PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun
DATE:
2004.01.07
EDITION:
Final
SECTION:
Editorial/Opinion
PAGE:
14
COLUMN:
Editorial
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEITHER
RAIN NOR SNOW NOR GUNS ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Try
to board an aircraft these days with even a tiny pair of scissors in your hand
luggage and odds are you'll never get it on the plane.
That's
because all luggage is X-rayed as a matter of routine and, in a post 9/11 world,
the screeners have been instructed to be scrupulous.
Then
again, you can always arrange to have someone ship you an illegal handgun - or
drugs - from the U.S. or overseas via Canada's mail system and odds are it will
arrive safe and sound.
That's
because Canada Customs and Revenue Agency inspects and X-rays less than 5% of
the mail coming into Canada, and is prohibited by law from touching any mail
under 30 grams.
It's
just one more way for criminals to get guns, drugs and other contraband into the
country as reported by the Sun's Maria McClintock yesterday. Documents she
obtained under Access to Information legislation show that guns, teargas and
drugs, including cocaine and heroin, are routinely smuggled into Canada through
the five major mail centres in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and
Winnipeg.
And
since less than 5% of the mail is actually inspected, according to Customs and
Excise Union president Ron Moran, it's a safe bet that far more contraband gets
through than is ever caught.
Clearly,
this is just one more way for for thugs to get illegal guns and drugs on our
streets.
The
way to fight the problem seems obvious.
Inspect
and X-ray every piece of mail coming into the country - or at least as much of
it as is physically possible - and not just that which arouses the suspicion of
Customs officers. Plus eliminate the 30-gram limit. The right to privacy doesn't
include the right to mail drugs and other contraband illegally into Canada.
The
federal Liberal government, remember, is intent on having 100% of Canada's gun
owners register their legal firearms in a program which has turned into a
billion dollar boondoggle as part of their so-called war on crime.
Isn't
it a tad inconsistent, then, that its approach to stopping illegal guns from
coming into Canada via the mail consists of random checks involving less than 5%
of the packages?
That's not the fault of front-line CCRA inspectors.
It's
a question of political will and resources.
Where is all that money Ottawa has been taking from us ever since 9/11, ostensibly to help make our borders more secure, going anyway?