Canadian border guards, cant hit a moose at 10 feet
Ahhh, gotta love the Canadians. When I heard that they were going to arm the border guards I was pleased and said it was about time. I remember an incident when the US police force called ahead to the Canadian border guards and told them that a known murderer, possibly armed with a sawed-off shotgun, was approaching the border and the guards were asked to detain him til the police from the US got there. Yeah, I have been to a few of the border crossings in Canada, and unless you are going through some majorly huge area like Niagra Falls or the ferry crossing in Vancouver to Washington, there really isnt anything more than a shack and possibly two guards sitting back playing solitare on the computer. How are Canadian officials, with no weapons, supposed to detain an armed murderer? I mean, Canadians are known for being polite, but I really don't think the guy is gonna respond with "Please, remain in your vehicle and please do not pick up the shot gun. Thank you. Would you like some Tim Horton's coffee and donuts while you wait?"
Now reading this about how the officers failed the proficiency tests. Wow, that is another thing that is truely Canadian. Some people I have known in Singapore have said things that made me think that they thought we were like Americans in Canada. Given our first hand gun at 12, know how to shoot it by 13 and gang bangers by 14. Maybe in some areas of Vancouver or Toronto, but on the whole, I think Canada is a pretty relaxed and laid back peaceful place. I mean, in all our years we have only had one political assassination and that was the BQ, and we all know how screwy they are in Quebec so that doesn't really count. The assassination wasn't even against the Prime Minister. Against him all we have ever done is egging them, and we have taken up our national past time of throwing pies at the premiers of certain provinces. Not exactly a bunch of wild and crazy psychopaths, huh? Though, we do seem to have a few drive by shootings, a few stabbings and quite a bunch of 'hunting accidents', but other than that, we really arent that big on the whole gun thing.
What I found most amusing was the fact that the guards "...needed fitness training so their arms remained steady during the shortened shooting training which caused fatigue." Don't tell me that Canadians daily exercise of using the remote to surf through hockey games and Wheel Of Fortune isnt enough to keep our arms strong enough to fire weapons.
Well, it is a good thing, no matter if they can hit the broad side of a moose at 10 feet or not, that the border guards are now armed and safe, even if it took 20 years. Now, we can work on the 20 years it is gonna take for the politicians to agree that guards in prisons require stab prove vests when handling prisoners.
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/story.html?id=fc21bd3f-a8e9-4c89-94d1-6df130e24918&k=67478
Border guards flunking shooting lessons
Still, they want to be armed
Doug Williamson, The Windsor StarPublished: Tuesday, September 25, 2007
They wanted to carry guns, but one in five Canadian border guards have been flunking their shooting lessons.
"Eventually, they will be armed. But not everyone is going to qualify," said Marie-Claire Coupal of Windsor, fourth national vice-president of the Customs and Excise Union, adding that the 20-per-cent failure rate applied across the board.
Coupal said part of the reason 20 per cent of trainees have been flunking out is the relatively short firearm training period of three weeks, compared with 16 weeks for RCMP officers. Most of the failures were in the 25-metre shooting qualification requirement - a long distance that doesn't reflect normal border conditions, she said.
As well, some officers needed fitness training so their arms remained steady during the shortened shooting training which caused fatigue.
Union national president Ron Moran said that last Friday, 24 out of 28 trainees qualified on their first try, reflecting changes made in the training program after the initial failure rates were noticed. He said those that initially failed to qualify should be given another chance. He added that the union is not advocating that unqualified offiers be pushed through.
"The employer has as much of a vested interest as we do," Moran said.
A spokeswoman for Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said Tuesday that 20 per cent of the training class in July, and a smaller percentage in August did fail to qualify. But changes have been made to provide more coaching and 12 additional hours more practice time on the shooting range, for a total of 50 hours. In addition, other measures, such as not conducting the shooting range test on the same day as the written exam, have been implemented. She said the government expects the failure rate to drop when the September group graduates.
"The changes have been made," said Melisa Leclerc. "It can't be too easy (though)."
The government has announced that up to 4,800 land and marine guards will be armed eventually. This summer, 11 armed guards took up their posts in Windsor and Sarnia, and more were headed to Ottawa or B.C. for training. To date, 80 armed guards have been deployed across Canada. Airport border guards are not armed.
Coupal said the 25-metre precision shooting requirement is unrealistic under border conditions. "That's where we're losing most of our people. It's physically demanding on them."
Those who fail to qualify will get another crack at it, she added. "As it stands they're supposed to get two tries. They're just in the first round. These people will be going back for a second round."
Coupal said it is not known what will happen to those who fail to quallify.
"All that hasn't been worked out yet," she said. "I don't think that CBSA was ready for this."
Officers who qualify will carry nine-millimetre Berettas, and are also assuming more law-enforcement responsibilities. They'll be able to arrest and detain drunk drivers and people named in warrants until police arrive.
