Looking Out for Us

By Josie Bannerman
Ogden Point, located in Victoria's James Bay neighbourhood, is Canada's busiest cruise ship port-of-call. During the 2011 cruise season ships made 206 calls at the deep-sea terminal, and carried more than 435,000 passengers to visit our city.

"Cruise ship visits remain a powerful driver in the regional economy," said Curtis Grad, Chief Executive Officer of Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, "providing a significant boost to local tourism, as well as ship support services, including longshoremen, stevedore, recycling and security services at Ogden Point...."

Stop. Focus in on "security services" because therein lies a story.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is responsible for security services at Ogden Point. In the South Vancouver Island area, CBSA operates at airport and marine locations, and maintains a mobile operations platform - the M/V Portcullis which patrols local waters.

This summer past, border services officers in the South Vancouver Island area provided service to over a million travelers seeking entry into Canada, arriving on nearly18,000 marine vessels, including recreational boats, and over 11,000 aircraft.

Cruise ship visits to Ogden Point keep CBSA busy, as each ship can carry up to 2,000 passengers or more. Prior to a ship's arrival, border services officers screen passenger lists looking primarily for people with violent criminal backgrounds. If officers determine a passenger is criminally inadmissible, he or she is denied entry into Canada, and cannot leave the ship.

Adam Coultish, media spokesperson for the CBSA said, "The Agency takes its responsibility to protect Canadians and communities seriously." In addition to screening travelers, CBSA also enforces the Customs Act to ensure that goods that pose a safety risk do not enter our country.

So far this year, CBSA in our South Vancouver Island area has intercepted 47 illegal firearms and other prohibited weapons including handguns, an assault rifle, switchblades and brass knuckles. Border services officers also identified 404 people who were inadmissible to Canada and denied their entry - most for having an extensive criminal history.

In early November, Border services officers displayed some of the weapons they've seized at a show and tell for local media at Ogden Point. They want to get the word out to communities about all the good work they do. But they walk a fine line - they can't actually tell us too much about their activities, or how many officers are employed in our area, or where exactly they are located - because, when it comes right down to it, stealth is an important element of their job too.

Photo 1:

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Border services officers want communities to know about the work they do to protect us. In the South Vancouver Island area they have denied 404 people entry into Canada so far this year. Most of those who were turned away had criminal records often for violent behavior.

Photo 2:

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These are just some of the illegal firearms and other prohibited weapons the Canada Border Services Agency has intercepted in the South Vancouver Island area in 2011.