Cops, Customs Fear Security Gaps
(Montreal Gazette via Associated Press)
MONTREAL (CP) -- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has quietly pulled its officers away from border patrols in Quebec, leaving a gap some Mounties and customs officers fear could jeopardize Canada’s security.
They say more than 100 small rural roads spanning the border between Quebec and the United States are now without active police surveillance on the Canadian side, making them attractive to smugglers or potential terrorists.
The RCMP said the move this month is unique to Quebec and won’t jeopardize security. RCMP resources can be put to better use -- such as investigating smuggling -- than patrolling the back roads of Quebec in uniforms and marked cars.
However, the national police force was unable to say Thursday whether there is an arrangement to have another police force, such as the Quebec provincial police, fill in for the reassigned RCMP officers.
For years, uniformed Mounties have patrolled the small roads that crisscross the border between Quebec and the United States. They’ve been on the lookout for everything from smuggling and immigration violations to terrorist activity.
Andre Girard, of the Quebec mounted police association, said an estimated 110 positions have been diverted from border patrol at air, water and land points in Quebec.
While some officers have been transferred to integrated border-enforcement teams, Girard said 60 positions remain vacant.
The move is likely to have an impact on border security, he said.
“The bottom line is, it means fewer eyes on the ground. It’s always difficult to evaluate the risk, but the bottom line is if there are fewer people along the border -- that is fewer eyes on the ground to be able to react as quickly as you would like.”
Const. Michel Blackburn, a spokesman for the RCMP, said the reassignment of the officers was a strategic decision that won’t have any impact on border security.
Instead of patrolling in uniforms and marked cars, officers will be in civvies and carrying out criminal investigations, he said.
The union that represents Canada’s customs officers is concerned the move will leave security gaps.
Jean-Pierre Fortin, national vice-president of the Customs Excise Union, said 107 small roads crossing the Quebec-U.S. border don’t have customs stations and have not been patrolled by the RCMP since Nov. 15.
“We should maintain a minimum of security on the border, from the aspect of terrorism and crime,” Fortin said. “If you completely withdraw your resources, sooner or later people will know that there is no surveillance. It will encourage crime near the border and that concerns us.”