Remember back in the summer when Canada suddenly required that Mexican tourists needed a visa to visit the country? They left lots of people who had immediate travel plans scrambling to get last minute visas, and they wrecked a lot of holidays. In retaliation, as a political gesture, Mexico decided it would require visas from Canadian diplomats. Mexico announced this shortly after Canada made its change, but the requirement in Mexico only went into force on October 17th. Today INM at the Cancun airport rejected a Canadian diplomat by the name of Michael James Palmer Moen. He did not have the required visa. He was not allowed to enter Mexico and was sent back on the next flight. The airline was fined as well since it is their responsibility to have caught this, they should not have allowed him on the plane in the first place. Mr. Palmer was reportedly very angry and did not want to board the flight back. He was quite obnoxious from all accounts. It's only symbolic, but now a Canadian VIP just had his vacation get wrecked! Maybe now Canada will think a little before enacting such a drastic change with no warning.
Turns out that this diplomat was coming here to get married to his American fiancee. So it wasn't just his vacation that got wrecked, it was his wedding!
I'm a Canadian but I say "Too bad" - they ruined a lot of plans of Mexicans to attend weddings and other family functions in Canada with their stupid policy. Maybe now they'll understand how they hurt people. We are STILL waiting for the police clearance for Miguel before we can even submit his application - we've been waiting and waiting. It does not look like he will be able to join me in Canada for Christmas as we are running out of time for the visa. If I hadn't already paid for his ticket (bought it two weeks before they imposed the new visa), we'd just drop it, but $600 is nothing to just walk away from, so we keep hoping. Canada has no understanding of how things work here. Yes, their refugee claims have slowed to a trickle, because their overall Mexican tourists have slowed too. I'm sure it's because many Mexicans trying to pull all the paperwork together cannot get it done. Bah, Humbug!
A "quite obnoxious" Canadian. Are you sure? Maybe he was a Brit with a Canadian passport. LOL This is poetic justice at its best. My good friends had to scramble around at the last minute with hardly any notice to get Visas for a family of 5. If I remember correctly, Canada just said one day, hey, this is the new deal. If you had already purchased your tickets and could not get a visa, too bad. No grace period, no waiver for already booked and paid for flights, etc. Great story.
OUCH! Touche, Life, and I'm an American! I suspect I could've gotten a little "obnoxious" myself, being turned back at the border. In defense of TJ, who needs none, I think he picked up the term from the first post, here. (But, again, I can imagine some "obnoxiousness" could be expected, no matter whose diplomat he was: they are not known for being diplomatic, in circumstances like these, including the probable violation of International Law that occurred when they turned him back!) Poor Mexico, huh? Turning back this diplomat, while satisfying at the time, will, undoubtedly, not go far in straightening out the visa issues that Canada created by their unilateral action.
It has been suggested that what happened was during the H1N1 frenzy Canadian officials realized just how many Mexicans were in country when they all started to try and claim asylum.... and that along with the flu sensationalism triggered the clamp down on Mexicans visiting... It would have been more fair to give a good six months warning, but then again politicians and governments don't generally care about the little people... To be fair Canada can enforce whatever rules they want just as Mexico can impose whatever regulations they wish, but considering Mexico needs Canada much more than the other way around... perhaps this tit-for-tat approach Mexico is taking isn't the best way to work things out.
I don't think that Mexico asking for visas from Canadian diplomats amounts to "tit for tat." The number of Canadian diplomats coming to Mexico is pretty small. It really was just a token gesture, it inconveniences very few people, but makes headlines. It was symbolic, that's all. Too bad that this guy's wedding got screwed up. But he should have known the rules and should have planned for this.
Well, sorry the guy lost his wedding, but you would think he would know the rules before hand. And I for one am happy that Mexico didn't just sit back and let Canada play their little game (yes, I am Canadian but I am thoroughly ticked off with Canada for their visa regulations).
