OTTAWA — Canadian border guards need to focus more on the dangers of terrorism rather than cross-border shoppers who’ve bought an extra carton of duty-free cigarettes or bottle of Cognac, a Canadian Senate committee on national security said this week.

The committee, chaired by long-time Liberal Senator and border security critic Colin Kenny, stated in a report that the Canadian government is not taking seriously enough the threat of terrorism occurring at important border crossings or would-be criminals slipping past security at checkpoints.

“The committee is convinced that the Canadian government pays too much attention to minor duty infractions at our border posts, and too little attention to security,” the report said.

Senator Kenny says the Ambassador can build another span
if it wants to, but the border gateway still needs redundancy

Kenny says Canada Border Services Agency needs to redeploy resources to catching drug and gun smugglers and terror suspects. One way to avoid having officers spend time collecting minor duties and taxes is to raise personal duty-free limit for Canadian residents to $2,000, from $400 by 2010.

The panel also suggested investing in measures like improved electronic technology as well as expediting the process of arming border guards — a policy the federal Conservatives promised to implement over a 10-year span.

Additionally, Kenny once more called for a second, government-controlled bridge crossing at the Windsor-Detroit gateway.

While Kenny acknowledged the private Ambassador Bridge’s quest to build its own new, twin span, he told the Windsor Star that the gateway needs redundancy in the event one crossing becomes a terrorist target.

Otherwise, says Kenny, the threat to the Canadian and U.S. economies — which are tied to the billions of dollars in trade that goes through the region — is at the mercy of a single structure, controlled by a private operator.

“It’s in Canada’s interest — and America’s overall interest as well — to clearly understand the consequences of foot-dragging on reinforcing Canada-U.S. border crossings at Windsor-Detroit,” said the report.

— with files from the Windsor Star