Tourism Facilitation Action Plan: Foreign Nationals

Canada Dept: As of March 1, foreign nationals with a single misdemeanour conviction - including for driving under the influence - could be given a one-time pass to skip an onerous application process and cross the border into Canada under what's been dubbed the Tourism Facilitation Action Plan, according to Vancouver Sun. "Our goal is to raise awareness of Canada's admissibility requirements, while facilitating travel for some visitors," Citizenship and Immigration spokesman Bill Brown said. "Visa and border services officers will continue to exercise their legally mandated discretion on a case-by-case basis. The final decision rests with the officers." Canada's Conservative tough-on-crime government quietly changed the rules last month to make it easier for American tourists with a minor criminal record to come to Canada to spend their dollars. While the directive applies to all foreigners coming to Canada by land, air and sea, it's really meant to appease tourism operators in remote regions who've seen busloads of customers turned away at the Canada-U.S. border because one per-son didn't realize a three-year-old conviction for drunk driving was enough to get them barred. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.