Dave, I always carry the customs forms for all of my photo gear, but one hard-nosed Canadian inspector wanted the original receipts for all of my equipment as I attempted to enter Canada by car. Since some of what I was carrying was purchased before I hired-out with the railroad, I had no receipts in my office for some items, let alone have receipts in my wallet. Nothing I said would sway this man's position. In order to complete my assignment, I even offered to drive back into the U.S., purchase the necessary camera gear, and then hand him the receipts.
He was not interested, saying, "Aren't there any Canadian photographers that your company could have hired to shoot the photos?" That was it !!! He resented my being there, thinking that I was taking food out of some poor Canadian photographer's mouth, which was not the case since I was on salary and this was the weekend--this was on "my" time as far as I was concerned! But no amount of persuasion was going to get me into Canada that day, and after eight hours in the Canadian customs office I drove back to Detroit and flew home to Baltimore. Even if I had had the original receipts for the CSX camera gear I am sure that he would have come up with some other reasin not to let me into Canada. John B. Corns --> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects
