The first of Canada's border guards to be authorized to carry weapons on the job graduated Friday after attending training in both Ottawa and Chilliwack, B.C.
The training of the 39 guards, who will be deployed at border crossings across Canada, is part of a plan to enhance safety and strengthen security at Canada's border, says a news release issued Friday.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced funding for firearms training for Canada Border Services Agency officers at land and marine ports of entry in August 2006.
The plan includes 400 new permanent border agency officers who will be hired, trained and equipped in order to eliminate work-alone situations.
"Now that the firearms training program is underway, we expect to have more than 100 officers deployed throughout the country by the end of August," Public Saftey Minister Stockwell Day told the firearms program graduates at a ceremony in Chilliwack.
The training is something the border guards union has been awaiting for some time.
"This is a long-awaited day. Through its arming and doubling-up of single-person shift initiatives, this government has done more to enhance officer and public safety than many previous governments combined, and for this we applaud it," said Ron Moran, president of the Customs and Excise Union, said in a news release.
The firearms training program trains border officers on various levels of threats and risks, and how to respond.
The next classes are scheduled to begin on Aug. 13 at RCMP facilities in Ottawa and Chilliwack.
The government hopes to have at least 250 and 300 border guards armed and on the job by August 2008, with hundreds more added in each of the following years.
The 2006 federal budget provided the border services agency with $101-million over two years to begin the process of providing border services officers with firearms.
Approximately 4,800 border officers at land and marine ports of entry as well as inland enforcement officers will be trained and equipped with firearms.
Full implementation of the initiative is expected to take place over a period of 10 years, the government says.
U.S. border guards have been armed for many years.
Last September, about 60 border guards in B.C.'s Lower Mainland fled their posts after it was rumoured armed fugitives were heading from the U.S. into Canada.
The walkout left motorists with long lineups and led to British Columbia's public safety minister, Lohn Les demanding that weapons training for border guards fast-tracked.