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Versions of this article also appeared in the following papers: Ottawa Citizen,
Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Victoria Times Colonist and Vancouver Sun.
PUBLICATION: National
Post -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blame Customs not U.S. for gun influx: MacKay: Too few guards hired, critics say -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OTTAWA - The Canada Border Services Agency has increased front-line forces by just 10.9% since 1995, compared with a 100% boost in the number of employees at Customs headquarters, newly obtained documents show. The figures, obtained by the federal Customs Excise Union under the Access to Information Act and provided to CanWest News Service, have prompted criticisms that Prime Minister Paul Martin is blaming the United States for the proliferation of illegal handguns being smuggled across the border when a large part of the problem lies in his own domain. "It rings hollow for the Prime Minister to be hectoring the U.S. on guns being smuggled into Canada," deputy Conservative leader Peter MacKay said in an interview yesterday. "To that I say we better clean up our own backyard and we better demonstrate to them that we take our security seriously before we start asking them to do something about it." Mr. Martin said the United States has an "obligation" to do more to curb the flow of U.S.-made handguns into the country, an issue he raised in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday night at 24 Sussex Drive. He was speaking after several days of gun violence in Toronto, where 44 of 64 homicides this year have been caused by firearms. All but one of them involved an illegal handgun. Ms. Rice refused to comment on Mr. Martin's contention that half of all gun crimes committed in Canada involve U.S.-bought firearms, but said her government is committed to strengthening both sides of the border. "Obviously we want to help resolve issues concerning gun violence," she said. "We have been very involved with Canadian law enforcement trying to do exactly that." But the staffing figures, which indicate Ottawa has increased border bureaucracy and intelligence gathering, but not its on-the-ground border guards, show it is Canada that must be more vigilant on the border, critics charged. Between 1995-96 and 2004-05, the border agency increased staffing at international crossings across the country by 717 "full-time equivalents" -- from 6,603 to 7,320 -- a 10.9% boost. The highest increase was recorded in the Pacific region, where front-line guards jumped 18.2%. The Prairies saw no increase at all in the number of border guards protecting its crossings. The country's busiest border crossings, in Southern Ontario, saw a 12% increase -- from 2,420 to 2,711 FTE's -- between 1995 and 2005. In contrast, the number of positions at the agency's headquarters, which include intelligence teams but no front-line officers, jumped more than 100% from 540 full-time equivalents in 1995-96 to 1,083 in 2002-03, the last year for which numbers were provided. "Nothing in my mind justifies the decision to double headquarters and basically give table scraps to the regional offices. It defies logic. It's asinine in its priority," Mr. MacKay said. "In an ideal world, you need to have more of both, but if I was to be given the choice, I'd say put more people on the ground and arm them." Officials in Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan's office were unable to account for the rapid increase in staffing at headquarters, but said the department has changed significantly over the years, especially since December, 2003, when the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency was replaced by the CBSA, incorporating the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Citizenship and Immigration enforcement and intelligence teams, Revenue Canada officials and other border-related responsibilities. "There have been many changes in the way we manage our border service since Sept. 11," CBSA spokeswoman Amelie Morin said. However, the creation of Integrated Border Enforcement Teams in the wake of 9/11, are led in large part by the RCMP, a spokesman for Ms. McLellan said. Ron Moran, head of the union representing Canada's border guards, suggested the bulk of the increases noted at headquarters are intelligence staff, which he said are important. But he accused the government of augmenting its intelligence operations at the expense of sentries on guard at Canadian crossings. "It's difficult to say they're wasting money," Mr. Moran said. "But it certainly raises a lot of concerns in terms of priority when you see that type of contrast in investment and you look at how the operations are aching in the field." Mr. Moran is calling for an armed border patrol to watch over the desolate points between border crossings. "It's a paradise for smuggling in that there is nothing on the Canadian side." Public Safety officials noted the government has committed funding for an extra 270 border guards over the next five years. In addition, the border agency has committed 11 officers across the country to gun-smuggling investigations, including two dedicated officers working in Toronto. |