One foot in Canada, one in the US: border parcel business thrives during pandemic | AFP
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- Опубліковано 27 кві 2021
- The Canada-US border was closed at the start of the pandemic more than a year ago, but not for Quebecer Paul-Maurice Patenaude who has been operating a parcel handoff service from his house, which straddles the international boundary.
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That’s what I call an everyday international traveller.
Ooh, you're witty
Sadly he has passed away already.
Business is still open. Facebook updates shortly after his death was them looking for a new owner, so it’s either there’s new ownership or the children are now managing the business.
Which language is he speaking?
@@Channu_08French
Bastards can keep it, probably want a fortune for junk.
The children have taken over the business.
No one cares.
What a wonderful man, made life livable for so many in such a difficult time
This guy is awesome! He has to be a local legend.
-“where do we sleep today honey, Canada or USA”
-“Hmmmm, let’s sleep in Canada today”😂
I'll sleep on both at the same time.
The gentleman is full of life, hope he is taken care of in this severe cold.
In Canada you get used to it
@@doomedbringerbut what if he’s on the us side of his house?
@@somethingsomething404 lol
@@somethingsomething404, he freezes on American side more, when he is on Canadian side - We Are North! Also, keep in mind: American side is on the extreme American north. Canadian side though is south of the border, it is warmer on the south side. 😊
It's funny you should say he's full of life... because he recently died.
So he doesn't need a passport, all he has to do is go from one room to another inside his home.
Yeah so when you cross the border normally you have to declare yourself to customs but because his house is on both sides they made an exemption where he only has to declare himself if he leaves his house. It’s pretty typical actually in towns that are on the border for certain people to basically be exempt from some of the border crossing requirements as long as they’re not doing anything unusual. For example, there’s a ton of farmland on the border near Sweet Grass, Montana, where the farmers will have their fields go across the border and they need to plow or harvest or whatever and they just do what they need to do and don’t have to deal with his many customs issues so long as they don’t, leave their property. Basically they are free to traverse the border as long as within their own private property boundaries. But if they leave their property, they need to declare if they went to the other side, so for example, if the farmer were to enter the American side and his house was on the American side and he came back out. It would be fine, but if he went and plowed his and crossed over the Canadian side on his way out of his property he would need to declare that he went to Canada to US customs. This guy can cross freely but has to declare that he had crossed into one or the other when he leaves his house. But his bonnets is that his customers come into his house stay on the side they came in and leave without ever actually entering the U.S so they dont have to declare themselves to customs.
There's a library in Vermont where you can do the same thing this guy does
That's on my bucket list.
"I go to United States" and "i go to Canada" sound like a whole trip for some, but not for this man. For this man, they both are a step away!
Lol. Knock knock. Search warrant. Oh ok. Let me just walk to the kitchen. Now what fellas.
He needs to put everything on wheels, so while the police is busy busting his door open, he can push everything across "the border".
The extradition hearing would be hilarious!
One side is Upstate New York and the other is Down Province Quebec.
If only they explained that in the video.
I thought he must have a house in Alberta and another in Oklahoma and he was driving a golf cart between them.
@@sdsmt99 You clearly did not watch the video. Or were you drunk? It clearly explains one side is in upstate NY, the other is in Dundee Quebec.
@@pistolpete8231you must be drunk to have missed the sarcasm in his post
@@Tickleyourpickle420
You must be drunk to not realize this is the World Wide Web & not everyone gets American sarcasm 🙄
@@1KingD You must be drunk 🥴
I'd have a car on each side of the house properly registered to each country. I'd be taking full advantage of such an opportunity.
There a bar there in Dundee called the Halfway House... been there many times, half in Ca and half is US.. back in the 80s you just needed a drivers license to cross
It's actually the same place. The bar closed in 1990. Mr Patenaude was mayor of Dundee for a while. He opened the package receiving business in the late 2000s.
It wasn't just during the 80's, during all the 90's you only needed a driver's license to cross, it was only a few years after 911 when passports were required and it was the US that required passports first so for a while, there was the strange situation where an American could enter Canada with their driver's license but the US was about to change to returning to the US requiring a passport, they would still get in eventually but with a lot of hassle as proof of citizenship would also be needed and really probably family members taking responsibility. I remember a girl I knew in Texas calling me while I was in Canada for the New Year and she asked to visit me, I remember telling her that though Canada only required a driver's license for entry, the US would require a passport though as long as you had proof of citizenship, you would still be legally entitled to enter just with a lot of hassle, I even wound up sending her a digital ticket on my frequent flyer points so she would only need her id to claim the ticket as I had plenty of points to burn but she never came. Later when I returned to Texas, I found out that she had been pulled over by the police and for some reason panicked and ran off while the police had her drivers license so she was calling out of emotional distress and was just wishing for me to swoop her out of the country. That girl wasn't real good at communicating or making good decisions, she did look like Alicia Silverstone though. She was too afraid to just go to the police to sort it out and wound up getting a replacement driver's license from the DMV, I'm surprised the police didn't follow up on that but hey it was Texas and no, turned out she didn't even have a passport.
