The kid answered the knock at the front door of his suburban home in BC. Four large, tall men in good suits asked if his parents were home and, when he hesitated, they brushed past, walked in and each took a section of the house. Over the weak protestations of the terrified teen, they found his room, and searched it, stripped it of all electronics and ripped his cable out of the wall. All the hardware was carted off to an unmarked police cruiser with a fifth man in an RCMP uniform at the wheel.
The interrogation was brief. Harsh, cruel, threatening, frightening. Very intimidating. They told him that they were with Homeland Security and showed some ‘stinkin’ badges and, of course, threatened him with charges, trials, incarceration and, no doubt, implied bodily harm. He caved.
Seems he had been on a hacking forum. Worse, he had actually hacked something. He took nothing, sold nothing, disrupted nothing but, yes, he was in there – somewhere – skulking around. He was a young techie seeing what this hacking thing was all about.
According to the Chicago-dispatched crew of thugs in his kitchen, he had mixed on the wrong forum. Known bad guys were on that forum and now he was officially associated with them. Homeland Security would soon get him fired from his part-time job, alert the Mounties, alert CSIS, tell his school and, of course, tell his mom. He was in deep doo-doo.
They scared the hell out of him.
That was twenty years ago. Since then, the USA has struck a deal with the Canadian Coast Guard. Something called the Marine Border Protection Act or something benign-sounding is now (and has been) official policy for some time. It basically gives the US ‘authorities’ (not just the Coastguard) the right to travel as far as fifty miles into Canadian waters in pursuit of ‘evildoers’ or, of course, those suspected of anything even slightly evil, naughty or contrary to US interests. Yeah, that means boaters in the Gulf can be boarded by US authorities.
They don’t stop where the water meets the land.
Calgary Airport is somewhat recently renovated. It now sports a large section that is clearly USA dominated, as does the Vancouver Airport. Like a big-box anchor in a mall, this section looms large in the airport building. In it are a lot of US Marines and other US authority figures. When you travel to the US, they ‘pre-screen’ you there. They body x-rayed me. The US would prefer to do their border checks on OUR side of the border. ‘Course, they do ’em again when you land somewhere in the US but, hey! They can do what they want….right? “That’s right, sir. As of that line, you are now in US territory. We can arrest you and you have no rights as a Canadian in Canada whatsoever. Canada does not exist to you. You are ours!”
So, Princess Huawei’s arrest is no biggy. Trudeau claims he knew in advance. I doubt it, personally. The US has enough freedom to do what they want and they did it. They usually grab some hapless RCMP and get him or her to tag along for appearances but they arrest who they want to arrest in the ‘interests of Homeland Security’ and they have been doing it for years. Maybe they offered a gesture of a ‘heads up’ to Trudeau but, by the time he heard, it was already done. Guaranteed. It would only make sense. “Grab her, Bubba. If we get permission, great. If we don’t, we have her anyway.”
Dear fellow Canadians. Your country has no clout. We have no power. We are the pawns. We are the playthings of the USA. NOW: we are Trump’s toys. Do not forget that. OUR ‘authorities’ give speeding tickets, prosecute petty crimes, sell out the environment and take the flack for the Chicago suits and the New York suits they represent. We control nothing. Not even our own Coastguard. Not even our own airports. Not even our own oil, water or ‘rights and freedoms’.
And, as the new USMECA grows out of the old NAFTA, we have lost the right to negotiate any other free trade deal with any other country unless the US says it is OK. Arresting Huawei was just a US suit showing their control over Canada as well as cranking up the trade war with China to a new level but sacrificing Trudeau as a pawn at the same time.
As if we didn’t already know.
The following article might help. It was written in 2013. That was 6 years ago. Things have progressed….https://www.rt.com/usa/limits-canada-authority-fbi-395/
Our Off the Grid Home 
!
