Thread: Time to arm Canadian border guards

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Time to arm Canadian border guards

By Surrey Leader
Jan 31 2006

Last Tuesday afternoon, two murder suspects from California sped toward the Canada-U.S. border at the Peace Arch crossing. They were armed with a submachine gun and a 9-mm pistol.

As the drama unfolded, with a horde of U.S. law enforcement officers in hot pursuit, Canadian border guards abandoned their posts. Why? They were unarmed.

Under Canada's labour code, they were within their rights to invoke a safe work environment. In those circumstances, that meant getting out of the way of desperate, gun-packing criminals.

What a sorry blight on Canada's image.

It's hard to fault the border officers. It makes little sense to place oneself in the path of an armed felon with little for defence beyond pepper spray and a baton. Better to leave the potentially deadly confrontation to the RCMP, who were armed and waiting on the Canadian side of the border.

Yet, that required warning, and time for Mounties to respond. That may not be the case in a future scenario, leaving unarmed border guards on the front lines, or fleeing again.

The blame for this embarrassment must lie with the Canada Border Services Agency, and ultimately with the federal Liberal government, which for years have declined to arm border guards, despite repeated appeals from the Customs Excise Union.

Some sources suggest this reluctance stems from a desire to present a gentler, more welcoming image of Canadian security at the border. We hope those same bureaucrats are cringing at this week's spectacle of Canadian border officers leaving their posts when confronted by the prospect of armed intruders.

Canada is not immune to being a base of operations, and perhaps a target as well, of fanatical terrorists. This chilling fact was driven home in 1999 when Ahmed Ressam was caught crossing into the U.S. with explosives meant to bomb Los Angeles airport. Similarly, the movement of dangerous criminals and illegal immigrants between the two countries is not restricted by the border simply because it's there.

As recently witnessed, gun violence in Canada is becoming embedded in criminal culture, just as it has in the United States.

For all those reasons, it is naive if not negligent of the Canadian government to think this country's border guards can continue to fulfill their vital roles without proper defensive tools.
The newly elected Conservatives say they will arm the officers.
The sooner the better.

http://www.brooksbulletin.com/news/edit ... emid=48671

Borderline cowardice


It’s a perception of cowardice that’s going to take a long time to shake.

Warned of two armed men approaching the Canadian border on Washington State’s I5, dozens of B.C. border guards fled. The fugitives didn’t make it to Canada, but only because a lone Whatcom County sheriff rammed their vehicle after a high-speed chase - one metre south of the border.

So, the Canadian border is safe because an American police officer risked his life when 40 to 50 Canadian border guards wouldn’t. God bless America.

Granted, Canadian border guards don’t carry guns. Nor is this the first time they’ve abandoned their posts to make a point.

In November 2005, for example, Canada Border Services Agency members left their posts at several Ontario crossings, causing huge delays. And in May, 40 CBSA members refused to work even though police arrived to provide back-up at three border crossings where U.S. authorities had warned them to expect an armed U.S. felon to try to gain access to Canada.

During the November walk-out, union president Ron Moran blamed Ottawa’s, “culture of deceptionâ€

I can't believe they have unarmed border guards.

Unarmed until now? I should have just drove through the border checkpoint at Winsor that one time. And give them the finger at the same time.


-pa