July 4, 2005
"After Billions Of Security Investment"
Nearly four years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks and after billions in security investment on both sides of this frontier stretching from Atlantic to Pacific, authorities and average folks are still jittery. Here's why:At the edge of a sprawling raspberry field where Washington state meets British Columbia, a U.S. Border Patrol agent shakes his head at tire tracks that snake between rows of berries and over the international boundary, which here is a gravel ditch so puny a person could leap it.
"They're long gone," says agent Candido Villalobos, who raced to the scene after a surveillance camera spotted the vehicle -- transporting contraband? Drug money? Something more sinister? Too late to know. "They beat us," Villalobos murmurs.
Port of Northgate, SK. from the Canadian side of the border:
Note the state-of-the-art "no chase" vehicle.
The new US facility:
Of course, part of those "billions" invested includes closing RCMP border detachments in rural Saskatchewan.
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2224
NORTHERN BORDER INSECURITY from The Immigration Blog
The AP assesses U.S.-Canadian border enforcement since 9/11. Not much has changed. Update: Kate at Small Dead Animals has photographic evidence.... [Read More]
Tracked on July 4, 2005 11:21 PM
Our New Northern Border: Same as the Old Northern from Our Way of Life
Good post at Small Dead Animals about the lack of any real significant improvements on our northern border since the 9/11 attacks. Go read it.
As bad as our politically correct society has become, Canada has taken it to even farther extremes. Some... [Read More]
Tracked on July 5, 2005 9:04 PM
yup...actions speak louder than words.
Just wait, knock on wood, till there is an attack that does come from the Canadian side of the border....lets see what will the liberals, ndp and their media supporters say
1) Well, hardly surprising given the US behaviour in the world
2) If THEY kept a better watch on their border this wouldnt have happened
3) If the americans had warned us earlier we could have arreseted and detained them
4) They were lying about who they were when they were here...how could we have caught people who LIE about themselves
Clearly the governments first priority
- protecting its citizens and their welfare
is not as important as spending 4.9 million to keep Jack Layton happy and the liberal government in power. Because as we all know any other government would have scarey consequences!
Posted by: Stephen at July 4, 2005 6:40 PMwhat do canadian border control do? Collect taxes from canadians they could careless about security? Everytime I as an American came into canada very little was asked of me but the Canadian customs gave every Canadian very rough questions all it is about TAXES.
Posted by: yochanan at July 4, 2005 7:05 PMThe most amusing one I've been thru is the one at Willow Creek, SK. Two shacks on the prarie on a gravel road. Note to others - meanest one I've ever seen is Carway, MT (by Cardston). Some real hard-asses there.
When I moved back here a couple of weeks ago, I had a trailer full of our belonging and the only thing that seemed to interest customs was a couple cases of wine. I paid my duties and went outside and opened up my trailer and started to undo some binding for the search. I waited about 10 minutes and went in to see what they were doing. They told me I was ok to go. I should have brought way more wine!
Posted by: Darcey at July 4, 2005 7:10 PMHow about lining up the LPC on the border as a birthday present for the US Army. Will hand out prizes for the most knocked off. An all expense payed trip to the Banff Springs hotel or something.
Posted by: rob at July 4, 2005 8:02 PMStephen- "... till there is an attack that does come from the Canadian side of the border..."
Please don't joke about that. Those of us on the other side of the border find your ability to joke about it extremely worrisome, and representative of Canadians on the whole.
I don't mean the following as a threat at all, but you must realize the ramifications of such an act are far beyond what any of you Canadians can imagine.
I mean it, especially to you, the supposedly friendly ones.
Posted by: mike at July 4, 2005 8:14 PMYou are definitely right about that Mike. If that were to occur, that border would be sealed shut for the next half century.
Posted by: rob at July 4, 2005 8:27 PMWent through that crossing two Fridays ago.
The Canadian guard gave us a hard time because we all claimed to be from Alberta yet the plates on our mini-van were from Saskatchewan. We assured him the plates (and we) were from Alberta.
Puzzled...he thought for a second and realized he had not cleared the photo of the mini-van (with Sask plates) that went through before us. The rest of the stop was rather painless.
We could spend a billion on a fancy new building...however it won't increase the competance of unionized employees.
Posted by: A Ziggen at July 4, 2005 9:30 PMMike,
No offense intended. I agree with you, and that was the, ill-written, meaning of the post.
Our governments first responsibility is the protection of its citizens and maintenence of their welfare. NOT spending an adequate amount on security will lead to a shutting of the border and the decline in our welfare...how do you spell depression again?....
I know that, many others know that. Our current government seems unaware of that.
So we are in a large amount of agreement. My other point is that the Liberal government and its supporters will find a way to blame the US for something that might have been preventable, and hopefully will be prevented. At least, if Canada did everything reasonably expected then we would have an argument to keep our special status. Without those actions...well I wouldnt blame you one bit for the consequences. A trunabout of the "well we deserved it argument".
Maybe thats what it takes to shake canadians out of their stupor. Central Canadians need something to remind them of their lifeblood flows to, from, and over that border. Western Canadians already know that, at least their ranchers and lumber mills do.
Here is to the conflict being resolved overseas.
Posted by: Stephen at July 4, 2005 9:33 PM"I mean it, especially to you, the supposedly friendly ones."
mike, you must be new, they're not just "supposedly" our friends, they are definitely our friends. There are people on this site who would be with us when the last round was fired and we were fixing bayonets.
Don't make the mistake of lumping them in with anti-Amerian Canadian liberals. They despise their own government's anti-Americanism and are not afraid to say so.
They're proven their true colors by outspoken defense of the US and our shared values more times than I can count.
If only other Canadians and people in other places in the world had as much affection and friendship for Americans as people on Kate's site.
Posted by: Greg (outside Dallas) at July 5, 2005 12:55 AMOur federal government does not care who enters this country, and they don't care how they got here. The suppossed billions spent on border security, just went down the same rabbithole as the HRDC and Gun Registration did. Where is all this money going?
Posted by: dave at July 5, 2005 8:59 AMLieberal Mantra: STAY IN POWER...STAY IN POWER..... Don't worry be happy...No bad news no dissent....STAY IN POWER..STAY IN POWER.
Repeat...STAY IN POWER...........
The "authorities and average folks" in the U.S. would be much more jittery if they knew that apparently good ole' Canada is currently in the lead by 10:
50 Terror Groups Believed to Be in Canada
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5117705,00.html
Posted by: Sue at July 7, 2005 10:27 AM