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NOTE: Versions of this article also appeared in The National
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Montreal Gazette -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thousands blow past customs: Union says problem underreported; Canadian official suggests many drivers who miss border station do so inadvertently -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thousands of vehicles are crossing into Canada illegally each year without stopping at customs, according to new figures to be revealed this morning. Moreover, the government knows it and is hiding it from Canadians, says Ron Moran, the head of the union representing Canada's 5,000 customs officers. Moran says statistics from the Canada Border Services Agency obtained by the union show roughly 1,600 vehicles blew past customs stations from the United States into Canada in 2004. However, that's only a small proportion of the vehicles customs officers believe are illegally running the border. RCMP cameras capture 250 vehicles a month - roughly 3,000 a year - crossing at two unprotected and unpatrolled roads near Stanstead in the Eastern Townships alone, says Moran. "It's extremely alarming. If people are blowing by the (post) where there is a customs presence, it becomes unimaginable what goes on in those back roads where there is no patrolling, where there is no Canadian authorities to speak of that are mandated to intervene." The statistics, to be revealed today during justice committee hearings into the closing of RCMP border detachments in Quebec, are the latest in a series of embarrassing revelations for the government, which has repeatedly portrayed cars driving straight through the border unchecked as an isolated phenomenon. Testifying on Feb. 1 before a parliamentary subcommittee, Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan portrayed the incidence of people blowing through the border as an infrequent event. At the Lacolle border crossing south of Montreal, there were only 18 cases among the two million people who cross that border a year, she said. Moran, however, says his members did a study in December and found there were 17 cases during a period of only three weeks. Another study, conducted in British Columbia the week of Feb. 7, found 26 vehicles drove through customs stations without stopping. "They seem to be going out of their way to downplay the illegal activity that they know is going on at the border." Moran says there is little his members can do when they witness someone driving straight through customs without stopping. "They know we can't do diddly. (We have) no authority beyond the border crossing." Moran said he can't say why various people fly past customs stations because so few are ever stopped. By the time local police can respond, the suspect vehicle is often long gone, he said. The RCMP's decision to close border detachments in Quebec and transfer personnel to more investigative duties has exacerbated the problem, he added. The solution, Moran said, is for Canada to set up its own border patrol - preferably as part of the customs system. "A border patrol would be a big deterrent. Somebody who is inclined to start doing stuff like that would have to think twice. "If you're crossing on an unguarded road ... the unpredictability of those patrols would be such that you would never know if you were going to encounter one." A border patrol would also provide more safety for customs officers, who frequently have to work alone, he added. Helen Leslie, spokesperson for the border agency, said the vast majority of people entering Canada comply with the law and report to customs. While she could not confirm there were 1,600 cases in 2004, she pointed out that 71 million travellers cross Canada's land borders annually. Running the border is sometimes done accidentally, she added. In the case of Lacolle, officials discovered that many of the drivers in the 18 cases recorded had confused an emergency access road for snow removal vehicles and inadvertently crossed the border without reporting to customs. The agency also works closely with police to apprehend people who blow the border, she added. "The CBSA is confident in our procedures to manage such incidents and (that) any allegation of a potential breach of security is taken very seriously." ethompson@thegazette.canwest.com
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