@Michelle it must be distance. No other explanation. Obviously Ottawa-Toronto is a major mail "path". So I am sure the processing takes the same amount of time, but maybe the extra time is just Canada Post?

#83, John Rogers...I swear they don't like Saskatchewan..LOL..we are still 4 - 6 weeks for criminal record results... WHY?? I don't know...have you heard anything regarding the E-safe program?

@Jazzsax1 pop in anytime.

@James1967 for the past 2 years (might be longer) fingerprints have been extremely fast. We do a LOT of fingerprints, for things such as pardons and waivers, but also for employment, immigration, and the busiest category, Canadian Citizenship. We even do a lot of "card scan", that is, clients form outside the country who need their fingerprints digitized and submitted to the RCMP.

If you have no criminal record, 10 business days in the "norm". If you do, 3 weeks is the normal time, with some stretching to 4 weeks.

Remember, all fingerprints are mailed from Ottawa. So being in Brampton we obviously get them a bit faster than say Vancouver or St John's.

Talked to a lady who works for Canadian Paralegal and she said it is quite fast now 2 to 6 weeks

No vacation for me until the 31st then off to sit on a beach in Cuba! Woo Woo!

John, I am coming out your way the 26th to 30th. If I have time I might swing by your office for a chat. Not sure yet though if I will be able to pop in.

@Michelle

I was away but back for the rest of the year. I assume its the "dog days" of August now.

Hello, is everyone one on vacation? Just checking in...

@All, An important reminder to all individuals who have current waivers, or are applying for the waiver on their own.

Once you receive the waiver - it is VERY IMPORTANT to make copies and put them in various different safe places.

I have clients who have had their passports stolen with their waivers inside when house or vehicle was broken into.

The USA will charge you up to $585 USA funds to replace a lost, stolen or missing waiver. (If you do the following, your insurance company will pay for the cost to replace a waiver).

If you waiver is stolen

1. File a Police Report - (you should do this anyways if your passport is stolen). Clearly write a detailed description of the waiver: Example: I-192 Advance Permission to Enter the USA Travel Waiver (2 page document).

2. File a detailed description on the waiver on your insurance claim, even if you don't claim it, there should be a record for future.

@Jazzsax1 every single country that has cracked down on firearms after a massacre, including Australia and Japan, has seen a marked decrease in gun violence.

I don't see why a Canadian (even if you are a Conservative) has to gain by advocating the status quo. "Its a left thing" is ridiculous. Keeping people alive should be EVERYONE'S priority. If you put restrictions on guns, just like everywhere else, there would be less shootings.

Forget left or right. Show me a single statistic that shows shootings do not change when you put restrictions on guns. All I am seeing on Facebook and in chat rooms is statistics showing EVERY COUNTRY that restricted guns had a reduction in shootings. What are you seeing that is the opposite? Surely being Conservative doesn't mean you are automatically against gun control even if people die?

Well most people seem to be unclear on what exactly the word "amendment" means.
The dictionary is there to help but let's start with "can be changed".

And drugs weren't designed for the explicit and sole purpose of killing people.
Fact!

There has been 252 mass shootings in America in 2019 to date (FBI classifies this as more than 4 dead in a single episode). The next closest industrialized country has had 3 this year to date.

So if you can't understand correlation while I could explain it to you I certainly can't understand it for you.

And then we can factor in the largest terrorist threat currently in America which is white supremacy.

So yes... congrats for them. Great. ;)

Great. Congrats for them.

Still doesn't change the fact that drug overdoses in 2017 killed more people in the USA than guns.

Banning guns is not going to solve the problem in the USA. You'll have civil war if you ban guns so that doesn't deal with the problem.

No point wasting energy on a fight that won't have a result that will make everyone happy, and likely in the end will cause bigger battles than needed.

#72

Yes there are lots of things that kill people. Guns are a tool EXPLICITLY designed for ONE purpose... to kill.

Opiods, knives, cars.... were never EXPLICITLY designed to just kill people.

Perhaps you would like to explore CORRELATION:

Did you know that the United States is the ONLY nation in the world that has more guns than people?

America has 122 guns for every 100 people.

No other nation has 100.
Or 90.
Or 80.
Or 70.
Or 60 guns per 100 people.

In fact, only 1 other nation has more than 40.

YEMEN.

How about instead of focusing on banning guns (which is the lefts big issue)... let's ban all things that kill people.

Ban Guns. check.
Ban Knives. check.
Ban Opiods. check.

Pretty sure we have far more deaths now from opiods than from guns, and because there is a huge amount of money tied to the industry, no one cares.

People will still get guns, will still kill people. Banning them will do nothing in the US.

#68 @John Rogers

America is a RADICALLY DIFFERENT culture than Canada. The difference might as well be the difference between say Canada and Pakistan. Yes we share a border with them, yes we watch the same TV programs (for the most part) yes we wear jeans and whatnot, and listen to the same music but they are a vastly different culture.

Between the "third rail" of race (and its original sin) and the crazed gun culture and the insecurity permeating the society due to the lack of universal healthcare(which every other industrialized nation got for ALL their respective citizens LAST CENTURY) and insanely poor public education then you have a country that feels very insecure.

