Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (Signal High) —– Effective, independent, public accountability for the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) remains little more than a whispered promise, a full year after the government mandated it.
The taxpaying public has little-to-no recourse against the largest law enforcement organizations in Canada, and some say the officers, agents and commanders have been getting away with murder. After years of public pressure, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau buckled to demands for oversight — a public complaints mechanism. In October 2024, the federal government passed legislation establishing the authority, but it still doesn’t exist.
This writer reached out to the office of public safety minister Sathiayasangaree “Gary” Anandasangaree, the politician ultimately responsible for the CBSA, RCMP, and other security agencies (pictured above to the right of Prime Minister Mark Carney), but received no response.
The CBSA is the only Canadian federal law enforcement agency without oversight; however, this is not to suggest the mechanisms that are supposed to supervise the RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) are effective. They have their own issues and often seem ineffective in combating corruption, perversion, and lawlessness. The internet has become a repository of clandestine videos of CBSA agents abusing their authority and breaking the law.
So while the federal government continues to spend billions on these unchecked powers, including the acquisition of Black Hawk helicopters, mobile surveillance towers, mass mobilization of personnel, etc. it has clearly turned its back on public accountability. Until such time as an oversight mechanism is achieved, Canadian security agencies will continue to plod ahead unchecked and unchallenged. This can’t possibly be good for Canadians.
Signal High will continue to monitor this developing story.
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