WATCH ABOVE: Four Canadian border officers sprung into action when RCMP asked them to help catch an armed and dangerous suspected kidnapper. Instead of being congratulated for their work, they were disciplined. A year-and-a-half later, three are still fighting their punishment and one has left his job. Vassy Kapelos has the story.
OTTAWA — A year and a half after their union says they were disciplined for helping the RCMP, three Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) officers are still fighting their punishment and a fourth has left his job.
In February 2014, a CBSA superintendent in Emerson, Manitoba received a call from the RCMP asking for help.
Police believed an armed and dangerous man was holding a kidnapped victim in a nearby hotel.
According to their union, the armed border officers and the superintendent secured the border then left their posts to help, eventually apprehending the suspect with the RCMP.
But it turns out the border officers acted against a CBSA policy, which forbids providing assistance to “external law enforcement agencies” when it “falls outside” of the agency’s mandate.
BELOW: CBSA’s policy regarding assistance (story continues below images)
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The union says all the CBSA employees were disciplined – in the case of the border officers, suspended up to 30 days without pay, while the superintendent’s duties were downgraded.
The superintendent resigned as a result of the incident.
The union’s president, Jean-Pierre Fortin, says getting punished for helping apprehend a suspect doesn’t make sense.
“Something is wrong with the system,” he said.
When the incident first came to light, the government agreed. Public safety minister Steven Blaney and Justice Minister Peter MacKay said the CBSA officers should have been congratulated, not condemned.
But the CBSA policy the officers contravened still exists.
“There have been no changes in CBSA policy regarding inter-agency assistance,” CBSA spokesperson Charlene Kushniruk said in an email.
Fortin says he met with Blaney after the incident and was assured the issue would be dealt with – but in the year and a half since, nothing has happened.
“I thought the government was the one with the authority to run this country,” he said. “It seems that CBSA is running this country right now.”
Fortin says the policy puts CBSA officers’ safety at risk, pointing to a recent incident near the border in Windsor, Ontario.
According to Fortin, a CBSA agent witnessing a robbery at a nearby Tim Horton’s followed the suspect on foot until police arrived, afraid if he intervened he’d be punished.
“What if the person would have been armed and actually engaged into a gun fight with our officer,” Fortin said.
A CBSA spokesperson declined our request for an interview, but says given the close working relationship between the CBSA and the RCMP, it’s important to ensure clarity of each agency’s roles and responsibilities.
“We do not perform each other’s duties, but do work together in situations governed by formal processes and approvals, which reflect the major differences between police officer and border services officer training and authorities,” Jacquie Callin said in an email.
“It is fundamental that we act in compliance with these authorities at all times.”
Former RCMP investigator Garry Clement sees the case differently and says punishing the officers for helping the RCMP was a “travesty”.
“The message it sends to their officers is under no circumstance is do they dare assist law enforcement,” Clement said.
Clement says the government and leadership of the CBSA need to acknowledge law enforcement resources across the country are stretched and agencies need all the help they can get.
“The government has again failed to recognize the importance of Canada border services and the enforcement role they play,” he said. “It’s a case of bad politics.”
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Asked about the incident recently, Justice Minister Peter MacKay called it “troubling”, insisting his government’s new anti-terror laws will help foster inter-agency cooperation.
“It’s new legislation so there’s an implementation period that always occurs,” MacKay said.
Still, the union doesn’t understand why the government hasn’t directly intervened to help the officers who were disciplined or force the CBSA to change its policies.
We asked the Ministry of Public Safety about that, but didn’t receive a response.
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