Senate Will Study Border Bill
www.blacklocks.ca, Dale Smith
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner is indicating support for a bill to appoint a new Inspector General to oversee the Canada Border Services Agency. The Senate bill, scheduled for hearings, would see a chief inspector granted broad powers to scrutinize the agency’s work.
“As an agent of Parliament our practice is to share our opinions on bills with parliamentarians first,” said Tobi Cohen, spokesperson. “I can tell you that our office has previously expressed support for oversight and controls in the national security realm, of which Canada Border Services Agency is a part.”
Liberal Bill S-222 An Act To Amend The Canada Border Services Agency Act would see appointment of an Inspector General for a seven-year term, mandated to scrutinize and report on the agency’s investigations; handling of complaints; and information management, including subpoena powers.
Conservative Senator Vern White of Ottawa, a former city police chief, earlier cautioned the bill appeared to breach privacy legislation by granting a chief inspector unlimited access to all agency documents. “I don’t know that the bill speaks to privacy,” White earlier told the Senate. “Everything I did in the past two decades of my 32-year policing career required a privacy impact assessment. Consideration of the impact of this legislation on privacy has not been fully fleshed out.”
White also criticized the bill as costly, predicting it would create a new, multi-million dollar bureaucracy. “It’s a money bill,” white said. “Private member’s bills shouldn’t be money bills.”
The bill is referred to the Senate’s national security committee for hearings next month. Liberal Senator Wilfred Moore (Nova Scotia), the sponsor, said the Border Services Agency should draw more scrutiny. “The powers possessed by this agency are now quite startling,” Moore said.
“In a country such as Canada, we should be alarmed that such powers are wielded by an agency with no independent oversight, with no recourse for those who have been subjected to these powers in a manner allegedly inconsistent with the guidelines and rules of the agency,” Moore said.
The agency is responsible for securing national borders; intercepting fugitives; collecting customs duties; monitoring 14 million commercial shipments a year; and seizing contraband. The agency’s 4,600 officers conduct 237,000 border inspections annually, by official estimate.
The agency has seen its budget cut 9 percent over the past three years, the equivalent of $143.4 million. Cuts to date included the elimination of 19 detector dog teams, and elimination of a squad of officers assigned to intercept counterfeit banknotes under a Cross-Border Currency Program.