Graduation ceremony - Arming of CBSA officers

Speaking notes for the
Honourable Stockwell Day
Minister of Public Safety

July 27, 2007
Chilliwack, BC
As delivered

Thank you, Brian [Brian McKenna, CBSA Arming Task Force] for chairing this event and for being the lead trainer. I congratulate you on the very important role that you have taken. It is also good to see all of you here and family members who are here with the officers.

It’s an honour for me to be here with you today because the subject of security is a priority for this government.

It’s very important that our borders be open to people and to business that do not present a risk to our country or to our neighbours. It’s equally important that the message be clear that our borders are closed to those who do present a risk.

The Canada Border Services Agency is not that old when you think about it, but the history and legacy of agencies and departments that were there before CBSA go back a long way.

As a matter of fact, there is probably three centuries of history related to border issues in North America. There have been times when those borders were actually bristling with armaments, not just side arms either – gunboats and armed troops both to the north and to the south.

From time to time, especially in the years around 1812, troops on both sides were taking action one against the other. Of course, history shows we won. And nobody has bothered us since. There is a lot of proud history related to our borders and to keeping our country safe.

In the 2006 Budget, we recognized that more needed to be done. More resources were needed at the borders in light of the challenging times we face. That’s why we committed more than $600 million in new funding for the implementation of a border strategy under the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.

Then, in Budget 2007, we announced $431.6 million over 5 years for smart and secure borders – $396 million of which are going towards the electronic manifest system, known as eManifest.
 
Of course, there is also our investment in you, the people. We think that is the most important investment. You know, there is a lot of distance between our two coastlines. All those kilometres work out, in terms of the number of people that we have at CBSA, to over 1 kilometre per person. That’s a lot, and there’s a lot that is expected of you. Sometimes, Canadians may not recognize the weight that is on your shoulders.

You deal with contraband, health and safety issues, agricultural issues, drugs, illegal firearms and people who are inadmissible to Canada – people who would want to hurt our citizens or who might be fleeing from having hurt citizens elsewhere in the world.

There are some 90 million crossings at the border every year. We expect you to let the nice people through and do so as Canadian ambassadors, because you are the first Canadians that people see when they arrive in Canada. At the same time, we expect you to catch the people who pose a risk when they try to come across the border.

It’s a tall order. I can tell you that I am very proud to be associated with people like yourselves who have chosen this as a career. You work to keep our country safe while letting low risk travellers and business move back and forth across our border.

That’s why we’ve invested in you, the individuals that make it happen. That’s why we have made the commitment and are in the process of hiring 400 more border officers to stop work alone situations.  And that’s why we also moved on arming our border officers.

Today, we are celebrating a historic day, witnessing your graduation as the fist armed border officers. After a very extensive and tough training period, you are ready. It’s a lot more than just knowing how to handle a side arm. It’s also about incorporating firearms into use-of-force decision making.

We consider you to be the best in the world at what you do. Canadians have great confidence in that. I have great confidence in that. I read with pride the reports, sometimes daily, of what you have been able to accomplish at the border – the illegal goods you intercept, the situations that you are able to diffuse and the people posing a risk that you are able to stop.

I want to thank you for your professionalism and for your commitment to protecting our country and to keeping our borders strong. The work you do with the RCMP and CSIS and other security agencies and policing groups is tremendous and it is a credit to you.

Congratulations on behalf of our Prime Minister, of our government, of my colleague Chuck Strahl, and of all Canadians. Thank you for being there and thank you for keeping our country strong and prosperous. I wish you all the best in the future.