U.S. envoy says Canadians facing device searches, detainment at border ‘not a pattern’

U.S. envoy says Canadians facing device searches, detainment at border ‘not a pattern’

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra says concerns about device searches are not grounded in reality.

The American ambassador to Canada is pushing back on Ottawa’s travel advice, saying his country doesn’t search phones at the border and arguing some Americans travelling here are having a tough time.

“We welcome Canadians to come in and invest, to spend their hard-earned Canadian dollars at U.S. businesses,” U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra told The Canadian Press in an interview Friday.

“If a Canadian has had a disappointing experience coming into the United States, I’m not denying that it happened, but I’m saying it’s an isolated event and it is not a pattern.”

In April, Ottawa updated its advice