A Quebec angler in a rowboat powered by a five-horsepower motor is shaken and outraged after the U.S. Coast Guard accused him of fishing in U.S. waters and then arrested him, holding him in jail for nearly two hours.
Edouard Lallemand, 60, told CTV News that he nearly drowned on Sunday, July 20th, at about 5:30 pm after a Coast Guard patrol boat “pushed” his boat, capsizing it, and he was injured. “I’m never going to be the same,” he said.
Lallemand was in a friend’s borrowed boat fishing near Venise-en-Québec, which is roughly nine miles north of the U.S. border at the northern end of Lake Champlain. He told CTV he has fished for decades and was adamant he was in Canadian waters.
When the Coast Guard arrived they told him to turn off his engine, and he complied he said. They then told him he was in U.S. territory.
“‘I said, ‘No, I’m very sorry, I’m in Canada.’ And I said I’m polite enough to talk to you guys but you cannot arrest me. ‘You can’t come across the border and pick me up’ but they did,’ ” he told CTV.
“Lallemand started his engine and said he wanted to talk with the officers by the shore, but the Coast Guard followed and tried to push him into the U.S., which is what caused him to go overboard.”
“They’re tying my boat to their boat. They’re not even taking care of me. The third time I went down, coming out with water in my mouth, spitting it out, I said throw me a buoy,” he said.
Lallemand said he was aggressively handcuffed and then handed over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. He said they fingerprinted and jailed him in his wet clothes, providing only a “dirty” blanket.
In a statement to CTV News Coast Guard officials claimed Lallemand was “in U.S. Customs waters.”
“While the Coast Guard’s 29-ft response boat was alongside the vessel, the operator put the vessel in motion and ignored commands to maintain course and speed for boarding purposes. The vessel then made an abrupt starboard turn and struck the port bow of the Coast Guard small-boat at coordinates 45°00.792’N, 073°10.608’W, approximately 65 yards south of the U.S./Canadian border. The collision caused the vessel to capsize, putting the operator in the water,” the statement reads.
“The actions of the operator of the Canadian vessel are currently under investigation,” they said. The boat Lallemand was piloting at the time was damaged and filled with seaweed after it capsized.
When Lallemand was finally released, his wife told CTV “I’ve never seen him like that. We’ve been together a very long time. He’s like a beaten man,” she said. “We treat our pets better than they treated him.”
Lallemand suffered some scrapes and said he wanted an apology from the Coast Guard. He also warned Canadian boaters: “Stay away from the border,” he said. “Even if it’s 500, 600 feet from there.”
U.S. border control officials are noted for their aggressive, sometimes criminal attacks on people they believe are not U.S. citizens. This incident comes as the Trump regime has threatened to annex Canada as a 51st state and Canadian visits to the U.S. have dramatically declined, impacting the Northern New York economy.
June 2025 data shows a 33% decline in Canadian visitors entering the U.S. by car compared to June 2024, continuing a six-month trend of steep decreases.
Small businesses, hotels, and restaurants in Upstate New York are reporting reduced reservations and cancellations. The North Country Chamber of Commerce surveyed local businesses and found that 66% have already experienced a decline in Canadian bookings for 2025. 59% of surveyed businesses reported that Canadian visitors generate 25-50% of their revenue.
New York Almanack is reporting on the Trump regime’s impacts in New York State, but we can’t do it without your help. Please support this work.
Illustrations, from above: the rowboat (provided by Edouard Lallemand); and the location the location where the Coast Guard claims it was located.
Source link
