The saga of a Lampman family and their modified vehicle appears to be coming to a conclusion and barring a last minute Hail Mary from the provincial government, it won't have a happy ending.
Edwin and Alison Morris were recently informed by the Canada Border Services Agency that they must remove their vehicle from the North Portal Border Crossing or it will be declared abandoned and destroyed.
In an interview with The Mercury Thursday, Alison Morris said unless the provincial government steps up to help them there is little the family can do to save their 10-person suburban that was modified to allow the entire family to travel together safely.
The Morris' have been caught in a blender of red tape and bureaucracy since the summer of 2011 when they took their suburban to an Oklahoma custom vehicle shop to have it modified so the entire family could drive in the same vehicle safely.
Alison had done her homework and said she was led to believe by the CBSA that the vehicle would not be considered an import when they attempted to bring it back into Canada. However, upon arrival at the North Portal crossing, the Morris' were told the vehicle would not be allowed back into the country because the frame had been modified. It has been sitting at the border, stuck in limbo, since Aug. 15, 2011.
In a June 9, 2012 story that appeared in The Mercury, an official with Transport Canada said the problem is "bringing back to Canada a Canadian-certified vehicle after having it altered in another country constitutes importation, and the importer must comply with the Canadian regulations."
Although she has been waging a multi-pronged battle to get the vehicle back, Alison hadn't heard from the government for a 16-month period that ended in May when she received a letter from Vic Toews, the former federal minister of transport, again informing her that vehicle would not be allowed into the country.
On July 16, they received a phone call from a CBSA official who reiterated that the vehicle wasn't admissible and the Morris' had to export it. If they did not export it within 30 days, the vehicle would be destroyed.
"I was a little bit floored," Alison said. "Our option is to sell it back to the modifier and we never purchased it from him, and legally, I don't think that is his obligation to purchase it from us when he never sold it to us. Even if he did buy it, he would have to find a buyer outside of North America for it.
"So, their solution is really not a solution and in the meantime (the CBSA) continue to deny that they have done anything wrong."
Although there are a handful of clauses that complicate matters, Alison contends it is the provincial government that has jurisdiction in their case and that Transport Canada is acting outside of its authority.
"We have been saying that the constitution grants power exclusively to the provinces over property, it's black and white. That is why Transport Canada, their only jurisdiction in the country is over vehicles before they are sold (by the manufacturer.) Once sold at the retail level, that no longer applies, it's then provincial jurisdiction. For that reason, that is why you see so many modified vehicles. None of that would be allowed by Transport Canada if they had the jurisdiction that they are asserting at the border over individuals."
Alison said they are now calling upon the provincial government to intervene on their behalf and she has made a public plea to Premier Brad Wall to help the family.
"The province could step in and help if they wanted to, and that is what we are pushing for," she said. "There is power within the Traffic Safety Act and I believe, the constitution to allow (Wall) to step in. The province needs to step in and they could. They try to tell us that they have no power, but we have been able to show it in the law if they would listen to us."
Along with the media, the Green Party of Saskatchewan has also taken notice of the Morris's plight and on Wednesday, leader Victor Lau called on the premier to help the family get their vehicle back.
"The Morris family has done nothing wrong," Lau said in a press release. "The Morris's lawfully invested $90,000 in this truck, and they should be allowed to have it back as soon as possible."
Alison added that her family has also received a great deal of support over social media, noting that her Twitter feed - @seatbeltsplease - has well over 14,000 followers.
"People are tired of the government intervening in their lives when they don't need to," she said.
Even though time is running short, a clearly frustrated Alison said she will fight to get the vehicle back.
"Surely someone can work with us. This is Canada; I have more rights in a Third World country to protect my family than I do in Canada. Tourists visiting Canada have more rights to drive their family safely than I do. This is ridiculous.
"We were only doing this out of necessity because we had no option. We haven't been able to put all the car seats that we are legally required to take in our vehicle since 2008 because they don't fit; they are too wide. This has been hanging over our heads for two years."