LikeLike
Sensible reply. Stay mum. Off their radar. “Are they really after us?” Of course not, silly. They already OWN us! We are their colony, their slave-state. Were a US subsidiary. Bill Gates owns our trains! They run Nuclear subs up our coast, fly mighty fighter jets over our skies, even deploy drug busting helicopter units for ATF training (well, they used to). It costs me more to buy a Canadian made product in Canada than it does for me to buy it in the US and have it shipped. We pay twice what an American pays for most things. Canada is like the Puerto Rico of the North and treated just as poorly.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Canada has been part of the “Five Eyes” security group which includes the US, the Uk, OZ, NZ, and Canada. Sharing intelligence information. Recently a vehicle ran the Canadian border in Surrey BC with US border agents in hot pursuit. The chase ended 10 miles later with US border patrol making an arrest near Delta BC. The Conservative Party loves this sort of law and order stuff and want more of it. I have zero compassion for any one who thinks their activities on the web are anonymous. In some cases the US sends drones to terminate such activity. We had a kid arrested years ago for downloading music on Limewire. They know where you live and they have your DNA thanks to 23 and me. My tiny protest is I have no cellphone. Ned Ludd was correct.
LikeLike
Far be it for me to totally raise something totally irrelevant, Dave. But maybe read my lion story. It might cheer you up. 🙂
LikeLike
Tracy, I read your story and it is fabulous! Sid
LikeLike
Thanks Sid. 🙂
LikeLike
LOL,, don’t worry ,,, be happy,, I don’t think so,
Nicely put together screed davidicus,
good to know, in the dark of the night our flag is still there.
LikeLike
I was doing some Reno and afterwards I couldn’t find my passport so I went down to the local York Regional police station to file a report in order to reapply for a new one. The conversation went like this.
Me: Good morning, I lost my passport and I’m here to file a report.
Cop: where you lost it?
Me: I don’t know, I couldn’t find it after doing some Reno.
Cop: Well,if you don’t know where you lost it, I can’t file the report for you.
Me: Well, if I knew where I lost it,don’t you think I would already found it?
Cop: (and I am not making this up) If you don’t tell me where you lost it, I can charge you with making a false report. (While looking dead f#$king serious)
I rolled my eye and walked right out.
This asshole was on a total power trip and so are most of the border agents ( bullet proof vest at the arrival counter WTF.)
LikeLike
Power corrupts even at passant levels.
LikeLike
Now just imagine if Tim Cook is arrested in Malaysia and extradited to China because he sold some 🍏 to some country.
If Trump is using this as a bargaining chip, he better think twice. Xi would appear weak if he caves so my guess is that he will confront Trump on this issue.
LikeLike
I don’t think he did it. I think Bolton did it. Crazy, I know. But that’s what I think. Because of that Trump will back down. Xi will save face. Trump doesn’t have one to save and Bolton will be flushed. Soon.
Trudeau will be forgiven because he is a eunuched puppet with no face at all.
And the nuthouse will deal another round of cards…
……get out, guys. Get out. Get out now! Do not pass go. Just go. Seriously.
LikeLike
To where David,to where?
LikeLike
Here at the very least. Further if you can afford it. Find a small personal community. Preferably off the grid. Ease of access is a huge thing…you don’t want it. Stay temperate and stay lean. Stay simple. No debt. Build in sustainability and plenty of storage. Make friends. Forego ease, convenience and complicated. Love your partner. Make it work for her. Think: “Three years on our own…..can we do it?” Then do it. Is it hard? A bit. Is it worth it? You’ll never go back. Can you do it.? Under 55 with SOME money? Yes. Over 65 with millions? Can’t do it.. Are you happy now? If not, that teĺls you everything you need to know.
LikeLike
That balless Trudeau is an international joke. His gender agenda is borderline creepy and the guy cries and cries and cries.
LikeLike
Nevermind that.. Neville Chamberlain of our time.
Just take hold of your own mind, your own life, your own destiny. Do the right thing!
LikeLike
What is ‘stiorage’?
LikeLike
Well, it’s a bit like COVFEFE, ya know?
LikeLike
About 5 years ago I was back in Halifax visiting relatives.
I went to the local shopping market for food. I’m standing in line and this HUGE guy is in front of me holding a basket of food.
He was in uniform and wearing a gun.
I didn’t recognize the uniform and stepped sideways to have a look.
US Customs off duty, buying groceries, wearing his gun….
Even off duty Canadian cops aren’t allowed to wear their guns…..
I asked him if he was working,
“Nope!”
“And your wearing your gun?”
He glared at me and knew exactly what I was referring to.
Canada, The 51st State
LikeLike
Yeah. NOT only are we the 51st state (or worse) he glared at you. Typical US authority figure. Intimidating people for no reason. SOME of our cops do it too. Less the RCMP, more the VPD. Idiots. Tough guys. Even where they are guests, they think they OWN the place.
Forgive me. I am not comfortable around idiots, uniforms, authority or belligerence.
LikeLike