US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA2082

UNCLAS OTTAWA 002082 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAN, INL 
 
WHITE HOUSE FOR HOMELAND SECURITY COUNCIL 
 
DHS OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (Marmaud) 
 
CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION (Bonner) 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, ELTN, ASEC, PBTS, CA, Border Patrol 
SUBJECT:  Possible shift in GoC position on Canadian Border 
Patrol 
 
Ref Ottawa 1780; Ottawa 940 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED--PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. 
1. (U) Summary: According to reports from the Customs 
Officers' union, CEUDA, the Minister of Public Safety and 
Emergency Preparedness Anne McLellan and her senior staff 
are warming to the idea of enhancing Customs Officers' law 
enforcement role and presence at and between ports of entry. 
If accurate this could portend a sea change in government 
attitudes toward law enforcement.  End summary. 
2. (SBU) In late June Minister McLellan met for 45 minutes 
with CEUDA President Ron Moran to discuss the Customs 
Officers' union's concerns with border security.  According 
to the CEUDA version of events, the Minister appears 
receptive to investigating, in an objective, fact-based 
manner, whether customs officers at ports of entry should be 
armed, and whether Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) 
should create a Border Patrol.  Also, in her public 
pronouncements she agreed to stop referencing a document 
prepared by CBSA Brass which purports to show there is no 
need for Customs officers to be equipped with 
sidearms; CEUDA claims that that document is flawed and 
biased, and apparently the Minister has accepted the 
CEUDA argument. 
3. (SBU) Following the meeting with the Minister, CEUDA's 
Moran also spent 90 minutes discussing this issue with David 
Thelen, McLellan's Special Advisor.  According to 
CEUDA, Thelen said that the government is willing to go in 
the same direction as CEUDA, but the government has to go 
more slowly than CEUDA would like (my CEUDA interlocutor did 
not elaborate on the reason why GoC feels it must go 
slowly). 
4. (SBU) Whether CEUDA's perceptions are well-grounded is 
the key question.  It is true that over the past few years 
the GoC has provided expanded Peace Officer powers to 
Customs staff, and made pepper spray, nightsticks and body 
armor available - it is not inconceivable therefore that 
CBSA Officers may be in line for more authority and more law 
enforcement tools, including side-arms.  The receptivity to 
examining this issue appears to be a significant change from 
the Minister's long-standing position that there is no 
evidence for any need to change the status quo. 
5. (SBU) On the other hand Emboff discussed this issue with 
Sara Wiebe the Assistant to the Prime Minister's National 
Security Advisor who categorically denied that Customs 
Officers will gain an enhanced law enforcement role along 
the border; instead Emboff was told that RCMP will retain 
the role of enforcing the law between ports of entry and 
that if an enhanced presence is required it will be achieved 
through increasing resources for RCMP rather than creating 
new organizations.  She concluded by stating that Customs 
Officers will not be getting side-arms. 
6. (U) Minister McLellan is supposed to appear before the 
Senate Committee on National Security and Defence on July 13 
to answer questions on Bill C-26, the bill that formally 
creates the CBSA.  We understand that the Senators will be 
pressing her on the firearms and border patrol issue - her 
response will be illuminating.  Emboff intends also to meet 
with CEUDA President Moran the next day to obtain the CEUDA 
perspective of that Committee hearing. 
7. (SBU) Comment: Should the GoC decide that issuing side- 
arms is a serious issue for consideration it will signal a 
sea change in political attitudes toward law enforcement in 
Canada and could provide beneficial consequences for cross- 
border law enforcement cooperation, possibly by helping us 
address the thorny carriage of arms and hot pursuit issues. 
End comment. 
8. (U) With respect to obtaining an objective assessment of 
the need to equip Customs officers with side-arms, CEUDA 
expects in the next few weeks to decide whether or not to 
hire the NorthGate Group, a consulting firm based in Ottawa 
that specializes in security issues.  CEUDA expects that 
NorthGate, should they be hired, will want to speak with US 
state and federal law enforcement agents along the northern 
border to gauge their attitudes toward the security 
situation along the border and the necessity of firearms. 
We have suggested that NorthGate discuss this subject with 
Embassy DHS Attach. 
Wilkens