If money is still so short for all kinds of security, is it possible the $7.7 billion for security services that Canadians keep hearing about from Paul Martin and the Liberal government was just another illusion? Or maybe they starved the agencies so badly for the past 10 years that they'll need a lot more to actually start plugging the gaps.
Twenty-nine kilometres south of Toronto's shoreline is an imaginary line, separating Canada and the U.S., that could soon turn into an imaginary wall. In less than three months, strict new international and U.S. counterterrorism and security rules for ports and ships will take effect -- and the person in charge of policing the waters of Toronto's port is worried our port could be blacklisted, even shut down to American traffic, for being woefully unprepared.
[. . . .] The problem: no money. [. . . .]
Staff Insp. Hegney estimates he'll need about $8-million to meet the new standards that are effectively turning ports into airport-style-security facilities with more surveillance cameras, fencing and security patrols. But he can't turn to the cash-strapped police force and city for help, and attempts to secure funding from the federal government have been met with silence.
[. . . .] Local police have been patrolling Toronto's section of Lake Ontario, which is approximately 1,200 square kilometres, for more than 150 years. Unlike most other ports, there isn't a Coast Guard or RCMP marine presence.
. . . Auditor-General Sheila Fraser . . . . major problems persist at airports and border crossings and with the high-tech systems Ottawa employs to target terrorist suspects, she said.
[. . . .] "I need to hire more people. I need more boats. More equipment. Even if I got the money today, I don't think I'd still be ready," Staff Insp. Hegney said. "I just can't go buy a boat. It's not like an ice-cream cone."
Conversely, the U.S. government has already given its ports hundreds of millions to beef up security, and has promised more money is on the way. According to maritime experts, the new security rules are expected to cost Canadian ports more than $100-million in start-up costs.
[. . . .] When the new rules kick in, countries will have the right to bar entry to a ship coming from a port that hasn't met the new security requirements. In the worst case scenario, vessels could be turned back at gunpoint. It's widely expected that the U.S. will strictly enforce the new rules. [. . . .] The port authority is in charge of making sure all the facilities that use the port meet the new security demands. Mr. Armstrong said it will be able to meet that component of the new international requirements despite the fact that it's had to go into its existing budget to fund things such as fencing and new security guards.
"We couldn't wait for the [money] to come to get started," he said.
