Former Lancastrian

Oh boy do you have a lot to learn in life. So the 6 recent trips to Jamaica or Colombia might not be of interest to any Border Officer.
Are you honestly suggesting Canadians don't smuggle drugs, weapons and child porn into Canada. Perhaps where they have been and a few other indicators helps us catch these individuals.
Do you think they just walk up to us and say "Hey Ive got 2 kilos in my suitcase or check my laptop there are some pictures of 6 year old naked girls in a file.

Gozit

No... I don't mind the scanning (xray) of things, and pulling into secondary if anything suspicious is found, but really, do I need to be interrogated on where, and especially WHY I've been abroad? I'd argue under the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms it is my right to enter and leave Canada as I please, so it shouldn't matter WHY I've left, or WHY i'm returning. Or WHERE I've been.

Jamaica is a popular tourist destination, not really Colombia but still, as a Canadian it is my right to enter and leave as I please.

I'd be hesitant to turn on my laptop for an IO, theres no child porn or anything wacky but i'd still be hesitant to let an IO just search through my files.......

Former Lancastrian

Well the Supreme Court of Canada have already ruled on this in several cases so you would be wasting your time and money. The courts have also ruled that we can also search your smart phones, iPads and any other electronic devices so for future reference my advice is to bite your tongue and just comply when requested.
Taken from the Supreme Court decision R v Simmons

Sections 143 and 144 of the Customs Act do not infringe the right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure enshrined in s. 8 of the Charter . It is true that these sections do not meet the safeguards articulated in Hunter v. Southam Inc., [1984] 2 S.C.R. 145, but these standards do not apply to customs searches. The degree of personal privacy reasonably expected at customs is lower than in most other situations. Sovereign states have the right to control both who and what enters their boundaries.
SCC Cases (Lexum) - R. v. Simmons

Sally Redux

Can they stop citizens coming back into their country of citizenship?

I've never thought about it.

I don't remember ever being asked where I've been when entering the UK.

Former Lancastrian

Short answer Yes as in questioning and search the persons baggage. You have a right of entry but it doesn't stop you being searched or questioned by Customs.

Jerseygirl

At which point you are sent to secondary and an officer slaps on the latex gloves...

Sally Redux

Thanks.

If you don't answer, does it become a police matter?

*humming* 64, 46, BMW!

Dashie

If you've got nothing to hide, then what's your problem? An officer is not going to waste their time reading through all the shit on your laptop, they would most likely look in a few random, pertinent places, if they had reason to suspect you. They would have neither the time or inclination to do want to delve for no reason. The turning on of devices is purely to see that they are what they say they are, not just concealing something within the casing.

Of course they ask the questions, it's their job to weed nasties out. And yes, and some will be Canadians.

A while ago, there was an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in Europe, and it's asked on landing cards if you have been on a farm. How many Canadians would necessarily know that they could have spread that disease to farms here too? Pretty small ask to prevent millions of dead livestock, bankrupt farmers etc. Would have been devastating.

Yes, it's your right to re-enter Canada, but I believe it is also everyone's responsibility to comply with the law and help keep Canada 'safe', no? One of the easiest ways I would have thought to do that would be to let the Border Officials do their job and answer their questions. I know that some can be jobsworths but if it weeds out some coke and kiddie porn then I think it's a small price to pay for telling them where you've been. And like I say, what do you have to hide by not telling them?

Sally Redux

Do you have to go abroad to get kiddie porn?

I always comply with rules but sometimes I do wonder if we've let things go too far.

Former Lancastrian

No UKBA and CBSA would deal with it but if serious enough local police could be contacted to lay charges and then have you appear in court.
As for the child porn you can get it in Canada but certain countries are lets say a bit less stringent about what goes on in their countries be it child porn or sex tourism with children. A quick google search will point you in the right direction if thats what floats your boat.
Just a small example (not of the porn )
25 Canadians among 57 men arrested in international child porn probe

Just do a google search Vancouver man charged with child porn
and see what results you get it might disturb you.

Gozit

No you don't, but, fun fact, you can be tried and found guilty in the US and Canada I believe for going to a brothel in Brazil, where brothels are legal.

Guess I can take that one off the bucket list

I have always complied so far as I've never re entered entirely on my own so it hasn't been entirely up to me what I say at the border and most times i'm not talked to, its the adult i'm travelling with.

In most situations I would comply, sometimes begrudgingly, but I would... but if like schnooks I was questioned by a third country IO as to why I have one or both of my two nationalities, that is none of their business. Its Malta or Canada's business depending on which one they are asking about.

Heres one for you FL, why would any IO, be it in Canada or UK or anywhere else, have a valid reason to ask how I obtained my nationalities, with the exception that the nationality they are questioning is that of the country they are representing?

Sally Redux

It doesn't look like a border issue, they were trading images online.

I thought the laws of the country you are in apply to your actions - otherwise kids from the US who go to Mexico to drink at 18 would all be prosecuted when they got back.

BritInParis

Depends. If there's a law in your home country saying that going abroad to commit a crime is itself a crime then you can be prosecuted when you get back. Underage sex tourism and fighting in Syria spring to mind as UK specific examples.

Former Lancastrian

So how many people do you think have claimed refugee status in Canada from other countries and then have later gone back to those countries or retained citizenship of that country they are claiming refugee status from?
Do you might not think that the officer is just merely interested in how you became a dual citizenship with no other motive i.e. just being friendly?
So it is my business as to how you hold dual citizenship just in case you might be one of those dumb enough to claim refugee status from a country but keep on going back there.

Sally Redux

I suppose that makes sense.

So when they look they might question people coming off flights from certain destinations?

I guess I've never flown in from an exotic place.