Posted on 01/25/2006 1:44:43 PM PST by Clive
VANCOUVER (CP) - The Conservative justice critic says the party will stand behind its promise to give Canada's border guards guns, a day after two murder suspects from California made a run for the border before they were stopped in a shootout.
"It's simply a practical matter of how soon these officers can be trained and the firearms issued to them," said Vic Toews, the Conservative MP who served as justice critic in Opposition. "That's our commitment and I trust our minister will do exactly that."
Toews said in an interview Wednesday he did not relish the sight of Canadian border guards leaving their posts as the gunmen approached the border.
"I think it does nothing for our national image. I find it very disturbing that our officers felt compelled to leave because of this threat to their personal safety," he said from his Manitoba riding of Provencher.
"I understand their concerns very well and don't fault them. What surprises me is that the former government refused to properly equip our officers."
British Columbia's solicitor general said he thinks it is time to arm border guards.
"I think they need to be armed," John Les said outside a cabinet meeting at the provincial legislature in Victoria. "We sometimes have some not very nice people who want to try and get into our country."
The unarmed Canadian border guards abandoned their posts at four crossings along the B.C. border on Tuesday when they heard the murder suspects were coming their way.
A spokeswoman for the Canada Border Services Agency said the guards have the legal right to refuse to work if they believe they are in imminent danger.
The two men were apprehended at the Peace Arch crossing on the American side of the border by U.S. law enforcement officers after a high-speed chase down Interstate 5 in Washington state.
One of the suspects was injured in the shootout with police. Both men are in federal custody awaiting extradition from Washington to California.
The shootout and police investigation closed the border crossing between Surrey, B.C., and Blaine, Wash., for hours on Tuesday.
There has been a debate in Vancouver area about which law enforcement officers should have guns after guards on the public transit system were trained and equipped with firearms last year. Concerns were raised that adding guns to the mix would escalate violence.
Toews said it doesn't.
As attorney general of Manitoba, Toews oversaw the arming of Natural Resources officers.
"It enhanced their effectiveness as peace officers," he said.
He envisions peace officers working together with RCMP and in exceptional circumstances with border guards.
He noted that in many rural areas, border guards work alone and RCMP offices are miles away.
"On Nov. 6 we had a person cross into Canada in my riding by simply pointing a gun at a lone official who was there, an unarmed woman. She stepped back and let the individual cross the border."
The criminal was eventually captured and not by Canadian authorities. The man wasn't caught until he tried to return back the U.S. on a bus, long after he had got rid of his gun north of the border, said Toews.
That was quick. I'm quite impressed.
"Tories: Border guards to get guns"
I'm glad to hear this.
But am also ashamed that our Democrats (and some degenerate Republicans)
keep our border so porous.
We should be more responsible about shooting/killing any criminal or
terrorists that make a run for the border.
Hi Clive!
Canada Ping!
Please FReepmail me to get on or off this Canada ping list.
I'm impressed that the Canadian government has acted so quickly. I wonder what type of sidearms they will be issued.
Something designed to only injure I'm sure.
People living near the border behaved almost as if the border did not exist, or at worst a kind of a traffic bottleneck and a bit of a bureaucratic nuisance. And smuggling was often thought of as a bit or sport involving the odd carton of cigarettes or bottle of whiskey and having the about the same moral component as overtime parking.
Nobody ever thought of the Customs and Immigration officers as "guards" or even "police". They were just the people who asked if you had anything to declare and waved you on when you said "no".
If a crime was going down, the expectation was that someone would call the Horsemen.
But all good things must come to an end.
"War of 181@" should read, of course, War of 1812.
I think the new Storm Carbine would be the right choice.
http://www.cx4storm.com/index.aspx?m=53&did=85
It is chambered to 9mm, so you could bulk buy ammunition with the RCMP and other federal services. It's also servicable, with good range, and easy repair and upkeep. Just the thing to have a roadblock.
More to the point, it looks "black, evil, and scary", and would irritate the HECK out of the idiots who let the border situation deteriorate this far in the first place.
Personnel tasked with standing in their way need to be trained, and then armed.
Our compatriot Kate at Small Dead Animals recently posted a picture of a guard station, and it was in the most gawd-forsaken, deserted-looking area area I've seen in a while-- I surely wouldn't to stand guard there without a sidearm, and something a little heavier in easy reach.
Good to see the Tories taking charge.
Guns are unnecessary if you can first understand the criminal's grievances...
Prime Minister Harper.....doesn't that just roll off your tongue?
:-)
I think he'll do you a world of good- all parties, even ones I belong to, get stale if they cling to power too long. ( And we won't even mention the scandals and corruption plaguing the Grits... )
Prime Minister Harper will have a chance to show Canadians that he really isn't the scary Ogre of lore, and I think they'll like him.
I'll risk it.
Black Talon rounds are NOT "armor piercing". Don't help the liberals with their disinformation.
Crap, I missed the "or". My bad. I take back the GRRR.
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