Technically, everyone is subject to an examination by both Customs and Immigration when they seek admission to Canada. Customs conduct the primary inspection and the principle is that they determine whether anyone warrants a secondary examination by an Immigration Inspector.

Therefore, they are actually filtering OUT those that they do not believe require the complete interview from an Immigration Officer that is required under law - there is no requirement for RPG's to send someone for an Immigration interview and, therefore, they are not, in my view, in breach of any provision.

The argument over the disparity in pay between Customs and Immigration has waged for years and varies from port to port depending on the working relationship which the two agencies have in that particular location. Customs Inspectors have often argued that they deserve pay parity because they are, by conducting primary inspection duties, doing the work of Immigration Officers as well as Customs Inspectors. In the case of Montreal, things have broken down

I have a lot of sympathy for Customs and Immigration because I used to be both an Inspector with CCRA and an IO. Now that I travel a lot in my new line of work, I can also join the moans about the time it takes to go through, etc. etc. but it's a thankless job and the pay is a lot lower than the police but the risks can sometimes be as high - I was assaulted on the job, had to deal with wanted felons without any form of protection myself and came across a lot of nasty characters in my day.

The current situation is unfortunate and it sheds a bad light on a profession that serves a very important purpose and which is often thankless. Yes, I think that the course of action taken by Customs in YUL is wrong but let's not turn this into a complete slugfest...


My two cents' worth...



[This message has been edited by DJC (edited 09-27-2002).]