Gigging in Canada ‘23

[friskinator]

LoL - you’re trying to start an international incident.

Ha, that was not my goal! I lived in Quebec for a year, but never ventured to the other provinces. However, I do know it’s hard to find comparable versions in the States.

 

[bass12]

What a difference a little rain makes…

Just a short shower last night, and air quality is back down to 29 from a dangerous 114 a few days ago.

Hoping that other provinces and states were blessed with it as well!

Yeah, the air quality has been much better here in Montreal over the past few days. Last week I could feel the irritation in my throat...

 

[jemerpi]

Can you get good poutine outside Quebec? I thought they claimed the best.

Yep. Definitely treading into deep cultural, if not political, waters.

 

[Diplock]

Aw c'mon, no controversy here. Even the most bat**** crazy western francophobes don't truly believe there's better poutine (or smoked meat) than you get in Quebec.

 

[steve_rolfeca]

Having been through customs many many times, I have seen almost every scenario.

There are a couple of different techniques that the officers will use to try to throw you off your story. One of them is illustrated here.

Denying that what you are trying to do is possible, or behaving in a somewhat aggressive manner Is intended to unnerve the person being questioned and perhaps throw them off their story if it is false.

The key here is that you were prepared and knew the law in advance. Being able to answer in a calm way with factual information is key and will diffuse this situation. If the officer Is not familiar with the statute in question and they have to go check with a supervisor, be calm and polite. Give them the time they need to verify. Just as with police officers these are trained observers. They will consider signs of nervousness or irritation as justification to dig deeper.

Another technique they will frequently deploy is to ask you the same question twice but worded in a slightly different way. Again they are looking for any inconsistencies no matter how small in your story.

If things start to go down this road don't give up hope. Preparation and patience under fire will save the day.

Customs officers run the gamut of personalities. Some are very stern/by the book individuals. Others are more easy going. They can be affected by having a bad day or a good day just like anyone. It is wise to treat them all with the same level of respect, regardless of their demeanor.

In an earlier post, someone mentioned the value of being well dressed, groomed, et cetera. This is wise advice. A disheveled, Irritated, or distracted person is going to raise red flags.

Again, boring, simple, and truthful is the recipe for success. Know the law as it pertains to your situation. Make their job easy for them.

You make a couple of excellent points about aggressiveness just being a tactic, and the importance of keeping your cool.

I went south on a shopping trip last Friday, and ran into exactly that scenario.

Crossed into the Michigan at Port Huron, stating that I hoped to buy a bass.

On the way back, I was carrying the used NSD WAV electric upright that I had just purchased for $900 USD, and was directed to parking, so I could pay the duty. That was when the wheels fell off the wagon- I had stopped for dinner, and somehow lost my store receipt. To top it off, this was my first trip to the States since I switched ISP’s from Rogers, and Ma Bell had cut off my data after running up $100 in data charges because of Google maps (!!!).

Note to self: check data coverage before leaving the country next time…

Long story short, I walked into customs well-dressed, but thoroughly distracted, apologetic and missing key paperwork. Couldn’t even pull up the Interac email or banking app entries on my phone to confirm my story.

The customs agent went from pleasant to a real jerk pretty quickly. Initially, he told me that it was no problem, because he could look up the transaction in his system.

A moment later, he became aggressive. Not only did he state that he couldn’t find the transaction, but told me that s.) I shouldn’t have tried to cross the border without the proper paperwork, and b.) I had no business shopping in the States!

I was tempted to point out that we have import duties for a reason (ie; cross-border shopping isn’t illegal), and to further point out that Canada would be in a hell of a mess without cross-border trade. I could have gotten into it further, as my father was a Canadian dealer for Deagan vibes and Artley woodwinds back in the late 60’s, and made many a run through Detroit as an importer.

Thankfully, I kept my cool, apologized, and explained that I had no idea I’d lost my receipt until after I’d crossed the border.

He immediately eased up, and told me I could pay the duty at my stated purchase price. Almost instantly, the mood changed, and the clerk was chatty and friendly as I paid the bill.

The whole deal threw me for a loop, and although I’d kept my cool with the agent, I was chewing the steering wheel most of the way home. This was a first for me- IME, trips to the States are normally the other way ‘round: stern, suspicious and a little scary on the way south, cheerful and breezy on the way back.

Forewarned is forearmed: In furure, I’ll be much more careful about receipts. Also, now that I’m aware that aggression is simply a tactic to try and catch people in a lie, I won’t let it bother me as much.

 

[steve_rolfeca]

Smoke update: I live way south by Canadian standards, on flat, lightly wooded terrain just 2 hours ENE of Detroit. We couldn’t be much further from areas affected by forest fires.

However, the air quality count has taken another nosedive- it was just over 100 last week shortly before we got a bit of rain, spiked to 226 as of today. I could feel it in my chest while doing yard work on Sunday night, and actually taste smoke and feel some irritation in my nssal passages in the house yesterday. This was with the windows closed and the aircon running.

My youngest son has CF, and was admitted to hospital yesterday because it aggravated an existing lung infection.

This is a first in my lifetime, and I actually broke down and ordered an air purifier and a filter subscription last night. It’s a strange thing to live in a normally green, pleasant Canadian college town and look out at brown, hazy skies. Like something out of a movie…

 

[Jason Hollar]

Update: So we made it! Because of my concerns, the venue owner hired a border / artist rep company who handled some official-looking paperwork who then reached out to immigration advancing our arrival. One thing that seemed to work in our favor was rendezvousing in Buffalo then caravanning through the same lane so the agent had the heads up.

Did our first shows today. Super mellow winery gig in prep of a larger event there next week.

We’re using a bunch of rented sound gear and much to my absolute delight, I got a proper lil Traynor for my backline. I am quite pleased!

 

[Jason Hollar]

So a final follow up report for posterity.

Having the artist rep company prepare paperwork and advance our itinerary definitely helped at the border. The agents were polite and asked the requisite questions but ultimately no delays going in or out.

Although I didn’t have any direct contact with the artist rep company I’m happy to pass on their info to anyone interested - please just send me a private message.

Apart from that, we were extremely blessed with good weather, great food, wine, comfortable accommodations, and even nicer people!