CANADIAN PASSPORT CAN'T PROTECT YOU FROM 'STUPIDITY'

If You Break The Law While Travelling Overseas, You 'Face The Music'

Lighting up one joint in Florida can earn a Canadian citizen a U.S.
criminal record for life. In Singapore, chewing gum is a controlled
substance. In Saudi Arabia, homosexuals can be punished by lashing, a
prison sentence, or death.

As of July 2, 2004, the Department of Foreign Affairs counted 2,166 active
cases of Canadians abroad in trouble with the law. That's a substantial
drop from last year, when the department had 3,013 cases on file.

The change doesn't come from a sudden surge in law-abiding behaviour by
Canadian travellers, but rather from a cleanup of old, inactive files, said
Foreign Affairs spokesman Reynald Doiron.

A few high-profile cases, such as the detainment of Maher Arar and Abdullah
Almalki in Syria, make the news headlines and stir the attention of
parliamentarians. But most go unnoticed except by officials in far-flung
embassies, who can do little more for the prisoners than advocate for a
sanitary jail cell and a fair trial.

"If you break the law you have to face the music," said Mr. Doiron.
"Canadian citizenship and a Canadian passport do not protect travelling
Canadians from their stupidity, or their crimes."

U.S. jails hold the most Canadian prisoners, with 1,535 active criminal
cases. That's not surprising, Mr. Doiron said, given that more than 90 per
cent of cross-border travel by Canadians is to the United States.

"Smoking one joint in a Miami bar -- you get caught, you get raided, and
you spend the next three months in the slammer because of the zero
tolerance policy of (Florida) Gov. Jeb Bush," he said. "And often young
Canadians, who want to have a good time in Florida, will have a criminal
file for life and may have trouble going back to the U.S. for the rest of
their life. They would have to seek and obtain waivers from U.S.
immigration each time they want to travel."

China falls a distant second to the U.S., with 60 Canadians accused of
crimes. Next comes Japan with 42, the United Kingdom with 29, Australia
with 26, and Jamaica with 24.

Possession and trafficking in drugs are the most common offences that land
Canadians in foreign prisons.

Partial Foreign Affairs data indicate one-third of prisoners were arrested
on drug-related charges, while 10 per cent were charged with murder, nine
per cent with fraud, and eight per cent with immigration violations.

Sentences tend to be long. At least 113 Canadians are serving life
sentences abroad, while more than 300 others have been handed penalties of
more than 10 years in prison, and another 198 face five to 10 years in prison.

Although Canada claims the right to consular access for all Canadians
detained abroad, some countries do not recognize dual citizenship and will
block Canadian officials from meeting prisoners they consider their own
citizens.

But even if the detained person is solely a Canadian citizen, a Canadian
embassy can provide only limited help.