U.S. Senators Complain About Terrorists, Security at Canadian Border

(Canadian Press)

American senators demanded security upgrades at the Canadian border and complained about a terrorist threat from the north Thursday, citing an “alarming” report suggesting it would be easy to slip radioactive material into the United States.

The 13-page congressional report, the third to look at the border with Canada since Sept. 11, 2001, also gave legislators an excuse to accuse their neighbours of harbouring an inordinate number of terrorists.

“It's so hard to believe there's been so little progress in plugging these gaping security holes,” Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, told a Capitol Hill hearing. “They're simply wide open, waiting to be crossed by anyone carrying anything, even a dirty bomb or a suitcase-type nuclear device.”

The independent Government Accountability Office sent out investigators carrying large red duffel bags with simulated radioactive material and other contraband to see if they could get across the Canada-U.S. line at three of four unguarded spots late last year. They succeeded without much trouble. Someone called authorities during one of the stunts but the Border Patrol didn't catch up with those involved. In one case, the GAO personnel stood and waved at security cameras.

The report complains there are many state roads that end at the border that aren't manned or monitored. Some crossings are only staffed during the day and anyone could drive around barriers placed across the road at night, it said. “Our work clearly shows substantial vulnerability on the northern border to terrorists or criminals,” said Greg Kutz, the GAO's managing director for special investigations and forensic audits.

Senator Ken Salazar from Colorado said there's been far too much focus on the border with Mexico, where there's a massive problem with illegal immigrants, and not enough on the Canadian line. He called it a “huge disparity,” noting there are only some 1,000 Border Patrol agents in the north compared with nearly 12,000 at the U.S.-Mexico border. Salazar also complained there are more international terrorist groups active in Canada than anywhere else in the world, some 50 different organizations, citing a Canadian Security Intelligence Service study.

A CSIS backgrounder in 2002, not an official report, did make that estimate but included the caveat that there could be more in the United States. “This situation can be attributed to Canada's proximity to the United States which currently is the principal target of terrorist groups operating internationally,” said the commentary, “and to the fact that Canada, a country built upon immigration, represents a microcosm of the world.”

New York Senator Chuck Schumer called the report “extremely troubling,” telling the committee there are inadequate patrols on Lake Ontario and that terrorists have crossed from Canada through Buffalo. He did not elaborate on his comment and his office didn't return a phone call requesting clarification.

Ronald Colburn, deputy chief of Border Patrol at the Homeland Security Department, took a vigorous grilling but said there's nothing in the study that he didn't already know. “I don't get a sense that you really care about this,” thundered Democratic Senator Max Baucus of Montana, chairman of the finance committee. “Here we are in Congress trying to protect people. You've been avoiding a lot of questions. It's not been satisfactory.”

Colburn told him there is a serious national strategy in place but Congress needs to do its part by funding improvements for more security. “We agree the border is not as secure as it needs to be,” he said. “This is very remote and very challenging.” “To secure each unique mile of the border requires a balance of technology, infrastructure and personnel.” The department is sending 200 more U.S. agents to the northern line, said Colburn, and employs technical devices like cameras, sensors and unmanned aerial systems to keep track of what's happening. He noted illegal activity was down 20 per cent this September compared with last year and said only one per cent of illegal crossings come from Canada, with 99 per cent entering from Mexico.
The trouble is that more than 90 per cent of Canada's 30 million people live close to the border, he said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in Toronto, said the study was testing U.S. security, not Canada's, but “obviously we have to be concerned.” “We work hand and glove with American authorities dealing with any kinds of threats or potential threats,” he said. “We are making significant investments as well, in both processes and people (by) hiring more border guards. So we're doing our bit.”

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day added that Ottawa is looking at ways to beef up security on the Canadian side. He acknowledged there are challenges in securing the border, but said most people who try to make it through illegally are stopped. “You will read from time to time about someone who has been able to get, when they thought nobody was looking, across the thousands and thousands of kilometres of border,” he said in Edmonton. “What you didn't read about are the 21,000 people last year who didn't make it, who tried at various points, either at official border points or unofficial border points.” In the last 19 months, Ottawa has invested $430 million in security updates and hired 400 officers, he said. “No country is immune to terrorism, but I can tell you with the increased resources, both on the dollar side, the technology side and the personnel side, we're safer than we were a year and a half ago.”

Kenneth Luongo, executive director of Partnerships for Global Security, a group fighting the dangers of weapons of mass destruction, told senators that American investments at the Canadian border, including more than $122 million in technology improvements since Sept. 11, 2001, have been “well advised but insufficient.” Luongo noted the June 2006 arrests in Canada of 17 men allegedly planning to carry out attacks inspired by al-Qaida. And he raised the case of Ahmed Ressam, who was caught by U.S. officials at Port Angeles, Wash., on the eve of the new millennium, his vehicle's trunk filled with explosives for use in a bombing plot.