Former Calgarian detained at the airport for unpaid transit fine

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – A free ride without a valid ticket has come back to haunt a man who says the minor violation ended up getting him detained at the airport.

Now, the former Calgarian is getting the five-year-old fine resolved to make sure he’s not stopped by border security again on his next trip.

In November 2018, Christian Blott was stopped by Canada Border Services Agency at the YYC Calgary International Airport when he returns from a trip to Mexico with his girlfriend and her family. He was catching a connecting flight back home to Winnipeg.

Busted for riding the CTrain for free, a former #yyc man says the outstanding ticket caught up to him years later when he was detained at the Calgary airport.
@BTCityNewsCGY pic.twitter.com/9SDkWOWXp5

— Crystal Laderas (@CrisLaderas) January 23, 2020

“We were looking around, people were getting their bags searched and stuff, my girlfriend’s like, ‘What is going on?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know!’ But I think in the back of my mind it was the transit ticket.”

That fine was issued in 2015 and Blott forgot about it.

“My girlfriend’s parents didn’t believe it was a transit ticket, you know, they thought I was smuggling something back into the country. They thought I was a huge red flag.”

Blott says he was detained for an hour before a border agent spoke to him and explained there was a warrant for his arrest for the transit ticket. He was told to take care of it and was released.

“Every time I travel internationally now, there’s a good chance I’ll be detained.”

The CBSA says border services officers “may arrest an individual for an offence under the Criminal Code and for infractions under other acts of Parliament.”

“It seems like a minor thing, but don’t procrastinate and pay your tickets. That’s my point,” he laughed. “Because even five years later it will still get you.”

Blott has some upcoming trips abroad and was still asking around on Thursday about how he could pay the fine without having to go to the Calgary courthouse.

After the initial interview with Blott, CityNews pointed him to the Alberta government website where people can pay fines online.

He says it’s now all cleared up and he’s hoping for smooth clearance through security the next time he goes through an international terminal.