We Stand On Guard For Thee
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Kate | Sunday, September 11, 2005 |
In March 2004, in the wake of the Adscam scandal, Auditor General Sheila Fraser released another damning report, this one on Ottawa’s inaction on addressing national security concerns. She highlighted the vulnerability of Canada’s ports and airports to terrorist attacks, especially with regard to those who work there. She found that 5.5 percent of a sample of airport employees had possible criminal connections, a flag for national security concerns. If extrapolated to the entire airport workforce, there would be 4,500 employees with possible criminal connections  the implications being that employees are not being properly screened, and those with criminal connections may also be tied to terrorist groups.
Senator Kenny’s Security and Defence committee has released several reports over the last three years raising concerns about the country’s lack of preparedness for terrorist attacks. In December 2004, Kenny released the 2005 edition of the Canadian Security Guide Book, which highlighted the same concerns Fraser drew attention to: improperly guarded and underguarded borders, and vulnerable ports and airports. In one example, he noted that Canada’s ports of entry were jeopardized by the disappearance of 1,127 uniforms or uniform items belonging to Canadian airport screeners over a nine-month period, including 91 security badges.
Kenny’s committee also alleges that the government is “cutting corners on intelligence.” This seems to confirm Fraser’s findings that nearly $9 billion in anti-terrorism money is not ending up where it is supposed to go, and that there are intelligence gaps resulting from fiscal mismanagement and oversight confusion. Kenny says the problem is not merely money but training; he said it can take years to properly train intelligence officers, but that there is no commitment to train a sufficient number of analysts.
Fraser’s report also found other problems with the government’s response to 9-11. Fraser said the official watch lists of criminals and terrorists were outdated, and that such information was not being shared among departments so that, for instance, the list of 25,000 lost and stolen passports each year is given to front-line border officers. She concluded, “These matters are serious and need to be addressed.”
Juxtaposed against that summary of continuing Canadian sluggishness in addressing national security and internal terrorist groups, a story from the Montreal Gazette;
When an alert was sent to Canadian customs agents in Quebec warning of an “armed and dangerous” suspect, some 50 employees walked off the job for four hours at about 15 of 44 border crossings just before 9 a.m. yesterday.
[...]
…the protesting agents were exercising their right under the Canada Labour Code to withdraw services if they feel their life or health is threatened.
“We’re not armed, we’re not going to be a target,” said Jean-Pierre Fortin, a union spokesperson. The union wants the federal government to supply border agents with sidearms. Ottawa says the agents’ bulletproof vests, telescopic batons and pepper spray are sufficient.
Nor are they equipped with chase vehicles. As a result, about 1500 vehicles “blew across the border” last year with impunity, as the only recourse for Customs officials is to place a call to the nearest RCMP detachment – which in many parts of the country, are being closed.
About the Author: Kate is a freelance commercial and automotive airbrush artist living in Saskatchewan, Canada. She was one of the original guest bloggers at OTB in November 2004 and soon joined the permanent stable, contributing through January 2007.
Eventually, she turned to writing full time at her own blog, small dead animals, which was voted the Best Canadian Blog in the 2004 Weblog Awards and has been generally considered that country's best blog ever since.
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Canada is always a drag down for America. They won't stop the terror groups until they can make money. They won't do anything without being paid. They export disease to America daily and schizophrenia, hearing things and seeing things, is ALL CANADIAN. They want money. This is how they have made money and the 50 terror sells in Canada are there for financial gain. Pay Canada and they are gone. Don't pay and you'll see the same pattern as schizophrenia-this is Canada's joke on Americans.
Enjoy the voices and the garbage when you close your eyes and wait for the real bio terror to hit right out of the friend from the North; diseases have been a traditional export for years already.
Four years out from 9-11, and Bin Laden is still on the loose. I know, lets trash Canada!
"Anjinsan" is still on the loose.
Suppose BinLaden was in Canada, anjinSan.
How would you know?
She highlighted the vulnerability of Canada's ports and airports to terrorist attacks, especially with regard to those who work there.
Why would terrorists attack Canada? The FLQ hasn't been a significant threat for 30 years.
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