Border guards pulling out weapons more often: report
Last Updated: Sunday, September 6, 2009 | 1:05 PM ET
CBC News
Canada's border guards are pulling out their guns, batons and pepper spray more frequently, according to a new report.
In the year ending March 31, there were 127 so-called use-of-force incidents at border crossings. That's almost three times the number for each of the previous two years, the report said.
The document said guards are pulling side arms from their holsters about three times a month. It said no guns were actually fired in the 34 cases where a side arm was used last year.
Pepper spray was used on aggressive travellers four times, but there were no serious injuries, the report said.
The report was written by the Canada Border Services Agency in June and obtained by The Canadian Press under access to information legislation.
Canadian border guards have been carrying guns since late July 2007.
The federal government announced plans to arm members of the Canada Border Services Agency in 2006, and in that year's budget Ottawa allocated $101 million over two years to pay for weapons training.
At the time, it was estimated that the process to arm Canada's 4,800 border guards was expected to take 10 years and cost about $1 billion.
The government made the decision to arm the guards because of security concerns. The Customs Excise Union also wanted the guards armed like their U.S. counterparts to help them deal with cross-border criminal activity.
With files from The Canadian Press
