"For Officers at the front-line, it means they will be empowered to detain and/or arrest someone wanted for murder who could be considered armed and dangerous. Noting the inherent risks, we’ve asked the government to provide bulletproof vests to all Officers," states Serge Charette, National President of the Customs Excise Union Douanes Accise, which represents 10,000 members, of whom 3,500 are uniformed Customs Officers. "Unfortunately, senior officials of the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (formerly Revenue Canada) that employs Customs Officers deny any risks related to the job and the new duties and, while loath to provide bulletproof vests to all Officers now, have agreed to dish out a mere 400 vests this year – by lottery at some work sites, with more to come some time during the next few years as part of a phased-in plan."

Charette adds "all our members want to do their job and new duties in safety but when told they won’t get their bulletproof vest for at least another year, they become angry and question why their employer would play Russian roulette with their lives instead of spending necessary funds to buy the needed ballistic vests."

The U.S. Law Enforcement Newsletter Newsline covered this Canadian government foul-up in a November 1999 article entitled Lottery to Live and, "to date," explains Charette, "we’ve received more than 50 vests from the U.S. because of that article, and we expect delivery of another 100 next Monday in Fort Erie, Ontario. We plan to begin distributing the American vests to Canadian Customs Officers next week."

With profound personal disgust, Charette exclaims, "imagine Canadian Customs Officers having to rely on charity from U.S. law enforcement personnel and agencies who are more concerned about their safety than the Canadian federal government is. How can this government agree to spend millions to bail out hockey teams in Canada while, at the same time, ask Customs Officers to put their lives on the line and not provide them with much needed bulletproof vests they are waiting for?"

On behalf of the Canadian Customs Officers who will receive ballistic vests thanks to donations from American law enforcement personnel and Agencies, CEUDA extends a sincere thank you to the Americans. And, on behalf of the Officers still waiting for their vests, CEUDA calls on the officials of the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency to do the right thing and make the vests available to all Officers in need without further delay.

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