Sandi Krasowski
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Chronicle-Journal
Rumours circulating about Canadians being mistreated when travelling south of the Canada-U.S. border are just that, rumours.
Jamie Spry, the manager of Ryden’s Border Store in Grand Portage, Minn., is trying to set the record straight and said, “There has been zero reported incidents of vandalism in Grand Portage or Duluth to Canadians.”
He said people have told them that a restaurant in Duluth had refused Canadians and kicked them out of the business.
“We called (the restaurant) and the manager was almost in tears. She said, ‘Canadians are 50 per cent of our business and whoever is making this stuff up . . . we would never do that. Besides, how would we even know if they are Canadian?’ We confirmed that a lot of this stuff is made up so that people don’t want to travel down (south).”
Spry worries that the Canadian government might be painting a bad picture about travelling to the U.S. and that people aren’t receiving all the right news.
“We are getting a lot of people coming through and a lot of loyal customers. In fact, we are busy at the moment and have about 15 Canadians in the store right now who are travelling south,” he said on Thursday morning, adding this is typically a slower time of year for business.
Recent news reports have observed that the Canadian government has updated their website to remind travellers that U.S. border officers have the power to search electronic devices, which may have added to the fear of travelling south.
“I haven’t heard a word from anybody that’s been going through (the border) about any of that,” Spry said. “They (border agents) haven’t been any different than they ever have been, other than asking a few more questions. I haven’t heard of any issues; no phones have been confiscated and no one is being held at the border. We talk to customs all the time.”
Spry said although business is a little slower than usual, things are “pretty much” the same.
“Yeah, it’s slower and there are people who are scared to travel. There’s your (Canadian) dollar . . . we’ve had people come in and say they haven’t been coming because the dollar is so bad. It’s about eight cents down from where it was last year at this time.”
Spry has also noticed a decline in package arrivals and again surmised that the value of the Canadian dollar has much to do with that, along with some travelling fear to pick the parcels up.
“We’re still getting a lot of people that are receiving packages, and they haven’t had any problems,” he said.
“I wouldn’t be afraid to come down, especially here at Ryden’s, they can definitely make it here. We would love to see them.”
