's what it has come to. I remember driving into Canada from Vermont as a young man without incident on numerous occasions, it was barely any different than crossing state lines. I understand the need for security, but in the wake of 911 and with new laws like the Patriot Act, we have taken our concern for safety to absurd and unwarranted heights, in my opinion.
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