Canada Border Services Agency Slammed For Secrecy Over Deaths

OTTAWA — The federal border agency is hiding behind privacy law when it refuses to discuss the death of an immigrant in custody, say groups who want more independent oversight of the agency.

The Canada Border Services Agency detains people who are considered a flight risk or a danger to the public, those who arrive in very large groups, and newcomers whose identities cannot be confirmed.

Canada's border agents armed with new information to screen visitors

Canadian front-line border agents now have access to more information on travellers contained in Canada's law enforcement database, a significant change in the way visitors are checked for potential security risks, CBC News has learned.

Until now, front-line border agents did not have access to information contained in the Canadian Police Information Centre database when checking the backgrounds of the millions of travellers who arrive at Canada's border crossings every month.

Toronto police curb disclosure of suicide attempts to U.S. border police

Following a highly critical report and unprecedented legal action by Ontario’s privacy commissioner, Toronto police have taken steps to keep U.S. border police from automatically accessing records about a Canadian’s suicide attempts — sensitive personal information that could result in being denied entry.

“This is a huge, huge achievement and a significant advancement in terms of mental health issues,” said former Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian, who in her final year as privacy watchdog took on what she called the “perplexing” and “indiscriminant” disclosure of suicide attempt incidents by police.

Secret deal between Canada’s spies and border guards raises concerns

OTTAWA—A secret deal between Canada’s spies and border guards proposed more information sharing and joint operations without the need for political sign-off, the Star has learned.

A 2014 deal between the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the Canada Border Services Agency proposed the two agencies be allowed to share information and resources without the prior approval of their political masters.

Alain Philippon phone password case: Powers of border agents and police differ

The case of Alain Philippon, a Quebec man who was charged for refusing to give up his smartphone password at the Halifax airport, illustrates the differences in search-and-seizure powers of border agents and police, but may also signal a need to update such laws governing officials at the border.

"If a police officer stops me on the street and says 'Empty out your bag' for no good reason [and] they don't allege I've committed an offence, that's patently illegal," said Benjamin Berger, an associate professor at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. "And yet I habitually do it when I take an airplane. Why? Because no one has forced me to go to the airport."

Quebec resident Alain Philippon to fight charge for not giving up phone password at airport

A Quebec man charged with obstructing border officials by refusing to give up his smartphone password says he will fight the charge.

The case has raised a new legal question in Canada, a law professor says.

Alain Philippon, 38, of Ste-Anne-des-Plaines, Que., refused to divulge his cellphone password to Canada Border Services Agency during a customs search Monday night at Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

Anti-terror bill would widen powers for Canadian border guards

Canadian customs officers will have another reason to comb through travellers’ computers because Ottawa’s new anti-terror bill will empower them to confiscate anything falling under the broadly defined category of “terrorist propaganda” at border checkpoints.

A little-noticed amendment in C-51, the Conservative government’s Anti-Terrorism Act, adds the broad category of “writings, signs, visible representations or audio recordings that constitute terrorist propaganda” to the list of things Canada Border Services Agency officials can seize without a warrant from those entering Canada.

Private Security Outnumber Border Services in Big Cities

In Canada's major cities, Canada Border Services Agency enforcement officers are now outnumbered by private security hired to guard and transport immigration detainees.

As an inquest resumed yesterday into the suicide of a Mexican woman in the custody of CBSA-contracted private guards, the union representing agency officers is raising alarms over the growth in outsourcing -- pointing to poor training and understaffing -- while a coalition of immigration rights groups say the problems with Canada's immigration policies run much deeper.

Canada's Border Agency Broke Law With War Crimes Tag: Watchdog

OTTAWA - The federal privacy watchdog says Canada's border agency broke the law by labelling people on its highly touted "wanted" list as war criminals — a potentially misleading tag the agency failed to justify.

The privacy commissioner is also taking the Canada Border Services Agency to task for leaving profiles of listed people on the Internet too long and failing to assess the privacy implications of the program in advance.

U.S. wants exemption from Canadian law for cross-border officers, RCMP memo says

OTTAWA—The United States wants its police officers to be exempt from Canadian law if they agree to take part in a highly touted cross-border policing initiative, an internal RCMP memo says.

The debate over whose laws would apply to U.S. officers working in Canada raises important questions of sovereignty and police accountability, says the briefing note prepared for RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson.

Complaints pile up over airport border guards

Dozens of travellers arriving home at Ottawa International Airport have filed complaints about rude treatment and harassment by Canada Border Services Agency officers, including one who allegedly asked a young woman if she was menstruating.

Many of the complaints share a consistent theme: the aggressive tone of border officers who greet them when they return home.

Border Checkpoints: 2 Arrested For Refusing To Answer Immigration Questions Before Domestic Flight

A pair of U.S. citizens want to make a point about border checkpoints.

Omar Figueredo and Nancy Morales, were stopped at Brownsville/South Padre International Airport in Texas and detained for seven hours for refusing to answer questions about their immigration status before boarding a domestic flight this week, Democracy Now! reports.

Canada border agency apologizes after officer threatens woman

In a rare move, the Canada Border Services Agency has apologized to a Toronto woman, who complained that a border guard threw her permanent resident card on the floor and threatened to cut it with scissors.

“I would like to offer you my sincere apology that the actions of one of our employees were so distressing to you,” wrote Jeff Walters, acting director of port-of-entry operations at Fort Erie, in a letter dated Nov. 23.

Travellers faced rude officers, incorrect accusations by border employees

HALIFAX - A complaints system run by the Canada Border Services Agency is documenting cases of travellers enduring rude behaviour and lengthy interrogations, as well as one case where someone was falsely identified as a person "with criminal ties."

According to quarterly reports obtained by The Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act, there were 1,105 complaints — about six per day — about the services provided by the agency's employees from Jan. 7 until the end of June last year.