Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 12:16 pm-
Has anyone else had an experience like this?
I recently came back into Canada from summer abroad. I was carrying a cheese with me that I bought in Tunisia. Understandably, the boarder control officer said she'd have to inspect the package before letting it in. The packaging was all in French and Arabic. I watched her try to "read" the packaging until she looked up and said, "I'm sorry I can't read this, so I'll have to keep it." Excuse me! Is this not Canada? I thought our bilingual status (that we are known for around the world) meant that our federal government offices were suppose to at least provide service in both languages. I said that I was not in a huge hurry and so if she needed to call a co-worker over to help translate she could. "No, all our French-speakers are busy right now." Can you believe that?
I asked her what she needed to find out from the packaging and she said -- "where it was made." Well, I don't speak French, but I can tell you that "Product du Egypt" roughly translates to "made in Egypt." I pointed that out on the container and she punched that info into her computer without a word.
Then she asked where I bought the product. When I responded "Tunisia" she said "uh-huh and where is that?" In northern Africa? So she types in "Northern Africa" then says -- "I have South Africa listed here, but not "northern Africa", what is the name of the country?" I explained that Tunisia is the name of the country, and she asked me, "and how do you spell that?"
Can you believe this? This is our Canadian boarder services? Don't get me wrong, I don't expect everyone to generally recognise the names of most countries in the world, but as border officers, this type of general knowledge is part of their job!
Considering this lady may be many people's first impression of Canadians, this was highly embarrassing. What if I had only spoken French -- would they have detained me, until a translator could be freed from coffee break? What if I was a Tunisian coming to visit? Would that have been a reasonable way to be treated?
Has anyone else had an experience like this? I hope not. I truly hope that this experience is the rare exception. I love Canada and I think we should be better represented to new visitors that this!
Venting,
Allyssa