elmwood - Maybe he just couldn’t believe you were actually going to Detroit? 
There was some grumbling recently about the US using UAVs near Canadian border towns, mostly based on complaints of invasion of privacy and sovereignty issues, but I’m not sure what came out of it. I think I recall reading that Canada insisted that the UAVs stay X km away from the border or somesuch, but I’m not sure. Part of the border is being patrolled that way, though I don’t know how effective it is.
I live in Montana, and the roads I’ve taken across the border have fairly serious checkpoints. Last time I went up into Alberta I was towing my camper trailer and they inspected it and confiscated my firewood.
Could have been worse. They confiscated a bunch of marshmallows from the guy right before you. And the next guy lost his candy bars and graham crackers.
Confiscated your firewood? What gives?
Apparently not all roads along the border are guarded, but at least one place, in Point Roberts, WA has this threatening sign. In a lot of these locations, there’s a low berm or fence of some kind to prevent vehicles from passing over. So the sign above seems to be directed at those crossing on foot.
All day long they see people leaving Detroit and they have to stay.
They won’t let you bring any non-certified plantlife across the border because it might harbor harmful insects.
Alberta restricts the importation of firewood to prevent the spread of pine beetle and other pests.
More here: Mountain pine beetle in Alberta | Alberta.ca
Considering my sister lives just a few feet from one of those “god-forsaken crossings” in the OP (well, west of Lake of the Woods anyways, the rather busy one at Emerson, MB), I figured I’d chime in:
That’s actually along the entire border, from Washington to Maine, and even along the Alaska section. Even at the Northwest Angle.
I crossed at the Northwest Angle once, basically because I’m a geography geek and wanted to see what it was like. I was told by many of the locals that most people don’t bother with reporting at the videophone, but I did, primarily because it’s a freaking videophone! When am I going to use one of those again! (Turned out the “video” part wasn’t working when I was there … )
[plug]A friend of my dad’s is a former border patrol officer and has a rather interesting book out regarding some interesting stories of people crossing, what he’s seen over the decades, etc. I’d recommend (but then, I’m probably biased). I Do Declare - Memoirs of a Canadian Customs Officer by Robert Klassen[/plug]
I rode my bike to the States a couple of times from Kingston, Ontario to Cape Vincent, New York via Wolfe Island. It’s a ferry crossing connecting two rural areas and is very low traffic. However, the American side is decked out with what one would expect at a border crossing these days…vehicle radiation detector, dogs, piles of tech stuff. The Canadian side is basically just a shack and a flag pole.
On one trip the guards on the Canadian side didn’t even ask for our passports or any identification when we crossed back over on grounds that he just “saw us an hour ago”.
Like anyone else I’m not a fan of rude and overbearing border officials, but part of me understands why the American government complains loudly about the porous Canadian border situation.
Oh. That makes sense.
I think we have something similar in California, but I don’t think it’s really enforced.
I was going to mention Point Roberts. There, the border is laughable. If you use Google Earth you can click on some of the photos taken of the border there. One photo shows a simple residential fence with condos in Canada beside the fence on one side and a simple street immediately on the other side, in the US. It could be any residential neighborhood, but no, that’s the border. There is also a photo showing a cul-de-sac, a little patch of green or a small ditch (can’t remember, GE not installed), and a street right on the other side. The border runs between them, simple as that. And then there is “Zero Avenue” across the water, on the mainland. It’s a long, simple road like any other, literally right on the border with no physical barrier on either side.
On another note, I remember crossing into the US with an expired Canadian passport loaded with Middle Eastern stamps, including Lebanon and Syria, among others, and nobody even blinked. And this was about a year after 9/11. Coming back into Canada, they simply asked, “Nationality?”. “Canadian.”, I said, and they waved me across. Kind of strange.
Even in the States (at least here in Illinois), there are aggressive PSA announcements on the radio urging folks not to transport firewood for this reason. I recall Wisconsin, in particular, being very stringent at their campgrounds in regards to bringing in any outside firewood. “Burn it where you buy it” is the mantra.
I live in Northern New York. Very rural. There is a Quebec border crossing just three miles down my road. It is manned during the day. At night it is closed and you have to go to the next border crossing. Back before 9/11 the crossing was unmanned and you would be trusted to cross on your own then report to the next border crossing to declare whatever. It was not enforced. Now the Border Patrol has a definite presence. You always see them driving around and occasionally see the aircraft as well. And this is in the middle of nowhere.
Interesting: the border crossing station is not on the actual border. One of my students lived beyond the station but before the border so every day, twice a day, the school bus had to go through the checkpoint and deal with the questions.
The people at Detroit airport are the biggest arseholes on earth.
That aside my experience of crossing into Canada in the Vancouver area was that a mixed American/Canadian gay couple were given a slightly hard time, an American who hadn’t changed his address on his i.d. was given a hard time, an Irish girl was made to fill out a lot of forms, but everyone else sailed through and were given a genuinlly warm welcome.
As a member of the British military at that time I received a particulary warm welcome for some reason.
Totally love Canada.
God, yes. My wife and I (with two little ones) planned a trip in which we had planned to drive from Montana into Alberta along US 89 and found the crossing closed. Worse, we tried to find somewhere to stay for the night, and after about three hours of back tracking without finding a motel with a vacancy, we just gave up sleep for the night and detoured to I-15.
Oh yeah it is
I’m not quite sure that the US government complains about porosity into Canada, and your own post indicates that the US government is armed to the teeth with the latest in “Bad Guy Detection Shit” at their remote border crossings.
US complaints about others’ borders is an exercise in politicking, that’s it.
My response to hearing about confiscated firewood was, “Good!” We’re trying very hard to keep our forests alive (and losing the battle, unfortunately).
Every time I go across to the US, I lose my fruit. The funny part is that some of the fruit I lose is from the US. 
After making the border crossing in various locations in Western Canada, I find the hysteria about airport security, well, hysterical. If someone with bad intentions wants to get into the US, they most certainly will.
I live in Eastern Washington about 8 miles from the border. The dirt road that I turn off to get home also goes to (and through) the border. The road runs through National Forest land.
Border Patrol are parked at the base of my drive probably 4 days a week. They have ATVs in the back of the truck in summer, snowmobiles in winter. You will occasionally see mounted agents.
Oddly enough, I lived here for a year (after 9/11) driving a car with Texas plates and was never stopped or questioned. A month after I put Washington plates on the car, I was stopped by an agent who was new to the area and asked why I was in the area.
I was in Canada yesterday and went through the crossing on the west side of the Columbia (24/7 crossing) going in and was grilled by the Canadian guard. I came back through the crossing on the east side of the river (9am-5pm daily) and was basically waved through by the American guard.
The east side is kind of cool. You have to cross the Waneta Bridge , a single lane railroad bridge built in 1893. It is the oldest operational highway bridge in BC.
I think airport security is more about reducing the incidents of jets crashing into buildings.
