Public Safety committee  It is not that we have never thought of arming them, the topic was raised by the customs union well before I took up my position. The agency has existed for three years, but I think that the union has been raising the topic for 10 or 15 years.

Public Safety committee  You are leading me into the area of the policies of different governments.

Public Safety committee  That's not what I said. I said that it is a major policy decision for a government to bring about this type of change. However, if you ask our employees on the ground, the vast majority of them are convinced that they need to carry a weapon.

Public Safety committee  The strategy we're using to deal with people running the port, as we say, is not arming. Arming is done for other reasons. One strategy we are using is to basically plug the biggest part of that. Among those 600 occurrences, 150 are linked to some logistical problems we have in one location.

Public Safety committee  I suppose that psychologically people might be less tempted to take a chance if they are facing armed border guards. If you are asking me, will we ask our people to use their firearms in those situations, the answer is no, we won't.

Public Safety committee  There is one that I remember for sure, and that's the report from the Senate committee SCONSAD. I may be wrong on the date, but I think about a year and a half or two years ago—

Public Safety committee  —they recommended that we have an armed presence, if I remember correctly, at the six busiest border crossings.

Public Safety committee  There is no question in my mind that it should be reduced dramatically when our employees are armed.

Public Safety committee  Just to be sure that I understand your concern, is it that employees are using the rights they have under the Labour Code?

Public Safety committee  Again, it's the law of this country. The law provides for the possibility for employees to withdraw when they feel they are at risk. They do it, and the process is fairly clear. Specialists from Labour Canada come in and they rule on every one of these situations.

Public Safety committee  My opinion on work-alone situations in this country is that it's safer to have two employees rather than one, especially in isolated areas, on any shift. The government has given us the funds to correct those situations over three years. We're going to hire 400 people over three years.

Public Safety committee  The $781 million does not do anything for work-alone situations. That's a separate budget and a separate initiative. I'm sorry, I forgot the second question.

Public Safety committee  Our estimate is that about 600 people ran the official ports of entry, going through without stopping, or stopping mid-process and then—

Public Safety committee  I just want to say that we have the proper number of people deployed in each of these positions, but you're right that the higher turnover brings a higher cost. This has to be balanced with the other responsibilities of the government as an employer. Most of these things are discussed and planned in the context of collective bargaining.

Public Safety committee  Mr. Chair, yes. As a senior civil servant, I provided options for the government to consider, I provided options to do it faster, and I'm basically implementing the government decision to do it over that period of time.