Don't use american definitions of "probably cause". Canada is a different country and defines probably cause very differently. Canada has a different relationship with its boarders than America. The physical scale is are different.
Sovereignty is different. Canada's "charter rights" are different than american "constitutional" rights. Canada placed greater trust in individual enforcement officers and, generally, doesn't play the legal dances that are common in the US in relation to searches. Canadian boarder services agents may have greater power than their US counterparts but they are still a billion times easier to deal with than that TSA. Ask canadians if they want to adopt US-style rules and plenty would say no on principal alone.
Notice that this guy is now free and able to tell his story. He wasn't detained in handcuffs for days. He wasn't transported to a remote jail for interrogation. He wasn't charged with some trumped-up excuse to hold him. He wasn't subjected to a body cavity search. He wasn't added to some terror list. There is no allegation of racism. They seem to have politely explained the situation and let him on his way. Canada does things differently.
[edited for clarity, for those who require simple literality].
Probable cause is a core part of the Canadian charter:
> 3) based on reasonable and probable grounds to believe that an offence has been committed and there is evidence to be found at the place to be search.
Yes, both countries have a concept of probable cause, but they have different definitions of what constitutes it—of which only a little is what is spelled out in the charter/amendment; most of the effective criteria come from case law.
In other words, just because this kind of profiling wouldn’t constitute probable cause in the US, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t constitute probable cause in Canada. (I’m not sure that it does constitute probable cause in Canada; I just don’t know for sure that it doesn’t.)
As a Canadian, I would say “not really”. Plenty of examples of people’s rights being violated by Canadian officials. Those events don’t get the scrutiny that US events do, but they certainly happen.
I don't think he was specifically referring to the american or canadian or australian or <insert country X here> definition of probable cause, but rather the concept itself.
I don't know why you're trying to make a point about Canada vs US and how one is better than the other. Just because he's free to tell his story and wasn't prosecuted doesn't mean that the CBS is off the hook for seizing upon his electronic devices - without reason - and even threatening that they would be sent to a lab to be cracked.
I'm neither an American or Canadian citizen, but when I do travel to these countries I would expect that my privacy not be breached, especially not without reason and when I've already cooperated and consented to my bags and other personal items to be searched.
Now the next time you travel, and the CBS or US CBP decides to seize your devices, are you going to just surrender your devices, given that they've explained everything nicely and will let you go on your way?
> Canadian boarder services agents may have greater power than their US counterparts but they are still a billion times easier to deal with than that TSA
I think you mean US Customs and Border Protection, not the TSA.
Notice that this guy is now free and able to tell his story. He wasn't detained in handcuffs for days. He wasn't transported to a remote jail for interrogation. He wasn't charged with some trumped-up excuse to hold him. He wasn't subjected to a body cavity search. He wasn't added to some terror list. There is no allegation of racism. They seem to have politely explained the situation and let him on his way. Canada does things differently.
[edited for clarity, for those who require simple literality].