2010-07-13
Adrian Humphreys
Eighty people were blocked from entering Canada and another three foreign nationals were arrested on Canadian soil and removed as part of the G20 summit security, according to the Canada Border Services Agency.
With more than 1,000 people arrested during violent protests as world leaders gathered in Toronto last month, the fact that only three required CBSA action suggests the militancy was a homegrown phenomenon.
“It shows the majority of the riff-raff were Canadian, most from colleges and universities coming here looking for excitement,” a law enforcement source said.
Canada’s border guards were on alert for protest problems before and during the joint G8/G20 summits held on June 25-27. The 80 unwelcome arrivals from abroad included both visitors who were “allowed to leave” and those “refused entry” under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
“The purpose of their visit was in relation to the summits,” Patrizia Giolti, a spokeswoman for the CBSA, said of those turned away.
“Planning to attend a lawful protest in Canada, summit or other, is not in itself grounds for being inadmissible,” she said. “Canada’s admissibility requirements did not change during the G8 and G20 summits.”
When people are “allowed to leave,” it typically means they are told they will be declared inadmissible and will have an opportunity to argue that decision at an inadmissibility hearing. Instead of facing that time-consuming process, they may decide to withdraw their application to cross the border and voluntarily turn around.
The CBSA would not say what country those removed from Canada were from or provide the circumstances, reasons or dates of their detention.
Only four of the 80 who were turned away flew into Toronto Pearson International Airport, suggesting the majority tried to enter at a land border crossing from the United States.