Dear Editor,

My letter concerns the Canadian border.

My husband & I drove up to Osoyos to have dinner at our favorite restaurant.

We were delayed for 30 minutes at the border by overzealous young border people. The border was slow–only four cars when we were crossing–with many questions asked by the young female checking cars and repeating her questions several times, she gave us a slip and told us to go inside.

My husband & I are 71- and 69-years-old, third generation Caucasian Americans that hardly fit the profile of criminals. Why we had to wait inside the building for almost 30 minutes is a puzzle. They never checked the trunk of our car–never checked my handbag so if they suspected wrongdoing by us why not do a thorough job.

We have travelled to over 130 countries and islands and all 50 states – never have we been treated so rudely.

My husband was the Loomis local manager for the Department of Natural Resources for nine years and I owned a women’s clothing shop in Tonasket for nine years. We frequently crossed the border the nine years we lived in Tonasket and never once had the delay we had on June 13.

This is impacting the Canadian businesses. Our friends in the Okanogan told us they don’t go to Canada anymore because of the hassle at the border.

It appears these young “hotshot” summer help needs to be trained more thoroughly in profiling people crossing the border. I resent the attitude this young man had toward us–his rude, curt manner was despicable . I understand they have a job to do; however, why delay people for 30 minutes without doing a thorough check if they were so concerned about our innocence.

We will never, never cross this border again!

Jerry L. Cluff (Ms.)

Pueblo, Colorado