Overlooked issue: border security and personal exemptions
Last August, Anne McLellan put out a "trial balloon" announcement that the Government recognized that border security enforcement was complicated by....ordinary, "law abiding" Canadians who were nervous about the value of goods they were bringing back from the United States. A lot of time has been wasted by Canada Border Services Agency personnel dealing with nervous people who were not terrorists, who were not carrying illegal firearms or illegal drugs, but who had bought a few bargain-priced dresses or a bargain-priced DVD player in the States (think: Target) and who were freaking nervous about how much bloody duty CBSA would make 'em pay. For a brief couple of days, McLellan and a couple of other Liberal leaders raised the possibility of increasing Canadians' personal exemption amounts (similar to Americans' personal exemptions). Canadians' current personal exemptions are ridiculously low and are listed as follows: Absence of less than 24 hours