Mel Cappe on recommending the creation of a new watchdog to review border agency
January 4, 2018 | By Anna Bianca Roach |
SPPG Professor and former Privy Council Office chief Mel Cappe commented on the federally commissioned report recommending that the Trudeau government create a new body to review the activities of the Canada Border Services Agency.
Professor Cappe authored the June 2017 report recommending that a new Canada Law Enforcement Review Commission be created to scrutinize both the border agency and the RCMP.
“If you are an importer and have a complaint against a border services officer, and how he rated your import, you could complain to the Canadian International Trade Tribunal. If you’re an immigrant and you want to disagree with the way the officer has treated you, you can go to the Refugee Board. There is a whole range of these other organizations. But if you’re just a regular traveler and you are treated by a surly officer who may have had a fight with their spouse in the morning and treats you inappropriately, you should be able to complain. Right now you complain to the CBSA. There should be a third-party independent review possibility. That’s why this is a governance question.”
Read more about the report here.
