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An Alaskan Village Where Grizzlies Roam and Canada Rules (if Anyone Do


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An Alaskan Village Where Grizzlies Roam and Canada Rules (if Anyone Does)

Another heart-warming exclave story, that brings me happiness around Canada Day/Independence Day/First of July/Fourth of July. This is how peace among nations is made; when no one cares which side of a "border" they are on.

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Thanks for the read. Nice to see what people can do without a bureaucracy. What this place really needs is a Walmart, hockey team, shopping malls ...

Where would you fit a parking lot?

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Where would you fit a parking lot?

Oh, there is plenty of room for parking lots!

I have been to both Stewart and Hyder several times, it is a cool part of the world. Stewart was hit hard by mine closures, real estatte there is super cheap. It is gorgeous country, the descent on the highway into Stewart is stunning, through mountains and glaciers. Stewart itself has a pretty cool vibe. If you continue north on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, it is a beautiful trip through wilderness into the Yukon, where it connects with the Alaska Highway. A wonderful side trip is to Telegraph Creek, which follows the Stikine River Canyon, also aptly know as the Grand Canyon of Canada. I have driven the Stewart Cassiar road many times, as I go to Yukon pretty much every summer and it is one of 2 routes. It is a very good paved road, with very few communities, very few trucks, and very few tourists.

The border is an oddity- in this era of Homeland Security, there is no official American presence at all when you cross You just drive into the USA. You do get checked coming back into Canada. But the trip into Alaska there is brief, the road does not go far. Just past Hyder there is an amazing state park. Several times in the summer the bears come to fed on salmon runs, and the AK govt has set up a safe way to watch an astonishing , primal scene up close. The bears gorge on spawning salmon right in front of you. If you keep going on the gravel track, you can drive far up(way up) the huge Salmon Glacier, which takes you back into Canada briefly before it dead ends.

This is wonderful part of our wonderful country- one of my favorite places anywhere. Sometimes I wish more people would take the time to visit, then selfishly I am glad they don't.

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Maybe we should do away with the border completely and merge Canada and the United States.

With our Canadian dollar being so low as it is to the American dollar, I could go for joining America or at least lets join our currencies together. Going on holidays these days is costing me approx. 35% more to travel to somewhere around the world. For an American it costs them a thousand dollars to travel somewhere. Me being a Canadian, it costs me $1350. That hurts big time. For a country like America who is in debt for almost 19 trillion dollars, I just don't quite understand as to why our Canadian dollar is weaker than theirs? To me there is something wrong with this picture.

The borderless communities reminds me of the good old days when I could approach the American border, and the border guard would ask me as to where I was going, and I would tell him, and he would say have a good trip. No cameras checking you out and no passports required. Sadly, those days are gone. We were once great neighbours, and we trusted one another. Now Canadins are treated as terrorists and criminals. Thanks America, old buddy, old friend.

Edited by taxme
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My parents live really close to Stewart. The nearly unfettered border crossing is surreal. Such a stark contrast to towns that spill onto both sides of the Mexico-US border like Piedras Negras-Eagle Pass. Much like Hyder-Stewart, they really are essentially the same small town, but the border crossing is completely militarized, complete with sandbag bunkers, razor wire, and sniper towers.

Fun bear spotting in that area, although there's really a false sense of security in the elevated platforms that they have built for people to watch from. Nothing is stopping those grizzlies from going around them to get some human lunch if they wanted to. Good thing they prefer salmon!

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With our Canadian dollar being so low as it is to the American dollar, I could go for joining America or at least lets join our currencies together. Going on holidays these days is costing me approx. 35% more to travel to somewhere around the world. For an American it costs them a thousand dollars to travel somewhere. Me being a Canadian, it costs me $1350. That hurts big time. For a country like America who is in debt for almost 19 trillion dollars, I just don't quite understand as to why our Canadian dollar is weaker than theirs? To me there is something wrong with this picture.

The borderless communities reminds me of the good old days when I could approach the American border, and the border guard would ask me as to where I was going, and I would tell him, and he would say have a good trip. No cameras checking you out and no passports required. Sadly, those days are gone. We were once great neighbours, and we trusted one another. Now Canadins are treated as terrorists and criminals. Thanks America, old buddy, old friend.

