Canadian Senate recommends arming border agents

TORONTO -- A Canadian Senate report released Wednesday said customs agents should carry weapons to prevent terror threats, and blasted Ottawa and Washington for not doing more to secure the shared border.

Unlike U.S. Border Patrol agents, CBSA officers are unarmed. The arming of the Canadian border agents has long been opposed by the government.

A long-awaited report by the Committee on National Security and Defense said Canada and the U.S. have not progressed in tightening their 4,000-mile border.

"Despite what should have been the wake-up call of Sept. 11, 2001, there has been an unsettling lack of progress on both sides of the border to improve efficiency and strengthen security at land border crossings," said the 192-page report.

The report aslo calls for legislation to allow Canada's minister of public safety to expedite border infrastructure construction.

Unlike U.S. Border Patrol agents, CBSA officers are unarmed. They are instructed to call the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police or local police departments if threatened, but officers testified that help is often slow in coming.

"The committee has reluctantly come to the conclusion that if the federal government is not willing or able to provide a constant police presence at Canada's border crossings, current border inspectors must be given the option of carrying firearms after successfully completing rigorous training in the use of such firearms," the report said.

RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, however, strongly opposes an armed border patrol, fearing some incidences would be unnecessarily inflamed if officers were armed.

"I know being at the border can be risky and there are certain dangers," Zaccardelli testified in April before the Special Senate Committee on the Anti-Terrorism Act. "I am strongly against arming people simply to create the notion that we might feel more secure."

Ron Moran, president of the union that represents some 5,000 customs agents, said he hoped Parliament would adopt legislation to implement recommendations in the Senate report. While the report praised the CBSA for helping protect Americans from their own "gun culture" -- the CBSA seized 5,446 firearms at the border between 2000 and 2004 -- Moran said most customs officers want more than batons and body armor.

"They'll give you these protective vests, which protects you against somebody shooting at you. But they don't give you any tools to shoot back," Moran said. "There's a fundamental concept in law enforcement, which is: When you're defending yourself, you always have to go one-up. You'll never be able to go one-up if somebody pulls a gun on you."

The report also calls for legislation to allow Canada's minister of public safety to expedite border infrastructure construction.

The Ambassador Bridge, which crosses the Detroit River between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, is often cited as a key target for terrorists. About one-fourth of the estimated $1.4 billion in daily trade between the United States and Canada comes across the bridge and adjacent tunnel. Destroying the bridge would devastate both economies.

"If terrorists wanted to cripple Canada and simultaneously hobble the United States ... an optimal target might well be the Ambassador Bridge," the report said.

Canada and the United States have pledged to build a second crossing over the river by 2013, but the private American company that owns and operates the Ambassador Bridge is attempting to expand it and double its capacity.

Canadians are currently allowed to import up to $600 in duty-free goods from the United States if they have been outside of the country for at least a week. The Senate committee is calling on Ottawa to increase the limit to $2,000 by 2010, to free up customs agents to focus on potential threats to security rather than acting as tax collectors.

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On the Net:

Senate report: www.senate-senat.ca/borders.asp