Canadians to spend C$1 billion to arm and expand border patrol
Announcement comes in wake of decision to deploy 400 additional guards; unarmed guards had protested unsafe working conditions; Liberal party outraged at cost and vows to seek alternatives
Loyal Canadian readers will recall our report from earlier this year detailing Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s announcement that Canadian border guards would soon be issued side arms. The decision came in the wake of labor unrest, as unarmed border guards had repeatedly walked off the job claiming unsafe working conditions. In January, according to a Canadian Post report, “news that two murder suspects from California were heading to British Columbia’s Peace Arch border crossing prompted up to fifty Canadian border officers to walk off the job.”
At the time, the government set aside C$101 million over two years on weapons and firearms training, and also promised to hire at least 500 new guards. News out of Ottawa, however, suggests the program will be far more expensive than originally estimated. “We’re looking at what could be C$100 million a year for the next several years,” Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said last week, with C$58 million in training and support costs, and C$43 million in related infrastructure and equipment. All told, he said, C$1 billion would have to be spent over the next ten years to secure the border.
Predictably enough, the Liberal minority reacted with outrage. “This government decided, in the heat of an election campaign, that it wanted to arm border guards and it never considered the costs,” said MP Mark Holland, who called for further hearings to look into “alternative” approaches.
-read more in Jim Brown’s Canadian Press report
