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Kind: captions
Language: en

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I'm not allowed to cross this road,

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because this is the town
of Stanstead, Canada.

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On the other side of the
street is Derby Line, USA

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and the border between the
two countries runs right down this:

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Rue Canusa.

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For local residents,
that can be inconvenient.

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- I've lived here all
my life, so 63 years.

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Today you cannot cross over the line
and visit your neighbours, like years ago.

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If you want to cross,
you have to report at customs.

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You know I used to cross every day,
but now

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I probably cross once every...
about once a week

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because I come down to
the post office over here.

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To go through the border, basically,
they ask you for your passport,

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they go inside, I guess they look at
whether you have a record or not.

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They'll look at your
registration of your car

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and a couple of minutes
and you've gone through.

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I'm a dual citizen so I'm
American and Canadian.

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So it's easier.

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- This is a place where
the idea of a border

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as a solid, easy to understand line
gets a little bit fuzzy.

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The road doesn't run at exactly the same
angle as the border, not precisely.

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The official line is that
this is Canada and that's the USA,

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but both countries' maps show the road
as being entirely in the US just here

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and entirely in Canada, up there.

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The houses are definitely
in separate countries

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but the road is not quite as clear.

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And in practise, if I was driving I'd be okay. 
Even on that side of the road,

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I am considered to be still in Canada,

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as long as I don't stop and
walk up to an American house.

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It's fair to say that there's
a little bit of leniency here,

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if you're just nudging the
border by a few centimetres.

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Or if you're on that side,
a couple of inches.

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But while I was setting up my camera here,
the police turned up, lights flashing,

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to move along those bikers
you saw earlier

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who were admiring the view
from the other side of the road.

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It all seemed in good spirits,
but they had crossed the border.

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- Well, the library is
part on the Canadian side

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and part on the American side.

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But you stay on the Canadian side
and you stay on the sidewalk,

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and you go through the front door
and it's permitted.

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On Canusa Street, there's
a sidewalk on the Canadian side,

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so back years ago, it was tolerated
that people on the American side

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could cross over and walk on the sidewalk,

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so, basically it's dangerous to
walk on the side of the road

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and now today, well,
it's not tolerated no more.

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I think the rule hasn't changed much,
but they're more enforced.

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When you cross, they ask you more questions
than they used to, you know, years ago.

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Before when you went through the border,
you knew most of the customs officers

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and they used to wave to you, y'know.

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- In 1783, this section of
the Canada-US border was set

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at the 45th parallel,
a line of latitude.

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Slightly inaccurate measurements were accepted
by both countries, so it was locked in.

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But as for this specific road?

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There are local stories about
drunk surveyors and pranks,

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but no one really knows.