Wayne Kemp and François Cusson discuss the complexity of customs work

The video clip is an extract from an interview recorded by Héritage Sutton in February 2020.

Wayne Kemp: I know that at our end, in our sector, there are several roads without customs, and across Canada it’s probably the same because the border is 5,500 miles long. From Alaska to Maine. There are only 119 customs posts.

Interviewer: Right. There are a lot of miles between border posts. And you François?

François Cusson: Well I worked more in Frelighsburg when I started. After that I was assigned more towards Highwater, Glen Sutton — and then between Lake Memphremagog and Highwater. There was one spot where a lot of people crossed …  and we knew it. The Americans warned us, but then, when you don’t have a lot of staff…  Lake Memphremagog was another spot, summer and winter. In Glen Sutton there was one, too, that was right beside the lake. Sometimes we saw lights at night, but look, who is it, what is it? When I worked in Abercorn, at East Pinnacle, the place closed at midnight and reopened at 8:00 am. Not everyone came in to report. But what I found most difficult were the people you knew personally. The friends! “Hey,” they’d say. “I saw you grow up, from when you were a little guy at your father’s garage!” Oftentimes it’s the people who’ve known me a long time who give you the most trouble.

Interviewer: Didn’t you ever question them?

François Cusson: Well, you can’t search and interrogate someone every day, every time they pass by; that becomes harassment, but we knew what was going on. You always have to ask yourself are they bringing in something as simple as a small basket of strawberries  … or are they carrying eight gallons of alcohol? Sometimes I found a lot more than eight gallons; the stuff was so heavy the car was tilting backwards (he laughs).