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International News

Minor criminal records can stop border crossing

October 25, 2013 posted by Steve Brownstein

While a notorious sex offender wanted on a Canada-wide warrant entered the United States despite a massive manhunt, lesser-known wannabe visitors - from killers to shutterbugs - have been turned away recently at Saskatchewan's border.

A Kentuckian with a record for murder and manslaughter, a pair of "foreign nationals" without a visa who wanted to set foot on Canadian soil to snap a picture, and a Tennessee couple ostensibly headed to Regina to "check out the nightlife" with seven cellphones linked to the sex and drug trade - all knocked on Canada's door at the Saskatchewan-U.S. border, but weren't welcomed inside the country.

Travellers with recent driving under impairment (DUI) convictions were also turned away, according to summer border highlights issued by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA).

It's a striking contrast to the seemingly open door that greeted Michael Sean Stanley at Uncle Sam's border. The 48-year-old fugitive - whose rumoured presence inspired such fear in some Saskatchewan communities last week that schools were put on lockdown - crossed into Washington at a legal entry port on Monday. Edmonton police say U.S. border authorities knew about his situation when they let him in.

The American-born Stanley, who went on the lam after cutting off an electronic ankle bracelet that was later found atop a Lloydminster building, has a lengthy criminal record in Canada for violent and sexual offences, including child abduction. He also has a record in the U.S. But he's currently wanted only in Canada for breach of a peace bond, stemming from removal of his anklet.

Recent monthly roundups for border crossings in southern Saskatchewan show myriad reasons people were refused entry - from a North Dakota worker with a Nevada record for drunk driving, drug trafficking and child neglect who wanted to get a haircut in Estevan to a commercial trucker from Georgia with a conviction for vehicular homicide.

While unable to comment on Stanley's entry, since that's for American border officials to do, CBSA spokesperson Lisa White said a criminal record for serious and minor offences - even as basic as a recent DUI - can bar entry to Canada.