3 December 2007

Finding new posts for unarmed guards could prove costly

This article is excerpted from the 3 December 2007 edition of “globeandmail.com”.

Ottawa is facing a multimillion-dollar bill to find work for border guards who can't - or won't - carry guns, newly released documents show.

The Canada Border Services Agency began arming its officers with 9 mm pistols in August, and so far 150 volunteers have successfully completed the training. Eventually, the agency plans to arm 4,800 border guards at all land and marine border crossings, though not at airports.

But an internal analysis indicates that between 25 per cent and 30 per cent of those guards - as many as 1,440 employees - will be unable or unwilling to carry side arms.

"This estimate was based on consultations with front-line managers, who have firsthand experience in supervising officers on a daily basis," says briefing material obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act….

In some cases, this "significant cultural change ... will cause officers to reconsider their career choice and to explore potential opportunities to make a change," say internal agency documents.

The agency has agreed in principle to accommodate guards who prefer work that does not require side arms, or who fail the training program because of physical constraints.

Finding work for unarmed officers will cost the agency $21-million over the next decade, and $4-million annually beyond that, say internal projections prepared for Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day.

There are also fears that the so-called arming initiative will exacerbate the agency's already high annual attrition rate of 12 per cent. …

Mr. Day told a House of Commons committee earlier this year that the problem will eventually be resolved through new recruiting….