Crossing borders

This story from the Globe and Mail details the plight of the Canadian Border Officials who have so bravely dedicated their lives to protecting our border from illegal aliens entering from the south. And how they will only do it if it involves pulling apart suitcases to find illegal quantities of cigarettes or alcohol, or checking passports and waving people right on through. It has been the second time in a few weeks that the union workers have heard about a possibly armed suspect of a crime in the US who may have been heading for the Canadian border, and they again abandoned their posts. The border was instead manned by management.

These actions have brought light to the fact that the border officials have no weapons. They are asking for pistols, and the Conservatives have pledged to supply them with weapons and training. They have been asking to be armed for years.

Make no mistake about this, they are perfectly within their rights to leave work if they feel unsafe. The same is true, as far as I know, for every working person in Canada excluding the military. Yes, that includes police officers and firefighters. When a firefighter arrives at your building, which is burning and near to collapse, and you are screaming from a 3rd-storey window for help, he is under absolutely no legal obligation to put any danger upon himself to save you. And when a criminal has his arm wrapped around your neck, waving a shotgun around and yelling, the police are under no legal obligation whatsoever to stick around, risking themselves to try to help you.

But what do you think they would do?

Maybe all the border officials need is a weapon and they will feel that their lives are no longer in danger. But what danger are they in if, as in previous cases, they let the guys who are threatening them go right on through? I would dare say that that would cause less problems than a border official trying to stop them. What happens now is that they are allowed right on through the border, and the police are called in to nab the bad guys.

So would armed border officials create a safer Canada? Perhaps, since theoretically these armed bandits would be apprehended at the borde rather than later. Would it be safer for the border officials? I think not.

So are they running away from their posts because they are worried about their safety, thinking they would be safer if equipped with weapons, or simply to draw attention to their situation (à la 5 year-old making a scene in a grocery store so his parents will buy him his Sugar Pops)?

I don't know. According to my highly-biased opinion, I think they should stay.