Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Cdn. musicians face border headaches
By JOHN LEWANDOWSKI
Canadian Press

ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. -- Their music may transcend borders. But increasingly 
Canadian musicians are finding they do not.

At least not without the right paperwork and even that's no guarantee.

The new immigration and security demands imposed by a post 9-11 United 
States are making it harder for aspiring artists to build a profile south of 
the border.

"We found it incredibly difficult. It's really hampered us to a great 
degree," said Craig Mercer, whose Jimmy Swift Band has just lined up a 
couple of U.S. club dates.

"We find it very strange that American bands, members of the same union, can 
come up here with very little difficulty but bands from here are having a 
great deal of difficulty getting across the border," said the Halifax-based 
guitarist and front man.

While there's nothing straightforward about crossing the Canada-U.S border 
these days, officials from the American Federation of Musicians generally 
agree it's easier for Americans to play in Canada.

As long as they've got signed contracts, their identification and criminal 
checks pan out, and Canadian officials don't feel they're taking work away 
from Canadian musicians, they're pretty much in.

Corina Robidoux, a spokeswoman for the federation, works through the maze of 
immigration paperwork for all Canadian artists heading stateside.

"You have to first have signed contracts with employers in the U.S. six to 
eight months in advance before you can even apply for a P-2 (a non-immigrant 
work permit)," she said from her Toronto office.

Robidoux said even with the paperwork, which can take up to 150 days to 
process, there's no guarantee you'll get in.

A lot of things factor in, not the least of which may be a border agent who 
doesn't like the look of the applicant.

Ignoring the rules and trying to play without approval could carry a heavy 
price.

"You'll be considered an illegal immigrant," says Robidoux. "Fines levied, 
vehicles and gear impounded and a ban from ever entering the U.S. again. 
It's not worth the gamble."

Work permits can be expedited through a 15-day process that costs $1,000 US 
over and above the $130 US fee for the P-2 application. But, again, all the 
U.S. immigration service will guarantee is a response within that time 
frame.

The problem has already caused headaches for booking agent Joan Kirby of 
LiveTourArtists in Oakville, Ont.

"It's very arbitrary. And I don't know how to combat it. It's hard enough to 
get the dates in the first place," she said, having just scrubbed some shows 
for one of her bands because the paperwork wasn't done in time.

Kirby said she recently had one act show up at the border, paperwork in 
hand, only to be held up for no explainable reason.

"I guess the woman that met them was unhappy to be up at 7:30 in the morning 
and proceeded to keep them there for four hours. They had all their 
paperwork. There was no reason to stop them," she said.

One of Kirby's acts, blues artist Charlie A'Court, says it can be an 
attitude thing at the border.

"You get there and maybe one of the customs officers is having a bad day and 
that gives them the green light to be arrogant sometimes," he said at the 
East Coast Music Awards. "Maybe it's just the look.

"You know a guy with long hair, looks like a pot smoker", he laughs, his 
long blond mane tied back in a ponytail.

"I've never done drugs in my life. I don't know what pot's like, except for 
maybe the smell of it at a Bob Dylan concert."

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