2019 RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid

Running across old news (June), I see that the RCMP did nail some Americans violating the non-essential border crossing rules:
RCMP fined 7 Americans last week for stopping to sightsee in Banff National Park
$1200 fines. On the bright side, this is only US$900 apiece.

There are valid reasons for Americans to be in Canada, including having been there continuously since before the border was closed. But lollygagging in National Parks after telling border agents post-closure that you are going directly to Alaska, is not one of them.

 

More thread drift / history & current affairs lesson ---

The border closure was extended yet again, currently to about August 20. Lather, rinse, repeat.

For a while, many cross-border couples and families were meeting inside Peace Arch Park, a 40-ish acre park straddling the border, where people from both sides can mingle without needing any Customs clearance from either side. This Park was initially closed along with the border, then re-opened in May, then BC re-closed its side in June because of excessive crowds. But Washington State (the Park is state & provincial, not federal) didn't re-close its side.

Some immigration lawyers dug into history, particularly the Treaty of Ghent, signed in 1814 (in Belgium) to clean up various messes from the War of 1812 and give back territory each side captured during the hostilities. The Treaty forbids either side from putting barricades within ten feet of the border. That means BC effectively can't block Canadians from stepping off 0 Avenue in Canada onto the U.S. side of the Park without violating the Treaty.

The penalty for either side breaking this Treaty is that the offender must give back the lands they got back via this Treaty. So if BC barricades its citizens from accessing the U.S. side of the Park, the U.S. could legally reclaim parts of Southern Ontario and Quebec. Similarly, if the U.S. violated the Treaty, Canada could reclaim parts of Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Cross-border mingling near Peace Arch still a walk in the park, says lawyer from Washington state