[Ashbys]

Colin , your not going to beleive this ... but they are talking about requiring passports to go between the US and Canada ..good lord 400 years and we are going into regression .

[Tom H]

Ashbys, Who is talking bout it USA or Canada???? Or both? Tom H

[Claude]

Ash - come on now; you know how unsavory some of those Canadians are - why, I hear that some of them even speak...french! Not to mention them coming down to the States all the time and buying our stuff. They even have some of our fruit and produce shipped up to them. I mean, really! Can't they just grow their own oranges? No - they buy ours. Working in Washington, DC, I see trainload after trainload of Florida oranges headed north. And what do they sell us in return? Not much of any importance at all - a pieces of lumber, a little bit of plywood, gallon or two of maple syrup, maybe a truckload of wheat or so. Oh, and don't forget those maritime provinces - they keep sending us salmon, when we all know the only fish worth eating is a bluegill (in spite of the fact my wife loves salmon). I guess BC also tries to sell us salmon, if I remember correctly, but do they try to sell us any bluegill - heck, no! And, have you ever gone fishing up there? Man, they make it so easy to catch wild fish it just isn't that much of a challenge anymore. Down here, our wild fish are quite few and far between, when not poisoned off by the chicken farms, so we can really appreciate the effort it takes to catch a wild fish. Heck, up there, you can drop a line in the water with a bare hook and catch a trophy fish. And booze! They even buy our Jim Beam and Gentleman Jack and take it home with them! We oughta pass a law about that or something else effective like when we had prohibition.

No - you have to agree that good old Homeland Security is doing it's best to protect us from the awful influences of our Northern neighbor.

Claude

Legal Disclaimer: If you've read this far and still haven't figured out that I'm being sarcastic and actually like Canada and Canadians, you need to come out from under your rock and get a life.

[Lynn O. Doughty]

If I remember correctly, a fella came across the border a couple years ago with a trunk full of explosives, heading for the L.A. Airport. He didn't have a passport but an alert Border Guard was able to figure out what he was up to. A passport would have been another step that could have tripped him up.

Other countries require U.S. Citizens to present identification when they arrive. Is it so wrong that we require those same safeguards?

Unfortunately, it's a different world outside now. We'd all better get used to it. I don't think it's going to change for a while.

[Kenny_S]

Well Claude, we can ship them a bunch of illegals up that away, That'll teach them.
Of course those illegals do jobs most American don't want to do. They will stay up on a roof and reroof it all day where the Americans have to get off by 11 am and come back about 5 pm and work a few hours. Those Illegals wor the trash truck, sewer jobs and work concrete too. Pay them minimum wage and they feed 4 to 6 members on those wages.
What, no Crappie in Canada? Huh, if not, thatthere land a fit fur liv'n
Yep is what sarcastic does.

[Claude]

You can get the full story here: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html A short summary is that US Citizens will be required to show a US passport to get back into the US after traveling abroad. Most non-US citiizens have had passports for years, so this is mainly going to impact US citizens travel, in my opinion. No more quick jaunts to the Caribbean, Mexico, or a sudden desire to vacation in Toronto - we'll all need to get passports first.

Claude

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Actually, I heard its Canada that is requiring the passports...the US is supposed to require a p.p to go to mexico because of all the people buying their prescription drugs there...the same drugs that are sold here for 4 to 10 times the money, but what the hay, pharmaceutical companys buy the best politicians available! thats been delayed however I heard until 2009. As for the Canadians, they would be ok...not great, just ok, if they could speak english EH? LOL and besides, do we really want people just coming and going that cut up innocent pumpkins with chainsaws?

[Hugh]

Lynn is right. The passport requirement has been initiated by the US govt, and it isn't such a big deal. To start with, it will not come into being for some time, but it will come. We live near the border, and have been listening to the retoric about the pass port requirements. It is widely believed that the Canadian Govt will initiate a program of Identification Cards. It will make me feel a little more secure crossing through customs, just to have identification that is more easily accepted. Terrorists have changed the world, but if we have nothing to hide, identification requirements can only be a benifit to all. We must unite to fight terrorism. Pasports or ID cards will unite, not divide.

[Claude]

Omigosh! I forgot about the Pumpkins!

Claude

[Claude]

Originally Posted by Kenny_S

...
What, no Crappie in Canada? Huh, if not, thatthere land a fit fur liv'n
Yep is what sarcastic does.

Actually, I maybe made it sound worse than it is. I have a friend who used to live in downtown Toronto (she's out in BC now), and she fished for carp in the lake within walking distance of downtown. I mean, nobody would eat a carp...but trying to catch one with a fly, well, you have to give her credit. Besides, she did like to eat bluegill...
Claude