Leclerc said if an officer doesn't pre-qualify for training, or fails to qualify after two tries, every effort will be made to transfer him or her to a job where carrying guns is not required.
Initial estimates pegged the cost of arming Canada's border guards at $781 million, after the union lobbied for two decades for the right to carry weapons.
It is estimated it will take 10 years to complete the training and arming process.
Now reading this about how the officers failed the proficiency tests. Wow, that is another thing that is truely Canadian. Some people I have known in Singapore have said things that made me think that they thought we were like Americans in Canada. Given our first hand gun at 12, know how to shoot it by 13 and gang bangers by 14. Maybe in some areas of Vancouver or Toronto, but on the whole, I think Canada is a pretty relaxed and laid back peaceful place. I mean, in all our years we have only had one political assassination and that was the BQ, and we all know how screwy they are in Quebec so that doesn't really count. The assassination wasn't even against the Prime Minister. Against him all we have ever done is egging them, and we have taken up our national past time of throwing pies at the premiers of certain provinces. Not exactly a bunch of wild and crazy psychopaths, huh? Though, we do seem to have a few drive by shootings, a few stabbings and quite a bunch of 'hunting accidents', but other than that, we really arent that big on the whole gun thing.
What I found most amusing was the fact that the guards "...needed fitness training so their arms remained steady during the shortened shooting training which caused fatigue." Don't tell me that Canadians daily exercise of using the remote to surf through hockey games and Wheel Of Fortune isnt enough to keep our arms strong enough to fire weapons.
Well, it is a good thing, no matter if they can hit the broad side of a moose at 10 feet or not, that the border guards are now armed and safe, even if it took 20 years. Now, we can work on the 20 years it is gonna take for the politicians to agree that guards in prisons require stab prove vests when handling prisoners.
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/story.html?id=fc21bd3f-a8e9-4c89-94d1-6df130e24918&k=67478
Border guards flunking shooting lessons
Still, they want to be armed
Doug Williamson, The Windsor StarPublished: Tuesday, September 25, 2007
They wanted to carry guns, but one in five Canadian border guards have been flunking their shooting lessons.
"Eventually, they will be armed. But not everyone is going to qualify," said Marie-Claire Coupal of Windsor, fourth national vice-president of the Customs and Excise Union, adding that the 20-per-cent failure rate applied across the board.
Coupal said part of the reason 20 per cent of trainees have been flunking out is the relatively short firearm training period of three weeks, compared with 16 weeks for RCMP officers. Most of the failures were in the 25-metre shooting qualification requirement - a long distance that doesn't reflect normal border conditions, she said.
As well, some officers needed fitness training so their arms remained steady during the shortened shooting training which caused fatigue.
Union national president Ron Moran said that last Friday, 24 out of 28 trainees qualified on their first try, reflecting changes made in the training program after the initial failure rates were noticed. He said those that initially failed to qualify should be given another chance. He added that the union is not advocating that unqualified offiers be pushed through.
"The employer has as much of a vested interest as we do," Moran said.
A spokeswoman for Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said Tuesday that 20 per cent of the training class in July, and a smaller percentage in August did fail to qualify. But changes have been made to provide more coaching and 12 additional hours more practice time on the shooting range, for a total of 50 hours. In addition, other measures, such as not conducting the shooting range test on the same day as the written exam, have been implemented. She said the government expects the failure rate to drop when the September group graduates.
"The changes have been made," said Melisa Leclerc. "It can't be too easy (though)."
The government has announced that up to 4,800 land and marine guards will be armed eventually. This summer, 11 armed guards took up their posts in Windsor and Sarnia, and more were headed to Ottawa or B.C. for training. To date, 80 armed guards have been deployed across Canada. Airport border guards are not armed.
Coupal said the 25-metre precision shooting requirement is unrealistic under border conditions. "That's where we're losing most of our people. It's physically demanding on them."
Those who fail to qualify will get another crack at it, she added. "As it stands they're supposed to get two tries. They're just in the first round. These people will be going back for a second round."
Coupal said it is not known what will happen to those who fail to quallify.
"All that hasn't been worked out yet," she said. "I don't think that CBSA was ready for this."
Officers who qualify will carry nine-millimetre Berettas, and are also assuming more law-enforcement responsibilities. They'll be able to arrest and detain drunk drivers and people named in warrants until police arrive.
Leclerc said if an officer doesn't pre-qualify for training, or fails to qualify after two tries, every effort will be made to transfer him or her to a job where carrying guns is not required.
Initial estimates pegged the cost of arming Canada's border guards at $781 million, after the union lobbied for two decades for the right to carry weapons.
It is estimated it will take 10 years to complete the training and arming process.
posted by Capt_Canuck at 1:13 AM
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