A House In 2 Countries

From Yahoo Canada:
"Residents who cross Canada-U.S. border marked by flower pots face big fines"

For residents of two towns on the border between Canada and the U.S., crossing the street can be a complicated and expensive affair. Between the towns of Stanstead, QC, and Derby Line, Vt., lies a border marked by a row of flower pots. It's one of several haphazardly erected divides between the two towns, which share a library that has a front door on American soil and a back door in Canada. Some residents even have to report to a border post every time they pull out of their driveways because they've entered Canadian soil, according to a 2007 New York Times story. The Times has described this sleepy divide as a "symbol of cross-border friendship." Well, not anymore. Step past those flowers today and you might land yourself with a $5,000 fine. For more than a decade, authorities have ramped up security at crossings like the one between Stanstead and Derby Line, fearful the area is a little too friendly to smugglers of drugs, firearms, and refugees trying to cross illegally, according to the Times. Far from getting used to it, residents are still angry and the laws are causing controversy, the BBC reported last night. The broadcaster spoke to local resident Buzz Roy, who was thrown in jail for crossing the border to get a pizza. The flower pots went up in the middle of the road in August, according to WPTZ News, along with signs that say to head to border security.

Federal officials have just built another security barrier at the border, according to the Globe and Mail. The mayor of Stanstead, Quebec, released a statement saying he was saddened that the media and federal government have been depicting the town as a haven for criminals because of its leaky security.

^ You would think that there would be a special agreement between Canada and the US regarding these kinds of situations - where people live in one country and their driveway is in another or the store is across the street from your house in another country. It is clear that neither the US or Canadian Governments are handling the special circumstances in these two towns correctly and things need to change to improve the lives of the residents there. ^

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-buzz/residents-cross-canada-u-border-marked-flower-pots-162155148.html