Canada can bar door for DUI

Darin Patrick's lifelong dream nearly ended at the Canadian border.

Immigration officials checked his identification and told him his drunken-driving conviction prohibited him from entering the country. He sat in a truck full of his possessions, fearing a nearly 5-year-old crime would end his plans to move to Alaska.

After driving 85 miles to a customs office, paying a $200 Canadian ($130 U.S.) fine and sitting through an hourslong interrogation about his drinking habits, Patrick was allowed to drive from North Dakota into Saskatchewan in early June.

Recent revisions to the law have made it a bit easier for visitors to enter Canada, said Angela Battison of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which took effect June 28, is more forgiving than the 26-year-old law that said anyone with a DUI conviction had to pay the fine and submit to questioning. Now, if the conviction is more than 10 years old, officials only do a criminal-background check.

Those changes are getting modest praise from both visitors and tourism officials, especially since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which prompted Canadian immigration officials to question more people and turn them back for various reasons.

But the law is still catching people off guard. One private-ferry operator sometimes sees five people turned away a week.

Under Canadian law, a person is not allowed into the country if convicted of an indictable offense (a felony), including drunken driving, petty theft and minor assault.

"It may be a benign offense in the United States but is considered major here," said Joel Guberman, a Toronto immigration attorney. "They look at how far the offense could have gone, not how far it went."

In the past, the law applied to all such convictions, including President Bush's 1976 drunken-driving offense in Maine. He was granted a special privilege shortly after his election that gives him unlimited access until 2004.

"If you screwed up, but we see you have outgrown your old habits" by showing no other offenses, "you may be deemed rehabilitated," Battison said.

Because computers can malfunction, she said, it's best to bring an FBI criminal record to prove you've had no more arrests.

Patrick visited Canada twice before with no problem. It is not uncommon for tourists to slip past the border, if no one questions them. The decision to stop someone, run the person's criminal record or deny entry is at customs agents' discretion.

Patrick's June experience has been the exception rather than the rule for those with drunken-driving convictions. If visitors identify themselves as U.S. citizens, they likely won't be stopped for questioning, officials and tourists say.

"Most of the time, they don't check, or the border would be jammed up for days," Guberman said. "But if they have the slightest suspicion, they'll run you."

Ron Coleman, of the Victoria Clipper ferry service, said he tries to avoid embarrassing situations by asking people before they board if they have had a felony or DUI conviction. "Most of the time, if they do, they choose not to go."

But some people say, "I'm going to try it anyway," said Darrell Bryan, the Clipper's general manager, who has dealt with hundreds of unhappy tourists the Canadian government has denied entry.

He said it has affected business the past decade. In the summer, when tourist season peaks, the Clipper gets a minimum of five customers turned back each week.

Guberman, the Canadian attorney, said he gets calls about every two days from people who seek help to enter the country.

Bryan, who serves on the Canadian Tourism Commission's Advisory Board, has brought up the issue at countless meetings, highlighting its damaging effect on tourism.

"A DUI is a serious issue, but when someone has paid their dues, they shouldn't be left on the cross for the rest of their days," he said. "Most of our customers don't even plan to drive."

Visitors always have the option of applying for a temporary permit before they arrive. That allows someone with a good reason, such as a family reunion or business meeting, to cross. That takes about six weeks.

"They are pretty good about issuing them, but you have to know about it," Guberman said. "You can't arrive unaware and expect to get one immediately, unless you are famous or a rock star."

Under the revised law, if a DUI is between 5 and 10 years old, visitors must still pay a $200 fine and prove they have no other convictions to get into the country.

Battison said Canada rarely lets visitors in with convictions less than 5 years old. She said visitors are allowed under these conditions:

• They're staying in Canada a short time.

• Have no other convictions.

• They have a compelling humanitarian reason or will provide an economic benefit to .

For example, Battison said, a U.S. citizen going to visit a dying relative or a performer who would benefit Canada's economy may be allowed to enter. The same would be true if the only person able to help in an emergency is a U.S. citizen with a DUI conviction.

The Canadian immigration agency does not track how many people are turned away at the border, officials said. But Bryan, at the Clipper, often hears them complaining.

He has seven signs from the street to the boarding area stating a DUI is a felony in Canada. He also keeps copies of a diagram that shows where the signs are posted. He sends it to people who say they were not notified.

Blackball Transport, which operates the Coho ferry between Port Angeles and Victoria, B.C., also has signs posted and lists the information in brochures, said assistant manager Terry Troyer.

"People generally think it won't matter," he said. "But that is not the case; they are turned back fairly frequently."

Patrick, a fisherman, is now going through an application process that will allow him unlimited access to Canada. He must provide his birth certificate, an FBI criminal-record sheet, his driver's license and a history of where he has lived for the past 10 years. It could take up to a year.

"They've made me feel like a terrible criminal," he said.

Leslie Fulbright: 206-515-5637 or lfulbright@seattletimes.com.