Letters by a modern St. Ferdinand III about cults

Both Canada and the US have a lot of work to do to improve domestic security. In the War on Terror both countries suffer from border and intelligence problems. Bush and Martin are long on rhetoric regarding border security but less compelling on action. It is widely reported that US borders are as porous as they were before 9-11 [see the 9-11 Commission report]. US borders are still open to allow in cheap labor for big business, and not to alienate the Latino vote, which historically vote democrat but show signs of moving more towards the republican party. US borders are so insecure that vigilantes are starting to mobilize on the Mexican frontier to aid police in stopping illegal crossings. There are also issues with overstaying Visa holders, criminals and refugees easily abusing the US border system and disappearing into US society. [For a good report on the issues with US security click here Homeland Defense issues and solutions. ]

Canada is as well extremely porous regarding security – and suffers even more acutely than the Americans from insufficient systems, technology, people and policies. Ambassador to the US McKenna maintains that Canada has spent $10 billion on border security measures in recent years. This is a lie. Canada has spent $6.3 billion since 2001 on borders systems or about $1.5 billion per annum as part of the ‘Smart Borders Declaration’ [click here for more info SBD ]. This sum is insufficient.

As many reports attest Canada’s weak border policies coupled with a non-existent military pose a vital threat to the country. [see Senate Report on Canada's Borders for example]. As the Senate report makes clear:

Putting national security in its appropriate place on the country’s political agenda will not be easy. But the security of citizens is the primary role of government. It is why governments were first created.”

The Senate report lists many areas where Canada is weak and vulnerable including:
1. Border Crossings – poor ID at the border
2. Badly trained border staff
3. Technology is out of date at the borders
4. Coasts are largely undefended, and not monitored [no radar for eg.]
5. Inadequate long and short range coastal patrols
6. Great Lakes are not under surveillance or secured
7. Intelligence and Security services are underfunded
8. Systems are not integrated allowing ease of use data exchange
9. Refugees are disappearing into Canadian society
10. Terror and criminal groups are operating active cells and fundraising groups

These are serious issues that affect the very life of Canada including its economy. As with the military the Canadians do not fund proper domestic security programs. In fact other reports make it clear that a terrorist attack on Canadian assets is a matter of time not a question of ‘if’. [CSIS report] Yet the funding and government commitment does not match the risk. There is a very real threat of an internal domestic attack and indeed as the National Post and others have reported many such plots have been stopped, some with the help of the US FBI.

Canadian apathy towards security is reflected in the numbers. The total Canadian budget in 2005 for domestic security is C$1.5 billion all costs included, and for border security it is C$250 million. In the US comparable figures are [for Homeland Defence Security Agency only excluding the FBI budget for domestic security or indeed any other agency] $34 billion US and $6.8 billion US. Excluding all other departments and just counting Homeland Defence the US is spending roughly 22 times more on domestic security and roughly 28 times more on border security. On a per capita basis the US is spending – just for the Homeland Defence agency - roughly C$130 per capita on domestic security and C$30 on border security. Canada is spending in total, C$50 and C$14 respectively. Even adding in US concerns with the Mexican border and population differences, the variance proves that Canada is not taking a serious role in securing its own borders. The total and per capita levels of security spend are far too wide. This does not mean that more money is necessarily efficiently spent, but given the serious nature of the current War on Terror, all reports state that only putting C$ 1.2 billion into security per annum is clearly insufficient.

In total the Americans are probably spending 50-80 x more in total on security matters than Canadians. Is it any wonder that the US views Canada more as a nuisance than an aid in the War on Terror? How soon will the US wait until it forces Canada to adopt more stringent anti-terror and better security policies ? How will this affect trade and investment between the two countries ?

Canadian weakness can be revealed in the inability to reform the following:
-Reorganizing the immigration system to better screen immigrants and prevent terrorist sympathizers from entering the country
-Diversify immigration away from Muslim lands
-Crack down on criminals, gangs, and fundraisers who support terrorists
-Recognizing that the Tamil tigers and Hizbollah charity groups are key financiers of terror and are active in Canada [in fact Canada is one of their best fundraising sources, see Rachel Ehrenfeld ‘Funding Terror’]
-Recognise that Saudi money is being used to build Mosques to promote an anti-western agenda – this source of funding and the radicalization of Mosque life needs to be stopped.

All of these are major issues that an underfunded and maladroitly managed security agenda is not addressing. Nothing epitomizes Canada’s facile approach to terror more than the Air India bombing which killed 329 Canadians. This tragedy is comparable to the 3000 or so murdered on 9-11, given the population differences between the US and Canada. But Canadian Ministers like Anne McLellan state that some issues about the Air India attack may never be known, and that there should be no inquiry. This is rather incredible. The Americans spent 3 years investigating and produced the 9-11 Commission Report on what occurred on September 11th 2001. On Dec. 17, 2004, President Bush signed into law the largest overhaul of American intelligence-gathering operations in half a century, modelled on the work of the Sept. 11 commission. Though the overhaul is not drastic enough, and though it will not solve the US intelligence problems, the Americans are at least, however tepidly, addressing their severe security challenges.

Nothing of the sort is occurring in Canada. There is no reform of the intelligence or security services here. Money is still not being issued to defence and security concerns, and a myriad of problems and frailties plague Canada’s domestic security from insecure coast lines to a very badly run and even corrupt immigration program. Along with its non-existent military Canada’s indifferent approach to securing its existence will have serious repercussions – not only in the inevitable loss of life from a domestic terror attack – but also in its relations with the US – which was once considered an ally.

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