Law and Government

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Up in Arms About Border Crossings

There is a thread going on right now on an RVing forum about bringing handguns into Canada.

Handguns aren’t permitted, it’s as simple as that. Many members of the forum apparently travel with handguns and were quick to link to Canadian legislation on the topic. There were a lot of ignorant responses like ‘Canadians aren’t allowed to protect themselves’ (actually, we have at least as many firearms per capita as do Americans, only in the form of rifles) and ‘there’s nothing worth seeing in Canada anyway’ (your loss).

I’ve never understood the American zealousness towards their handguns, but I will say that I’ve been equally motivated lately to not enter the United States, especially by air. Frankly, I find it insulting that I would have to be patted down, never mind how I feel about having to check my laptop.

During my brief stint in the intelligence field my suspicions were confirmed: the ridiculous airline security policies put in place since 9/11 only exist to put the mind of travelers at ease. Yes, they do scare off the less serious criminals, but they won’t trap those who are truly motivated. Case in point, the Christmas-day 2009 attempt.

I’ve been working hard at putting together a plan that might enable me to spend at least part of next winter in the southern US seeing as my Canadian snowbirding options have all been explored. But with the amount of suspicion between both countries and the uncertainty at the border, I’m loathe to make any firm decisions.

So much for the longest undefended border in the world.

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Life Without Sewer

I’ve entered my third week of life without sewer and I’ve decided that it sucks. 🙂 My black tank can last for over two weeks, but if I take even a short shower each night, I can’t go longer than a week with the grey. I took advantage of the dump station when I moved up to the restaurant, so my black tank is still fine, but the grey is full again. *sighs* Here is how I’m dealing with the situation:

  • Using Less Water: I only shower twice a week, Navy-style, and bathe in the sink the rest of the time
  • Using the Black Tank’s Extra Capacity: I do the dishes in a large mixing bowl and throw that water into the black tanks. Same thing when I bathe in the sink.
  • Using a Bucket to Dump: Since my sensors are useless, I only know that the grey tank is full when it backs up into my shower. When that happens, I dump a couple buckets worth of water and haul them out to the dump station. This gives me just enough space in the tank to last a couple more days.
  • Not Getting Too Comfortable: I leave the rig in a semi-packed state so that it only takes fifteen minutes or so to pack, unhook, and go dump when the black tank is full.

My grey tank contains nothing that is environmentally damaging, just some biodegradable detergents. I’m sure that it’s more damaging to the environment to fire up the ol’ engine and drive the klick round trip from my site to the dump station. But the fines for dumping on the ground are scary and there is also the threat of jail time, so I choose to remain law abiding even if the law does not make sense in my situation.

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Mail Management Update

Just before leaving Dawson, I made some changes to how my mail will be handled seeing as nothing should be going to a UPS store in Quebec anymore. 🙂

The first thing I did was file a change of address through Canada Post to redirect my mail from Gatineau to Dawson City for six months. This will give me time to catch the few things for which I forgot to change my address.

The second thing I did was request a redirect of my mail from Dawson to Croft’s home in Campbell River starting September 21st until May 1st. This means that mail will be coming directly during the most crucial time of the year (ie. tax season) and that I won’t have to rely on anyone to check my mail box and forward things to me. Croft has informed me that the redirects have worked as he has received some mail for me. Hopefully, he won’t be inundated. 🙂 When I return to Dawson in the spring, a few weeks’ worth of mail will be waiting for me.

Initially, the cost for the services made me faint. The change of address was $50.79 and the redirect was $117.60. So, I went over my mail related costs for the past year and found them to be close to $400, more than twice what I’m paying this year! I paid about $120 for the UPS store box and then I had to pay each time they sent me mail. When I was in Oliver, I had to use UPS seeing as the post office wasn’t reliable, to the tune of $30 a pop. This will be much more efficient and I can do as I’ve always done, giving my local address for one time deliveries.

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Did I Miss a Memo?!

Did Quebec recently secede from Canada?

My request for Yukon healthcare was rejected because I did not provide sufficient proof of my Canadian nationality. I submitted a copy of my passport as proof that I am Canadian and was told that’s not good enough. They want a birth certificate! What???!!!

But that’s not what takes the cake. I promptly submitted my birth certificate and was equally promptly told that it does not prove my Canadian nationality as the certificate was issued by Quebec. What???!!!

I still have a couple of aces up my sleeve (it’s good that I know some lawyers, so an affidavit wouldn’t be out of the question), but this is ridiculous!!!

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Making Progress at Becoming a Yukoner

No word yet on health care and they need to do a background check on me before I can get a Yukon licence, but they had no qualms in giving me Yukon plates for my vehicles! The motorhome plates were twice what I’d been quoted, but at 100$ vs. 650$ in Quebec I didn’t balk! The clerk did have problems with the fact that my insurance was for a ‘Glendale’ while my Quebec papers are for a ‘Ford’, but she was no idiot and understood quickly that ‘Glendale’ is the house part of the motorhome while ‘Ford’ is the truck part. I give her points for not asking me if the truck part of the motorhome is insured! The motorhome plates were twice what I’d been quoted, 100$, but compare that to the 650$ in Quebec and you’ll understand why I didn’t balk. 🙂

Now that I have my shiny new Yukon plates, I’m more than ready for the adventure I’ll be setting off on Friday. Stay tuned!