Another Mad Cow Suspected Cases

[Willowcreek]

I think in one of the other threads with cowman I commented about this-- I don't think you will ever see things the same again...Doubt I'll buy a $90 passport to go north either ( and the border is less than 50 miles away) - as will many others- especially after many locals got caught north of the border on 9/11 and found they couldn't even get back in their own country for several days- weeks...

Worlds changing- US is changing- US population is becoming much more protectionist and isolationist...Upcoming Nov election could be quite telling....

[cowman]

Personally I think it is a very sad thing how the USA is isolating itself from the rest of the world, and Canada in particular.
Sooner or later the American public will wake up to the fact that their leaders are taking them down the wrong path? The war in Iraq is a disaster that will basically break the US economy.
Maybe a new American leader is needed?
How smart is it to restrict commerce? The fact is everyone makes money when you have a free flow of goods across our common border?
I find it funny that R-CALF is so focussed on the small Canadian cattle herd, while their own government is gearing up to let South American beef in? How is Brazil and Argentinas BSE status...well I guess if you never test or look for it...it might be very good!
Like grassfarmer says: The world has moved on. BSE is yesterdays news. The only ones who want to keep it current are the Canadian haters in R-CALF...and of course their buddies the animal rights groups! I wonder how come?

[Willowcreek]

cowman- I think you are mistaken about it only being the concern of R-CALF-- unless R-CALF is now also setting all
government policy...Here is an excerpt from a news article...

"The U.S. government said it intends to tighten agricultural inspections at the Canada-U.S. border in an effort to guard against the perceived threat of pests, disease and even bioterrorism. As a result, commercial products and air travelers crossing the border will be subject to "user fees" as of Nov. 24, Canadian Press reported.

Commercial aircraft arriving in the U.S. from Canada will have to pay $70.25, trucks $5.25 per crossing or $105 for the year, loaded rail cars $7.50 and commercial vessels $488, Canadian Press reported, adding that many of the fees will increase slightly in the next fiscal year."

[coppertop]

I question what good this new FEE is going to be to the US, other than force Canadians to pay for the US ramped up border security.

Passenger vehicles don't seem to be on the list but if the real issue is preventing horrible disease etc. to enter the US, then why would passenger vehicles be exempt ?

I understand that the Canadian government is going to attempt to persuade the US to cancel their proposed fees, but I am not holding out much hope that our government will be successful. The US is running out of allies, and for their government to take aim at Canadian travellers and truckers hauling produce is certainly not the way to treat their closest neighbour.

I think we are far too lax in our security measures at our borders and perhaps this initiative will make our government realize we need to be a more protectionist country ourselves.

[Willowcreek]

coppertop-"I think we are far too lax in our security measures at our borders and perhaps this initiative will make our government realize we need to be a more protectionist country ourselves."

I think that is what has brought it about...Years ago we thought of Canada as a barrier to prevent problems from coming in from the north- but years of inept policy and lax enforcement has led to this along with the many other increased border moves..

And even now that the new politics in Ottowa seem somewhat acceptable they are moving at a snails pace...I just saw an article where the PM says it will take 10 years to arm all the border guards at the entry ports..

It appears now that there is even a focus to convert Malmstrom AFB (Great Falls) mission to be to protect the US border from the north..

[coppertop]

Willowcreek, do you think that our country has a significant threat to our livestock industry and our security from potential diseases and terrorists that may enter Canada from the US ?

[Willowcreek]

I think the US still has huge loopholes in our border security altho its been tightened...Right now I think we're doing a better job with the northern border than the southern- and until we get the southern border completely closed its definitely a threat to Canada too..Arizona and N.M. Sheriffs are reporting that Islamic terrorists are paying heavily armed Mexican Coyotes tens of thousands of dollars to get them into the US- from there they know not where they are going....With Canada's thousands of miles of seacoast its only natural they are probably smuggling some in that way and thru the seaports...Canada's lax immigration laws and political sanctuary laws have allowed many radical Islamic fundamentalists to set up groups in Canada- where they can seek aid and help fulfilling their mission...

Its something both countries need to work a lot harder on- but saying it will take 10 years to arm guards that should have probably always been armed doesn't show much of a commitment.

[coppertop]

I would suspect that guards that have never been armed need training, and if they were all in training at one time there would be no-one guarding the border. One thing that both our federal and provincial governments have been cautious about is not just handing out guns willy nilly to everyone that happens to have some sort of badge. Alberta has just recently put armed sheriffs out on some of our highways, but not until they have undergone intense training with firearms.

[jensend]

but saying it will take 10 years to arm guards


when harper made the announcement he said it took the us about ten years to get all their customs officers armed. you've pretty much shed all your credibility, willowcreek. head back to the local watering hole and talk to somebody who believes you. or just maybe get out and see the world if you aren't too paranoid. there's a whole lot of the world operating quite successfully without following the american model.

[Willowcreek]

Jensend-- Heres the entire article- read the second second paragraph "But it will take at least a decade to arm all of the nearly 5,000 guards along the Canada-United States border, Harper said."

Last I knew at least a decade was 10 years- anyway down here in the states it is...

Hows your credibility doing there jensing- maybe you need to crawl out of your pot pipe-eh? LOL

Must be too big a hit to the national defense budget to do it any faster.... With this type of commitment I can see why the US government thinks we need to build bases and forts along the border..

----------------------



Published: August 31, 2006


TORONTO Responding to a demand from border guards for weapons to defend themselves and combat criminals, the federal government said Thursday that it would begin arming guards in September 2007.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said some guards would begin receiving firearms next fall, with about 150 expected to be armed by March 2008. But it will take at least a decade to arm all of the nearly 5,000 guards along the Canada-United States border, Harper said. The border runs more than 5,500 miles, one-third of which is along Alaska.

The plan calls for 500 to 600 guards to be armed each year over the course of the program.

Harper, announcing the plan at a crossing south of Vancouver, British Columbia, said the move was "vital to our country's economy, and will protect the safety and security of all of our local communities."

The plan will also add a second guard at crossings that now have only one on duty, an increase of 400 guards at a cost of about $91 million.

Larger crossings, such as the one at Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, will remain relatively unaffected at first because the Royal Canadian Mounted Police already provide armed security there. The guards at airports will not receive firearms because armed police officers are present.

The unarmed guards, members of the Canadian Border Services Agency, have walked off the job several times in the past year, saying they need guns to defend the border and themselves. The union representing them threatened a strike over the issue in 2005. In January, Canadian guards in British Columbia fled their posts amid reports that two gun-wielding suspects were headed north for the border. Armed American officials apprehended the suspects. That incident came days after a federal election campaign that pitted the long-ruling Liberal Party against Harper's Conservatives. The Liberal Party opposed the arming of border guards, offering instead to add armed officers of the mounted police at the busiest crossings. Harper promised more border guards and firearms for them.

Some experts see the move as an acknowledgment that border security is a growing concern, even if it comes at the expense of smooth-flowing border traffic.

"It's a move away from the border being a place where essentially we collect taxes - recognition that it has a real security component to it that directly affects the safety and security of Canadians," Scott Newark, a security expert, said in a television interview.

Since taking office in February, Harper has tried to improve relations with the White House through an increased role in Afghanistan, a greater willingness to settle trade disputes and a more conservative stance on social issues.

Harper's decision to arm guards may allay fears in the United States that Canada is not doing its part to secure the border. When 17 homegrown terrorism suspects were arrested in Toronto in June, several American newspapers ran editorials questioning the attention paid to the Canadian border at a time when most of the focus was on the Mexican border.