My parents live really close to Stewart. The nearly unfettered border crossing is surreal. Such a stark contrast to towns that spill onto both sides of the Mexico-US border like Piedras Negras-Eagle Pass. Much like Hyder-Stewart, they really are essentially the same small town, but the border crossing is completely militarized, complete with sandbag bunkers, razor wire, and sniper towers.

Fun bear spotting in that area, although there's really a false sense of security in the elevated platforms that they have built for people to watch from. Nothing is stopping those grizzlies from going around them to get some human lunch if they wanted to. Good thing they prefer salmon!

I agree with both of you on this issue. I think that the "securing" of the Canadian border smacks of the TSA-type "security theater." It makes the politicians look like they're keeping us safe but in fact there's very little additional protection. The situation with Piedras Negras-Eagle Pass raised by Bryan is entirely different since while the U.S. and Mexico share a long and relatively peaceful border, the countries are not alike. The U.S. has a policy that in theory we take very few economic migrants. I disagree with the policy and think we should take almost everyone with the stipulation that they not seek public benefits for a lengthy time but I can understand the policy.

The Canadian-US border should be more or less an open border. The countries are similar in many ways and there is little purely economic migration, at least of the benefit-seeking variety. The myth that Canada was involved in 911, other than allowing American planes to land and showing great hospitality for their passengers is an urban legend. While both countries are independent and distinct, it is hard to exaggerate the similarities. At most, what should be done is to spot-check the heavily used crossings, such as I-87 out of New York to Autoroute 15 in Quebec, the Detroit-Windsor and Niagara area crossings, and the ones near Seattle and Vancouver.

Some towns such as Dorset, Vermont and Stanstead, Quebec are intermeshed the way is, and even share an opera house/library. A typical terrorist would look very out of place walking around the towns and alertness should replace knee-jerk and artificial separation.

I may turn this into a thread on security theater.

Edited by jbg
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I agree with both of you on this issue. I think that the "securing" of the Canadian border smacks of the TSA-type "security theater." It makes the politicians look like they're keeping us safe but in fact there's very little additional protection.

As someone who crosses from Manitoba to North Dakota routinely, there are times where it certainly does appear to be a controlled crossing just for appearances sake. I can't count the number of times where the US border guard has waved me right through without even asking any questions. Sure, the guy manning the booth as seem me enough times that he knows exactly who I am and why I'm crossing, but the whole process of going south across the border seems like little more than a formality.

From the Canadian side, border checks (only Canada even has a station at all at Hyder) are rarely about security either -- they are primarily revenue generators. The CBSA's job might officially be securing our borders, but their REAL job to to make sure that Canadians returning home pay duty and taxes on anything that they bought in the US.

Until the USA gets a handle on their gun problem, our border should certainly be secure; even more secure than it is currently from the Canadian side, in my opinion.

That is an issue as well that can't be ignored. A lot of guns are seized from Americans who were either tying to sneak them in, or didn't even know that it was a problem to bring them across.

Edited by Bryan
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With our Canadian dollar being so low as it is to the American dollar, I could go for joining America or at least lets join our currencies together. Going on holidays these days is costing me approx. 35% more to travel to somewhere around the world. For an American it costs them a thousand dollars to travel somewhere. Me being a Canadian, it costs me $1350.

The median household income in Canada is about 45% higher than in the US, which tends to balance things out for the average Joe.

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The median household income in Canada is about 45% higher than in the US, which tends to balance things out for the average Joe.

I don't care if it is higher. Our products that we buy are higher here in Canada thus the reason for a higher income in Canada.

But anywhere I want to go in the world I have to always pay in American which is costing me approx. 35% more to do so than an American has too. I don't think that this is right when one sees America almost 20 trillion dollars in debt. Our dollar should be way higher than theirs. To me there is something wrong with this picture. Somehow I get the feeling that in someway Canadians are getting screwed and are helping the Americans to try and pay off their 29 trillion debt by charging Canadians more to travel. Hey, just a thought.

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