More than 20 per cent are failing, and union wants a review of training program
More than one in five of Canada’s border guards are failing weapons training, according to their union.
Canada’s border guards clamoured for years to be armed, citing the dangerous nature of their work. Last year, the federal government gave the green light to a plan to arm about 4,800 officers over the next decade.
Ron Moran, the national president of the Customs and Excise Union, is concerned about the number of border guards failing and the union has hired an expert to review the training program.
“As it stands now, a little more than one in five don’t pass,” Moran told the Canadian Press. “It’s a huge concern for those who are next in line for those classes and basically see their employment hanging in the balance.”
In the summer, Moran sent a letter to Alain Jolicoeur, president of the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), outlining concerns about the program.
16-week program compressed into eight days: union
Moran said the union was concerned the CBSA was simply replicating the RCMP recruit training and compressing it into a much shorter time span.
“I was extremely concerned when I learned that while the RCMP spreads out its overall firearms training over their entire 16-week recruit training program prior to testing its younger recruit force, they are testing CBSA officers after having compressed the same demanding training over a mere eight days,” wrote Moran.
Moran complained that there was “no consideration being lent to the experience level of the workforce involved, or to the specific workplace expectations.”
In a recent interview with Canadian Press, Moran said the training has become an “endurance challenge.”
“Some of our people don’t have the physical endurance to keep their arms straight with the weight of the sidearm when they get into the second half of shooting their rounds,” he said. “They lose their precision.”
CBSA and RCMP hostile to program: union
Moran said union members were “well aware of the entrenched hostility of senior management of CBSA and the RCMP to the entire arming initiative which was only overridden by direction from (the federal government).”
He also said that CBSA and the RCMP alone were responsible for the design of the training and testing, and suggestions from the union were rejected. Moran said CBSA told the union it was confident that the failure rate would be very low.
“The fact that the training methodology selected by CBSA is proving to be significantly less successful than it suggested is, for some, indicative of yet another attempt to undermine this government initiative via improper methods designed to create additional delay and further exorbitant costs,” he said.
A spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day told the Canadian Press the department will be interested in any recommendations from the union’s expert, but that improvements have already been made to the program.
Canada’s border guards clamoured for years to be armed, citing the dangerous nature of their work. Last year, the federal government gave the green light to a plan to arm about 4,800 officers over the next decade.
Ron Moran, the national president of the Customs and Excise Union, is concerned about the number of border guards failing and the union has hired an expert to review the training program.
“As it stands now, a little more than one in five don’t pass,” Moran told the Canadian Press. “It’s a huge concern for those who are next in line for those classes and basically see their employment hanging in the balance.”
In the summer, Moran sent a letter to Alain Jolicoeur, president of the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), outlining concerns about the program.
16-week program compressed into eight days: union
Moran said the union was concerned the CBSA was simply replicating the RCMP recruit training and compressing it into a much shorter time span.
“I was extremely concerned when I learned that while the RCMP spreads out its overall firearms training over their entire 16-week recruit training program prior to testing its younger recruit force, they are testing CBSA officers after having compressed the same demanding training over a mere eight days,” wrote Moran.
Moran complained that there was “no consideration being lent to the experience level of the workforce involved, or to the specific workplace expectations.”
In a recent interview with Canadian Press, Moran said the training has become an “endurance challenge.”
“Some of our people don’t have the physical endurance to keep their arms straight with the weight of the sidearm when they get into the second half of shooting their rounds,” he said. “They lose their precision.”
CBSA and RCMP hostile to program: union
Moran said union members were “well aware of the entrenched hostility of senior management of CBSA and the RCMP to the entire arming initiative which was only overridden by direction from (the federal government).”
He also said that CBSA and the RCMP alone were responsible for the design of the training and testing, and suggestions from the union were rejected. Moran said CBSA told the union it was confident that the failure rate would be very low.
“The fact that the training methodology selected by CBSA is proving to be significantly less successful than it suggested is, for some, indicative of yet another attempt to undermine this government initiative via improper methods designed to create additional delay and further exorbitant costs,” he said.
A spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day told the Canadian Press the department will be interested in any recommendations from the union’s expert, but that improvements have already been made to the program.
