Despite a month-long delay in a psychological screening program, Ottawa maintains it will have some armed border officers on duty before the end of the summer.

The screening is intended to weed out unsuitable candidates for jobs as weapons trainers.

Many Canadian border officers say they need guns to protect themselves from people who may be armed when they enter Canada.
(CBC)

Some 175 officers have applied to teach their colleagues how to handle guns, a Canadian Border Services Agency spokesman told CBC Online on Monday.

That number is to be whittled down through written exams before the remaining candidates take the psychological tests, which are now to be done between Feb. 1 and March 2. The original schedule called for testing between Jan. 15 and Jan 31.

The CBSA spokesman, Derek Mellon, said it was not clear how many would ultimately get jobs as trainers.

Many officers, backed by their union, have said their lives were in danger because, unlike their U.S. counterparts, they did not carry guns. In pressing their case, groups of officers have periodically left their posts after reports of armed suspects heading their way.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives, following through on a campaign promise, have begun steps to arm some of the 5,000 or so people in uniform along the border, although by no means all at once.

Plan is for 250-300 armed officers

CBSA's Mellon said there has been no change in target dates for getting armed officers into the field.

He said the first of them will be on the job by August 2007. He gave no number.

"By March '08, between 250 and 300 officers will be fully trained and carrying arms," he said.

He explained the delay in psychological testing as follows:

The government at first thought only one firm, Wilson Banwell Human Solutions of Vancouver, was able to do the work, and that firm was chosen without competitive bidding. Then a second firm came forward and was given a chance to bid. The winner of the contract has yet to be decided.

The name of the second firm is not being disclosed, Mellon said.