64% of all bankruptcies in America are because of healthcare, studies show that 94% of white Americans don't have a SINGLE Black friend, etc, etc....

Canada is not a perfect society but we are welcoming of our ethnic diversity (ever seen anybody wearing a hijab in any store you've gone into in America? .... most likely not)

I was born in Canada but have literally spent half my life in Canada and half in America (lived in 6 different American cities and travelled to over 38 states) As a Canadian until you live in America, and I mean AT LEAST 5 years there, then a Canadian probably doesn't quite understand exactly how vastly different America is as a culture.

I had travelled there many times throughout my life but it wasn't until I actually lived there that I understood the amazing difference, culturally, between Canada and America.

Just riffing on your post at #68...

@jazzsax1 but in this case, less guns means.....less death. So the left is 100% correct here, and the right are 100% wrong, unless you think gun deaths are "the price we pay". For what?

Look at the stats.

Less guns in EVERY case means less gun deaths. There is no outliers. Just like "Donald Trump is a racist" is no longer a matter of opinion. It is fact. Its sickeningly fact to the point where it is comical. The man is just a disgusting human being.

Should hunters etc have guns? Sure. Jump through paperwork and pay some fees and have guns. Hunters, sure. Gun enthusiasts, sure. But jump through hoops or else, no gun.

I took my son who is 14 to Virginia Beach. We went to a gun range. He loves military stuff. He likes the "idea of guns".

We watched a video. 8 minutes. The guy dealing with us was very informative who showed us how to use the glock. What did Micheal my son need? ID (passport) and be at least 10 years old. And he was firing a real glock. He could also fire an assault rifle and did, but I said no to the machine gun.

I asked how quick I could buy a gun there. (they had used and new). It would take me less than an hour. I could get ANY gun. Assault rifle, etc. They would do a "background" check. But under the law struck down by Trump,. mental illness would NOT have eliminated me.

In an hour, we fired about 90 bullets into a target. We tried to shoot zombies, but hitting the head was surprisingly hard.

The guns were loud and I wasn't a fan (or a good shot) My son loved it.

The left wing won't bend either John.... you can see it in Canada.

It's "us" and "them" instead of one homogeneous group.

@BallMom as usual Michelle is exactly right.

(I am back in the office after a trip to the US)

To save my clients money I usually just do the certified prints (they come back blank) and then show a photocopy of the pardon (which we can obtain for free)

I would argue its the same, but Michelle does it a little more "by the book". 2 sets of fingerprints, one privacy act, one certified.

I traveled to Buffalo, Baltimore, Virginia Beach, Washington DC, and Gettysburg. My son is 14 and a history/Military history buff.

Americans are so similar to us Canadians, but SO different as well. What is interesting is Michelle and I live thousands of km apart, yet whenever we talk/message, its a very familiar feeling. We are both Canadians, and it shows.

When you speak to an American, even as close as Buffalo, the differences are startling. When we wonder why they can't implement gun control, we misunderstand how different Americans are.

Someone kills a bunch of people in Canada, we want changes, and the government, regardless of stripe, reacts. It might not be in the way everyone wants, but there is a reaction.

In the United States, the sides double down. Walking around the battlefield at Gettysburg, you get the idea that were to "right or wrong" sides and both knew it. They actually said in one place the Union Soldiers were "proud" of the Confederate soldiers who they were killing for how bravely they charged. (to their deaths)

The Southern soldiers were born in the south and fought in many cases because that is where they were "from". If you like guns and like Trump, even if a deranged gunman kills your kids, my sense is you don't switch sides. My sense is you wish your kids had a gun.

This is an almost impossible mountain to overcome. I think the answer is people just have to understand the right wing are never going to bend, and they just have to put measures in place that are best for all, and realize it will just make the other side upset.

My political message for today. Also, I noticed the malls etc were not very busy like here in Canada. There was not an air of consumer confidence for sure. It felt as if the economy was a bit shaky, where i traveled to anyways.

Glad to be back!

@66,

You can submit the RCMP privacy act report with the waiver application. However, you still need to have a RCMP criminal record check marked for a travel waiver. You can request a certified copy of your Pardon from the Parole Board, just call them and follow the instructions they give you. Pardoned document are required by USA Customs for the Waiver applications.

Hi,
I need help to get my pardoned criminal record. I recently had my fingerprints taken at an accredited fingerprinting company to reapply for a US waiver, where they put the reason as "request under privacy act". I got a paper in the mail with my record that doesn't contain says "copy" on it, didn't have my photo and fingerprints. If they put that it's for a US waiver only, I get something that says no record found since I received a pardon years ago.

If I remember correctly from my previous waiver application, I should receive an official record with my photo and prints and all but I forgot which reason they put at that time.

Please help, what reason should be on my criminal record application for US waiver if I have a pardoned record?
Thank you.

You automatically get french if you are convicted in Quebec.

They will not accept it, you need it translated.

I have a guy in Montreal who can do it for you and he is reasonably priced. It has to be certified.

Call my cell 416-843-1371