Border delay for voluntary survey upsets Ottawa driver

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Border delay for voluntary survey upsets Ottawa driver

Postby Thomas » Fri Aug 28, 2015 5:20 am

An Ottawa couple is outraged after provincial police directed them off the road and into a parking lot near the Thousand Islands border crossing only to be asked after 10 minutes of waiting whether they wanted to participate in a voluntary travel survey.

Paul Hardy said he was travelling to Watertown, N.Y., for a birthday party with his wife Elizabeth Scott on last Saturday at about 11 a.m. when two uniformed OPP officers motioned him into one of three lines of vehicles separated by traffic cones in a parking lot just before U.S. customs.

The retired public servant said he initially believed that it might be related to border security, but instead he was asked by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation if he wanted to participate in a survey the ministry says is being used for long-term traffic planning and tourism promotion.

Hardy said he declined to participate in the survey and was allowed to leave but feels the damage was already done.

“In my mind, we felt like we were illegally detained by the OPP,” said the 60-year-old retired Canada Revenue Agency database programmer. “They may as well put handcuffs on us. When you see two guys in the police uniform and they are telling you emphatically to pull over … the first thing that comes to mind is, do what they ask you to do.”

“It’s an abuse of power. We had no choice but to go into that lane, and I resent it,” added Scott.


Hardy said he became even more upset when he realized that the OPP weren’t requiring every vehicle to pull off the roadway and were allowing some cars to pass without stopping.

According to the ministry, about 15 per cent — or roughly one vehicle in seven — are being randomly selected for the survey, which is being conducted at six Ontario border crossings, including all three in Eastern Ontario.

The ministry admits drivers have no choice but to pull over when directed by the police.

“The border survey sites are specifically designed to allow for safe release of vehicles back into the general traffic flow,” the ministry said in an emailed response to the Citizen’s questions. “As such, for safety reasons, motorists are not provided with the option of disregarding the direction from police to enter the survey zone.”

Ministry spokesman Bob Nichols wrote in an email that the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act allows it to stop vehicles and conduct surveys about highway use and highway needs.

Nichols said the ministry regrets that Hardy was inconvenienced but that vehicles selected for the survey need to be removed from the roadway to ensure traffic flow is safe and not interrupted. The MTO said it hires OPP officers to direct traffic to ensure public safety while directing traffic off the road.

“The ministry has strict vehicle release protocols to ensure drivers, who do not wish to participate in the survey, are released from the survey site immediately upon refusal,” Nichols said.

The surveys generally take three to five minutes to complete, according to the ministry. The ministry intends to continue conducting the surveys until Sept. 3.

Drivers are asked about trip origin, destination, purpose, duration, and frequency, which are important to help the ministry understand and forecast traffic patterns around borders, it says. The ministry also asks tourism-related questions, including whether the person being surveyed is using a rental car or is staying overnight in Ontario during their trip.

Hardy believes there are other ways for the MTO to collect the information, such as online or by mail. Scott said the ministry could have a sign that invited drivers who wanted to participate to pull over instead of giving them no choice.

“They don’t need to be arbitrarily disrupting people for these surveys and detaining them when they don’t want to be detained,” said Hardy.

“To be detained by the Ministry of Transportation or police and be directed and not have a choice, that’s just wrong.”

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