All i need now is a NYS drivers Enhanced license and i can do the same thing to.
but California is un the US! for now
@@nyancat8828 Canada not California lol
A true gentleman
He is just darling and so energetic.
There are several places like this along the US - Canada border..
Pablo escobar would have loved this
you can travel 2 different countries just by walking on you own house that's an amazing oncept
I had heard of the town before and thought it was so funny, 😊. I would love to go there. I had not heard that they have guards or a guard house .
I'm surprized gov't didn't assign a customs agent to live in your house !
Thats what I was thinking haha
They probably hired him as a customs agent at some point
Don't give either government ideas.
He has dual citizenship 🇺🇸🇨🇦
how many times bro went to America and canada
We have a bar near Dundee half in USA half in Canada; there is a line down the floor to separate the countries.
Is the business paying business taxes and filing for both countries?
This is the coolest house ever.
This really does illustrate how borders are really just invisible lines drawn in the sand.
What's the business called?
Do you have to go through customs to get to the bathroom ?
I bet that man cook some awesome food!
Bro wants to get back to watching stories and price is right. Can't blame him
This guy is (was) great. Borders are not.
Continuez votre bon travail mon cher Monsieur. Vous êtes très utile. J'aimerais bien savoir dans quel vilage vous êtes pour que je puisse vous rendre visite.
Try watching the video encore and this time WATCH it with both your eyes, both your ears and also your brain!
0:32 if that's too much for you.
Merci ! J'avais pas lu toute la phrase jusqu'au dernier mot. Dundee.@@JP_TaVeryMuch
@@user-yv6sr9sk1q Glad to be of assistance. Good on ya for not being cross with me for my rather curt comment!
He passed away.
@@ravenzyblack A sad piece of news, nevertheless, thank you for it.
Another character lost to us.
May God rest his soul.
Crossing a country boarder with everyday international on 2 countries.
how ever this is the house with a Border with New York States and Quebec
There is also Estcourt Station, Maine, with several houses straddling the border.
That’s my dream to live in a house like that lol
You have to go to Canadian customs even if just picking up a package that was shipped to you?
How else would you pay the duties for importing packages from another country?
SANA ALL
So does this mean u pay double the taxes?
I like to think he only pays half the taxes to each country.
Do you get double citoyenship with that house ?
I prefer Roxam Road...i get the bellhop service included for free
This guy has dual citizenship whether he likes it or not.
That's was cool
Tres Bien :)
I found that so interesting!! But I had to laugh, it would take me longer then the video is to hunt up all the tools to use, 😅😂😅
And this is why we should remove that border and do it like in Europe.
Some random politician yapping about national security
the random dude at the border: my actions are beyond your power
Oh yeah. I'm surrrrre they're going straight to customs.
lol well yeah, they go to customs, but they never entered the United States so they basically just say that they never enter the United States and anything they brought with them isn’t technically an import. NAFTa allows for importation of personal, not commercial goods tax free, so customers really doesn’t bother anyway. It’s a big business in Sweet Grass Montana where people will have stuff sent from Home Depot or some other retailer because it was cheaper to buy it in the US and have it delivered to the rest area in between the two countries. So long as the delivery driver doesn’t cross into Canada, it’s not considered an import, they just pick up their own truck and all is good. They do have to pick it up in person. They can’t just get a different delivery courier on the other end to take it for them. I did this a few times when I did delivery over the summer when I was a teenager. We would “leave” the US Pull in to the rest area. Offload what we had for them in their truck usually toilets, vanities, home-improvement stuff or furnature then we would turn around go through US customs declare that we didn’t enter Canada and they would know because Canada would say that we didn’t enter and be on our way.
Yeah, with the exception of items that are separately taxed like alcohol and cigarettes, most good can cross the border for personal use tax free.
Cool
What a dual citizen
I wonder what side his bathroom is on? 😮
That’s awesome. Imagine how much he’d make accepting packages for Canadians/US and charge them for it🤣🤣🤣.
Hell of a loop hole
He's a lucky man with a headache though
so in 1 year how many times did you go to foreign country?
him: 99999999 times
What kind of id card does he have? 😂😂😂
interesting story
What citizen is he?
Im wondering if the local zoning people get really frustrated? Or how about the local taxing authorities? Those are some of the people who deserve to be losing sleep at night!
Where are you sleeping tonight? Hmm half in canada and half usa every night.
so idiotic and manmade, the boundaries and "restrictions"
USPS WOULD MAKE A LOT OF MONEY HAD THEY OPERATED IN CANADA
📣 🗣️🗣️ ouvrez la, la frontière
Just give him peace. Or dual citizenship
And what a glorious way to help, and I bet if someone had the same situation in the Mexican border it would be demolished right away just because
A coworker was born in a house straddling the border in Ontario, his front door was in Canada so hes Canadian😂
he needs to apply for some nice travel points for international travel. he'd rack them up points in no time.
I get what your saying but… travel points are for purchases. He’s not buying anything
i wonder how he’s doing now
Since this was recorded, he has passed away. Someone in the comments has stated that the man’s children have taken the enterprise.
💖 Only in Canada, Pity! Us Crazy Canucks! Cheers, Eh 🍁💖🙃
If he doesn’t need a passport; he could put all his kids’ names on the house and those kids won’t need passports either??!?
He sounds more canadian tha a new yorker eh!!!
Longest 14 days of my life !
How on earth can you build a house half in Canada, half in the US?? Did the border shift? if not, that's pretty poor town planning........ Someone must have got fired.....
Is this a serious question...?
The house was built before the border was officially established.
@@zammmerjammerWhen was the border officially established? I would have thought the border between Quebec and New York State would be a very old border. Has it moved since 1812 and why? How old would the house be likely to be? It doesn't look 200 years old.
The border was updated as treaties were established in the late 1800s. Apparently the treaty of 1908 was the most recent US-CA border update. I wonder how much technology has played a role in pinning down exact land ownership rights (perhaps the house was believed to be fully on the Canadian border but when the coordinates were re-checked it was slightly off?)
you will be charged for having an apple in your pocket.
That’s insanity. The border should have been more accommodating
Nah, then he cannot do what he is doing by accepting paschal to and from Canada and USA, and deliver them to the intended destination with a small fee, without going through customs
I don't speak French but, compared to French spoken in Frace, he has a thick accent, doesn't he?
That's because people from Québec speaks "québecois" and people who speaks french in europe uses "metropolitan" french. It's not about accent but more about dialect if you will.
It's like comparing the English of someone from the southern US with someone from London UK
He speaks the Quebecois dialect. Mutually intelligible, but markedly different.
@@N1120A Thank you!
None of these on the Finnish/ruzzian border!!!😂
Unfortunately black face Trudeau would probably love to quarantine you but can't. This man is performing a great service for Canadians.
The town ran him into the ground. He didn't want that life. Poor guy.
**MICHAEL PLEASE HELP US CANADIANS !!!!**
I’m surprised one or both governments hasn’t yet kicked in one of his doors and hauled him off to who-knows-where.
If one government kicked down his door, he would just need to run to the other side of the house to be in another country, and force an extradition hearing.
This is why arbitrary borders are stupid. I’ve heard of the town cut in half, but now you have a guy’s house cut in half. If either government cracked down on him it would be horrible.
He can go to both countries without a passport though.
Fergie in Meet me Halfway
I see this as sort of ridiculous in terms of man made boarders. We have to follow invisible lines that keep us all a part.
First the whole world agrees to the same exact laws and customs. We merge every single economy, we share one world language....I could go on. I bet you have blue hair or have a fat girlfriend.
Open Borders
Would that make your country a safer place?
❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉😅😅😊
How is this even possible?
😂 😅 cool 😎 🙂
Bet the property taxes and insurance on that place are a nightmare.
Mr worldwide
wonder how many times he smuggled booze across the Border
I understand the need for safety, but god damn this shit is stupid.
We we
not fair lmao. I wish i didn't have to pay for extra duties and taxes when shipping through the US.
the next step is you're supposed to walk over to Canadian customs with your parcel for them to assess taxes/duty. who knows how much they care on smaller packages.
They're personal goods, so they won't charge anything. It's more that they are making sure you aren't trying to import an excess of alcohol or tobacco.
@@N1120A Well Canada Post for example charged me 60$ for duties and taxes for a GPU, and import taxes apply when you're directly exporting from the US to Canada. If you're just travelling by train or car or plane by carrying it YOURSELF, then yes, import taxes do not apply to personal export.
He sounds so much like the Cajun speakers in Louisiana that still speak our ancestral French language
Ayt, moving to Canada-US border and settle literally in the border and claim squatter's rights.
So this is where the corruption began. This is the stupidity at the finest.
His house is a loophole.
We should have an open border with canada anyways.
Trump closed the border - it was his call.
@@N1120A LOL, trump never closed the border. I was crossing a few times a month during Trump's presidency and under Biden. It is funny that you think he closed the border, good one.
In fact I was hoping the border would get easier under biden, but it actually got harder to cross.
Under trump they spend 1 minute per car and quickly let people drive through, never searched anything. After Biden took over, it turned into 10 minutes per car, they would walk around your car, check the trunk, and send random cars to secondary. the USCIS was been way more strict under Biden.
Wouldn't he be violating customs, tariffs, declaration laws? But look at who were talking about. A guy who flouts the law by crossing the border illegally. He can literally run from the law by crossing the border just like that. 😂
This must be the coolest property ever.
No. Clients are required to report to the customs office next door. They pay duties and taxes applicable
@@aplante So he's not violating Canadian import laws. I wonder how often he violates US export laws.
NAFTA/USMCA is a thing. Canadians and Americans can cross the border with most stuff, tax free.
47 likes and no comments? Lemme fix that.
yeah, you are right.
Imagine the amount of drugs this old man unknowingly distributed!!