[servicepub (RIP)]

Unfortunately, he is not the only politician in the US who thinks that Canada is a sieve for terrorists headed to the US. News reports continue to blame Canada for most of the 9/11 terrorists even though it has been shown that they either came in from Europe or had student status in the US. As I have said before, the agency that has final say in who gets into the United Sates is not Canada Customs, it is the US Immigration and Naturalization Service.
The recent intervention of the terrorists in the Toronto area shows that our systems work, yet our successful interception has led the US to tighten up the border - again. This smells of "locking the barn door" syndrome.
Another case involves the millenium bomber. Remember him? He was stopped by a suspicious US Customs agent trying to sneak into the US in the weeks prior to Y2K. What is not mentioned in US media is that he was under RCMP and CSIS watch while in Canada. When he left Canada for the US the US was notified and that lady Customs agent happened to be the one selected to make the collar - for PR reasons.
Our guys have a great working relationship with the US counterparts at the working level but sometimes it is frustrating for our guys to be working so hard just to get kicked around by US politicians - especially as our politicoes don't come to their defence.