Dealing with a 'changing clientele': life as Windsor border officer explained
Officers with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) admit their job has, at times, been unnerving. Scary even.
“We are dealing with a changing clientele,” says Jeff Gilmore chief of operations for CBSA at the Ambassador Bridge.
Instead of happy travellers or people crossing for leisure, officers were faced with scared vacationers and essential workers.
“We had some of these healthcare workers coming back to us in tears because of what they saw in the hospitals in Michigan,” says Gilmore.Canada Border Services Agency chiefs of operations at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont. on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. (Melanie Borrelli/CTV Windsor)
“It was hard, it was unnerving, there were some days that you know were pretty scary for me personally,” says Sydney Kale, another CBSA chief of operations.
“They (snowbirds) were, for the most part, frightened, and so were we. We didn’t know what would happen.”
“We have had travellers come who are covid positive,” says Gilmore, who quickly credits PPE - available from the outset - for keeping officers safe.
“Whether it’s the possibility of being shot at, or an infectious disease coming way, that is part of our job. I did sign up for that, so I was okay with staying,” says Kale.
CBSA officials say more than 50 times, the federal government drafted new COVID protocols.
Kale says officers had to do their homework.
“There were some times where, you know, with a few hours notice, you were quickly memorizing 25 plus pages of documents,” she says.
“In my business you don’t get too many choices,” chuckles director of Operations Joe McMahon. “The government of the day sets rules, sets orders and we’re here to order them and enforce them.”
One of the biggest, is on-site testing, rolled out in February 2021.
“Over 30 years I’ve seen a lot of different things in our agency,” says McMahon. “But I can probably honestly say, I didn’t think we’d ever be swabbing people at the port of entry.”COVID-19 swab area at the Canada-US border at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. (Melanie Borrelli / CTV Windsor)
The officers all say they are used to making the tough decisions like turning people away or sending travellers in to pay taxes.
Denying someone entry due to COVID-19 ranks high on their list of tough calls to make, they say, but one which must be done.
“They take their frustrations out sometimes, on our officers,” says Gilmore. “It’s an important part of the job. We may not take pleasure in giving that, you know, negative news. We take pleasure in keeping our community safe.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.