^ Agreed.

Well, those who don't can always come here! I'll bet the NRA would support the addition of 'suppression of handgun rights' as grounds for asylum.

For a second there I thought you were talking about California.

It's just part of CBSA's uniform. I guess you didn't notice that most CBSA officers do not have name tags on their body armour, they have a patch with their badge number in lieu of a name.

I guess it would also be strange for you to hear that RCMP members will wear body armour at all times while on duty... this includes the school liaison officers visiting elementary schools for bicycle safety days.

All American policemen wear body armour under their uniform, so you may think they don't have it. Canadian mounties wear over uniform. That is all the difference... this and the fact that a CRMP officer is less likely to be shot while on-duty :rolleyes:

Hear hear.

CBSA is hardly CATSA. Personally, I think the armor looks good and helps the border services officers look professional. Anything to separate them from the mess that is CATSA is good.

All American police? No. Many don't wear vests, though they are generally stupid not to.

I would imagine it isn't as difficult to get one as a police officer. Here in California, where we have among the strictest CCW laws in the US, current and retired police are basically granted automatic CCW permits unless there is some other factor.

Come to my state; it is even worse here.

The one at YYZ where i entered Canada on Saturday had nothing to hide. She was a beauty :)

But i was wondering too about that.
The only screening i got on my way to YYZ was at a small regional Airport. I guess i could have brought everything with me to Toronto :) Probably they don't trust foreign security.

I certainly do.

I wonder what Norm Gardner had to prove to get a permit in Ontario several years ago: 1998 Toronto Star Piece

They've been doing this for years - makes them all look a bunch of paranoid morons. They're behind a huge desk - what are they afraid of??

Have you ever had an employer insist you do something you thought a tad silly?

That wasn't a personal jab at individual inspectors, that was a jab at Canadian government policy - which I jab at quite frequently.

One cultural difference between us - if a US employer told their US employees to wear or do something that was silly or uncomfortable, people here would speak up and raise a ruckus (especially government employees protected by their union) and even refuse to comply.

Canadian are just too accepting of authority. If inspectors don't like them (and I'd imagine sitting there for hours at a time with that thing on is not comfortable), then why not go to the union and organize a big stink over it and get large groups of staff to show up for work without the jackets?

I can't remember the last time I saw a cop in a US city (who wasn't in SWAT gear) walking around with a bullet vest - but every cop I see in Toronto has one on...in Toronto...like it's Kabul or something :rolleyes: