Angry in the Great White North

A convicted American sex offender on the run from the law has been arrested in downtown Toronto.

Officials started searching for 53-year-old Richard Jones last week after he failed to return to a cruise ship that was docked in Halifax. Jones was wanted in Texas for breaching his probation conditions.

He had been found guilty of indecent sexual contact with a minor.

Jones was arrested Monday as he returned to a downtown Toronto hostel.

This is an important story. Questions have to be asked and answered about how Jones was allowed off the ship. It simply should not have happened:

You are considered "unfit" to enter Canada. In the words of the Canadian government, you are "criminally inadmissible." This applies to anyone as well who has been convicted of a DUI, shoplifting, driving dangerously, simple assault ... or anything that can be considered a "misdemeanor" in the United States. It doesn't matter if it was 40-some-odd years ago. It doesn't matter if you've been going to Canada for the last 20 years with no problem. If you have a record, you won't get in now.

It isn't that the laws are any tougher than they have been over the last 40 years; it's the technology that's better. Canadian immigration officers can plug into your history in the same way that local cops can. This is the result of a post-September 11 agreement between the U.S. and Canada, and it's been very effective.

Effective? Really? With Jones' record he should not have been let on the ship. He certainly should not have been allowed off the ship in Halifax. But it wasn't just the case of a previous conviction. Jones was actively being sought by authorities.

What should have happened?

What happens if you board a cruise in New York and your cruise ends in Montreal, and you're in an "Inadmissible Class" and don't know it? Lucy Perillo, who operates Canada Border Crossing Services, an agency which helps expedite the "rehabilitation" process, says that your first clue will be that you can't get off the ship for your shore excursions in Halifax or Prince Edward Island. And it will be computerized, in the system. When you get to Montreal, you will be allowed to transit to the airport, usually accompanied and put into a secure area.

"It's also important to note," she says, "that Canada doesn't require a passport for entry. We still accept a photo ID and certified birth certificate. The U.S. requires a passport for re-entry. Some people mistakenly think that by using the photo ID and birth certificate, their entry to Canada will be easier. It's not. If you're in the system with a past conviction, the form of ID you use doesn't matter."

We don't know what sort of ID Jones presented. Maybe it was his own, and the system that is supposed to be so effective broke down in a spectacular way. Maybe he used a fake ID, which begs the question about whether the Americans are being so unreasonable to require passports from everyone.

Lots of questions and few answers. But a glaring example of what sort of thing we need to be worried about. Richard Jones was not a terrorist with a sophisticated network supporting him, carefully preparing documents and plotting routes and securing safe houses. He was a Texas pedophile who strolled across the border at a heavily guarded entry point in Halifax, then made it all the way to Toronto before being caught.

He was not a mole, raised off the grid, carefully chosen for a mission because he had no red flags. He was a convicted felon on the run from Texas police. As a sex offender with a current outstanding warrant, stopping him at a border point ought to have been a slam dunk.