This is not true. You've already entered the country, and so the border staff (US, Canadian, whoever) can indeed detain you, throw you into immigration detention, take all your stuff, really whatever they want. You don't have any rights. You could call your embassy, but they will tell you that so long as the other country is following its own laws, you're stuck, and they can't help you.
If you don't like it, don't go.
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Lan...
Even if you decide not to enter as opposed to being denied I bet it pops up on their screen for a long time.
If a border agent threatened me with jail, I don't think that being unable to return would be a problem for me. :-)
(Disclaimer: having no family in Canada, or any real need to be there.)
No, just like the US:
https://www.aclu.org/other/constitution-100-mile-border-zone
A non citizen can be refused entry but they absolutely have a right to not be arbitrarily detained.
[1]http://www.fondationtrudeau.ca/sites/default/files/u5/articl...
But I'm not seeing where "non citizens have no rights" or the court says that whole sections cannot be applied to non-citizens and the word everyone doesn't mean what we think. In fact I'm seeing some rulings where the court acknowledged for example that equality rights do apply to non citizens.
I am seeing a case where they allowed someone to be detained, but it seems they found a way to decide that the restriction was reasonable and therefore constitutional, but they didn't decide that non-citizens cannot benefit from this right.
You'd be waiting forever.
This kind of stuff happens all day, every day, at every one of the major border crossings.
You'd be denied entry and that would be the end of it.
"I might end up waiting weeks or months, though."
The American embassy will tell you there's nothing they can do, and you'd be waiting in perpetuity in a hotel on the American side of the border.
The thing is, you may not have such 'rights', at least not in a legal sense. I suggest the duderinos at the border are well aware of what they can, and cannot do.
If you have a beef, it's with Homeland Security or Congress, not the border guy.
And if you're entering a foreign country ... well, your legal rights are pretty thin. So there's that.
PR Storm? This is the first I've read about it, and it's the NY Times. I don't see anything relating to it on CBC, Globe or National Post sites. Nothing on CBC Radio 1 in my drive to or from work, either.
I guess it depends on how much you care about your personal info or how sensitive your data is, but I wouldn't budge based on this. I'd say, "Okay, I want to talk to the American embassy," then wait it out.
Edit: To be clear, this would be my response without knowing anything about the relevant Canadian law — since I don't – because the statement sounds like a lie. LE lies all the time. Indefinite imprisonment of a random person? Nah. And breaking into a locked phone is actually very difficult — see Apple versus FBI.