http://www.canada.com/national/story.html?id=81353f31-7e3f-41e8-bbaf-c077b94bc436

Big changes to how Americans and Canadians cross the border.

I find it interesting that they talk about driver's license. The DL has never been an adequate form of ID - all it says is that you passed a driver's test in Canada. It says nothing of citizenship, which is what's required.

The passport may actually speed things up because now there's no doubt about what's required, and many of them now have "computer scanning" built in for faster access.

For an American to re-enter the US I guess all you needed was DL but when I go ever I need my birth certificate...which of course has no picture on it.

Many Americans wont bother to get a passport to shop in Windsor. We'll take a hit in business...again.

I don't balme them though for doing this. If you look at realistically it makes sense.

I only take a Passport when travelling to the US or any foreign country even if its not needed.

I only take a Passport when travelling to the US or any foreign country even if its not needed.

I take my passport with me when I go to any Ontario casino :-)

I have always used my passport too. Only problem was last trip to the US, the US immigration officer was grilling me about why I had been to Mexico, Dominican Republic, etc. I made the mistake of saying "Just for a visit" rather than "Just on vacation." She came back with, "oh, who were you visiting then?"

After that I was almost tempted to pay the $70 for my Canadian Citizenship card; that way I'm not held up by a customer officer who doesn't understand that sometimes it's nice to visit somewhere warm. Good thing I haven't made a trip to Cuba yet, I'm sure that would have resulted in a strip search. :eek:

Before I got my passport, I took my DL and birth certificate. Now I just use my passport.

Funny story:
I flew back from Phoenix, 1 way, after I drove down with my parents. At the Phoenix airport, the army reserves or whoever the hell was there asked why my passport wasn't stamped when I crossed the border. I told them you never get a stamp for driving over, hell a DL and birth cert was good enough. They said that I was suppossed to get a stamp if you go 50 miles past the border, and I said heh, no stamp, sorry. They let me on but hey were pissed. Now what kind of **** ass secutiry is that, when the 'policy' is one thing and the border guards, who we told we were driving to Phoenix, dont stamp passports. What a joke.

When i flew from Buffalo to Vegas and back again, i don't think they stamped the passport at either end.

When i flew from Buffalo to Vegas and back again, i don't think they stamped the passport at either end.

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding...why would they stamp your passport when going on a flight between two American cities?

A DL is not a valid form of ID for crossing the border. It MUST be used in conjunction with a birth certificate (at least until passports are required).

My passport is very rarely if ever stamped when I cross the border.

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding...why would they stamp your passport when going on a flight between two American cities?

Being a Canadian i thought they might, especially since i'm more than 50 miles from home :D

My last trip to the states (March 2005) was the first time my passport was stamped. My previous trip (May 2004), my passport was not stamped. This time around I was not required to present my passport whent ravelling between U.S. cities. I was surprised by these changes.

I only take a Passport when travelling to the US or any foreign country even if its not needed.
I don't even have a passport.

If my employer wants to send me to Europe or the US, they can pay for it :)

I fly Vancouver to Houston, TX quite often. I've NEVER had my passport stamped. Same with driving down to Seattle.

What I find strange is that post 9-11 you could fly with 1 lighter, but not 2.

Now you're not allowed to bring a lighter. But you can bring 4 packs of matches.

A DL is not a valid form of ID for crossing the border. It MUST be used in conjunction with a birth certificate (at least until passports are required).

not true... I went to Lake Placid this winter with only a DL... Never asked for a Passport or a Birth Certificate. We even got pulled over at the border for a "random" check...Ya Random... Every MALE that looked 30 years and younger got pulled over.

This new rule may not go into effect after all...apparently someone forgot to tell the President.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7514100/

“When I first read that in the newspaper about the need to have passports, particularly today’s crossings that take place, about a million for instance in the state of Texas, I said, ‘What’s going on here?”’ Bush said when asked about the rules at a meeting of the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
What, you mean Rice, who snubbed Canada only to rescind, didn't tell her boss? After the 9/11 commission, I thought US gov't agencies were suppossed to start sharing information. I think it's kinda important for the President to know, don't you?

(I was going to say, 'hey, at least Bush can read,' but then I saw who he was speaking to and knew that his speech writer was trying to give the impression that Bush reads the daily papers)

I can't help but think that we are losing our most favoured status with the U.S. Our immigration department is so porous it's sad. When an illegal immigrant gets busted for drugs or whatever it's hearing after appeal year after year. If we can't even get rid of suspected terrorists, then more want to come over for easy access to the U.S. There are two examples here on the west coast where terrorists were caught trying to enter the U.S. with explosives. What does our Government do? Start charging a "security fee"(read tax) which has no benefit except to give us apathetic Canadians a false sense of security.

Our drug smuggling into the U.S. is at an alltime high. Grow op owners get fines and suspended sentences(at least here in B.C.)when caught red handed. So too when one of their grow ops destroys a house they are renting. As a result our underground drug industry grows and sends ever increasing amounts over the border.

Then there's our politicians. When Chretien was in power I could count on him to do the same thing time after time. The U.S. would make overtures to us about something that concerned them. He would start by making sympathetic noises, sometimes using back channels. Then within a week He would come out against the issue, confusing everybody. Then several days later he would make some further refinement. In the end it would be, "I never said we would ever be involved..." blah blah blah. Chretien hated Bush and he also hated Martin. He was so petty and small minded that he stayed in power an extra few years just to stick to Martin and he said so in a T.V. interview after he left office. Anyone who abuses their office like that for such petty reasons has become corrupted by power.

Now Martin is in power and he does much the same to the U.S. They are tired of it. They are also tired of his mouthy underlings. Parrish sounding off about how she hated those American Bastards, and two or three other incidents I'm sure alert readed can recall.

The thing of it is, Canada benefits greatly from being next door to the U.S. Slightly over 80% of all our exports get purchased and sent to the U.S. If they ever decide they don't want to do business with us and close the borders, our economy would collapse like a cheap lawn chair. And we get to exist with a greatly reduced military because the U.S. would come to our aid if we ever were attacked.

We need them and they need us. But Canada has become more and more anti-American. I've heard people say that the Americans had it coming to them when the two towers came down. That's a racist thought. To me that's like saying a woman deserved to be raped because she was wearing a slutty dress.

So, the American government has slowly been removing Canada from most favoured status. Putting a new duty on Canadian lumber, being overly cautious about our beef, and now a plan to require Canadian residents to carry a passport if we want into their country.

You know what? We had it coming.
:o

I really don't understand this issue. If a person can't get a passport, then I'm not sure I would want them in our country either.