This from the Globe and Mail newspaper:
From
globeandmail.com, Wednesday, October 30, 2002
Man jailed for cross-border
gas trip
OTTAWA -- U.S. Customs used to look the other way in the small
border city of Pohenegamook, Que., allowing Canadians to fill up at a gas
station 15 metres inside the United States without formalities. But the last
time Michel Jalbert casually crossed over for gas, the U.S. Border Patrol put
him in jail, where he has been for 19 days.
His lawyers say he could
stay in prison for another four months or more because U.S. authorities are in
no mood to negotiate. Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister says there is nothing he
can do.
And the community of Pohenegamook, which has some houses that
literally straddle the two countries, is irate that the cross-border
co-operation they enjoyed for years has been cut off.
"It could have
been almost anyone I know," said Pohenegamook Mayor Serge Fortin. "What's
shocking is that the Border Patrol did not want to take account of local customs
we have here. We are feeling a zealousness."
The gas station was
built on the U.S. side of the border about 20 years ago to lure people to
cheaper prices. It sits just past Canada's border post, but the U.S. border post
is a kilometre farther away. So even though Canadians going to fill up are
supposed to check in at the U.S. border post, few do. And that has been the
custom for years.
"Everyone does that here in Pohenegamook," said Guy
Leblanc, the Canadian Customs officer in the city of about 3,000. "People don't
report to U.S. Customs. They go directly to the gas station, and that's been
tolerated for at least 10 years."
So on Oct. 11, Mr. Jalbert, a
32-year-old forestry worker, drove to fill up at the gas station, but didn't
bother to check in at the U.S. border post. At any rate, the U.S. Customs post
had closed an hour before, at 2 p.m.
But as Mr. Jalbert headed back
to the Canadian side, he was arrested by a U.S. Border Patrol officer, who saw
his hunting rifle in the back -- moose season was to open the next day -- and
found he had a minor criminal record from breaking windows when he was 20. He
was arrested and now sits in a jail in Bangor, Me.
"This makes no
sense at all," said Mr. Jalbert's brother Richard. "Now they're telling us he
could get four months or six months. Where's the logic?"
Chantale
Chouinard, Mr. Jalbert's pregnant wife, is making regular five-hour trips to
visit him.
In the House of Commons yesterday, Bloc Quebecois MP Paul
Crete called on Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham to
intervene.
Mr. Graham said he would urge U.S. officials to use
"restraint," but that little can be done by Canada.
Mr. Fortin, the
mayor, said the decision to try to jail Mr. Jalbert for months could signal a
new toughness on the part of U.S. officials after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks, but he added that the arrest was made by a new border patrol officer
who is a stickler.
The sudden change of attitude has upset local
residents, some of whom were placed on the border when a 1942 settlement of a
dispute saw the border line drawn right through the middle of a few houses. The
15 houses on the U.S. side still get power from Hydro-Quebec and water from
Pohenegamook, Mr. Fortin said.
U.S. Customs
officials handling the case could not be reached
yesterday.
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