Canadians securing their borders

Last week President Trump was busy signing executive orders to keep the bad guys out of the country, at least that’s the way he and many folks in the Grand Old Party put it.

Having lived in Montana for nearly 20 years now, I long ago gave up on identifying bad guys by just lookin’ at them. I mean, the other day I was in the store and this guy asked me if I was finding everything I needed OK.

He didn’t exactly look like the average store clerk. He had a scruffy sorta beard with a baseball hat on and a ratty looking shirt.

But the instant he opened his mouth he was friendly and helpful and I ended up buying something.

This whole immigration thing looks to be a two-way street. Just ask the Canadians.

While we’re looking to keep the Syrians out, the Canadians were busy keeping an eye on their American brothers to the south. To wit:

The Canada Border Services Agency in Saskatchewan noted that in 2016 they welcomed more than 715,500 travelers in more than 181,700 cars, 139,100 commercial trucks, 150 buses, 2,600 aircraft, and 1,500 trains.

But not everyone was friendly, because they also...

• Confiscated 21 undeclared firearms, including 14 handguns, at Saskatchewan land border crossings. An interception of weapons and firearms, including an AM-15 semi-automatic assault rifle, resulted in a $3,000 court sentence for smuggling. Another traveler was fined $10,000 after tossing a loaded .45-caliber handgun onto the pavement at the North Portal crossing.

• Officers seized suspected child pornography on six different occasions – three at international airports and three at the land border. Officers at North Portal also demonstrated protection of children by removing a United States man attempting to enter Canada to live with a 13-year-old minor he claimed was his girlfriend.

• In addition to guns, officers confiscated more than 1,600 switchblade knives found inside a commercial trailer at North Portal. Other prohibited weapons seized included brass knuckles, stun guns, and pepper spray.

That’s a lot of switchblades.

• In addition, they refused entry to 480 foreign nationals, including:

• A Michigan man convicted of child abuse and sexual assault.

• A New Jersey man convicted of assault with intent to murder.

• A North Carolina man convicted of impaired driving and making terroristic threats.

But my personal favorite was the fudge confiscation. Back in September, at the Monchy border crossing officers seized 258 grams of suspected marijuana-infused fudge, which was in a fridge inside a van. A Michigan woman claimed ownership and was refused entry to Canada and issued a $1,100 penalty.

There they go, making Canada great again.

Chris Peterson is the editor of the Hungry Horse News.