CBSA Union President Decries ‘Two-Tiered’ Disciplinary System as ArriveCan Investigation Continues

A Canada Border Services Agency patch is seen on an officer in Calgary on Aug. 1, 2019. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh/

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has a “two-tiered” disciplinary system where managers are rarely disciplined for misconduct, which has harmed morale among front-line employees in the context of the investigations around ArriveCan, according to the agency’s national union president.

“When we see what’s going on with the ArriveCan investigations, and we hear the testimony of professional standards investigators, it’s hard for our members to see, given what they’ve experienced in their careers,” Mark Weber, national president of the Customs and Immigration Union, told the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on March 5.

Mr. Weber said when it comes to front-line employees, the CBSA’s management style is to “investigate rather than to manage.” However, when serious misconduct by upper management is brought forward, there are rarely investigations. “It’s really like screaming into the wind,” he said.

Mr. Weber said in several cases, types of misconduct that would typically lead to the termination of lower-level employees did not result in any repercussions for upper management, describing the difference as “night and day.” He said this created a “toxic atmosphere” at the CBSA, especially in the context of the current investigations around the ArriveCan application.

The ArriveCan app, which was used to check the COVID-19 vaccination status of people arriving in Canada, has been in the spotlight in recent weeks after Auditor General Karen Hogan released her report on Feb. 12. That report estimated the app cost $59.5 million to build, but said the exact dollar amount could not be determined due to a lack of documentation around the app’s procurement and development.

The report also found that contracting and management practices around the app at several government agencies were not followed, and key records were inexplicably missing. On Feb. 27, RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme confirmed that the force is currently investigating ArriveCan.

Too Many Managers, Not Enough Front-Line Staff

Mr. Weber said in the CBSA, discipline handed out to employees is often punitive as opposed to being corrective. “We see our members regularly disciplined with no training, not even really knowledge of how they could often have done anything differently to not get themselves disciplined in the first place,” he said.

Mr. Weber also cited issues with the over-hiring of managers at the CBSA, claiming that if the agency ceased hiring for the next decade, “you'd likely still have too many.” At the same time, Mr. Weber said the CBSA requires an additional 2,000 to 3,000 new front-line officers, and needs to stop being overly reliant on technology.

The union president said there are often more managers than front-line workers at border crossings. He said at North Portal, Saskatchewan, there are seven managers and five officers on “any weekday.”

“What are the superintendents doing?” asked NDP MP Peter Julian.

“Apparently supervising us,” Mr. Weber responded. “I don’t want to be mean and say close to nothing, but it’s pretty close to that.”

Conservative MP Larry Brock suggested to the union president that a lack of front-line border officers over the last few years had resulted in more drugs and firearms entering Canada, as well as an increased number of car thefts.

“I would say the lack of staff has made everything that you’ve mentioned more acute, absolutely,” Mr. Weber responded.

The CBSA has not responded to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.