Mexico is unhappy with the United States over border enforcement, but our situation with Canada receives little attention. Millions of potential tourists from the United States are deemed undesirable by Canadians, and we did not even know it.
A man from Jackson explained by telling the story of a friend who used to fish in Canada every year.
"They won't let him in anymore because he has a drunk-driving on his record," the guy said.
Could this be true?
Over a lifetime, I have redistributed thousands of U.S. tourist dollars north of the border during at least 15 trips into Canada without hearing any talk of drunken drivers being banned.
On my first trip into Canada without parents, I was ordered into the secondary inspection area at the Windsor border for being so goofy it was suspicious. Officers blew whistles at me when, plagued by a full bladder, I wandered off in search of relief.
Not then nor on any later trip did a Canadian customs officer ask if I am a drunken driver.
But I looked it up. The ban is real.
Canadian law allows, and apparently lately encourages, denial of entry to visitors convicted of crimes including drunken driving, drugs and theft. It does not matter how old the cases might be.
Former President George W. Bush should be banned from Canada because he has a drunken-driving conviction.
It makes no difference to Canada that Bush's crime is 34 years old. It makes no difference that he quit drinking in the 1980s and became a reasonably productive citizen. It makes no difference that former presidents have designated drivers at all times.
Bush can apply for Canadian "rehabilitation" because his crime is more than 10 years old. But that requires paperwork and a fee.
These rules are not new, but Canada stepped up enforcement in recent years.
Stricter enforcement could be linked to enhanced security after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It probably has a lot to do with advancement of computer systems that can check the background of sight-seers.
"It (denial of entry) didn't used to happen very often, but now there's an improvement in the information they have available," said Philip C. Curtis, a Jackson attorney who specializes in immigration.
Drunken driving, drugs and theft are not trivial, but they are common mistakes that millions of good people, like President Bush, put behind them.
Except when visiting Canada.
Our nation must be bulging with undesirables when viewed from the north.
