Canada’s border agency is fixing flaws in its investigative techniques while racking up sexual assault complaints.

According to data obtained through an access to information request, 13 complaints of sexual assault have been made against employees of the Canada Border Service agency since 2003.

Cases include accusations of border officers sexually assaulting travellers and detainees.

Three of the complaints state charges were laid against border employees.

Under reported crime

Sexual assault is an under reported crime with less than 10 per cent of cases being reported according to Maggie Forsythe, counselling program coordinator at the Fredericton Sexual Assault Centre.

Forsythe says she believes under reporting of sexual assaults can “be mapped to any situation” and she says it can be especially hard coming forward with accusations against a powerful figure.

Travellers can be put in a frightening position Forsythe says.

“That would be like being assaulted by a police officer. Someone who has what you would see is the outmost power over you” Forsythe says. “So who would you tell when those people are supposed to be the ones who are supposed to be protecting you?”

A number of reasons cause the under reporting issue Forsythe says, from the victim having difficulty identifying what’s happend to them to the amount of stigma attached to coming forward.

“There’s so many what we call rape myths that would hinder a person coming forward,” says Forsythe, adding these myths include blaming the victim for the attack.

“So if an employee is saying their colleague has been sexually assaulting them or sexually harassing them, people would often say, ‘Oh well you were flirting with them, you probably wanted them,’” says Forsythe

Four of the borders sexual assault complaints are between employees and recruits in the agency.

Sexual assault falls under employee misconduct. Misconduct cases are looked into by the agency.

But a recent internal audit revealed weaknesses in the border agency’s investigations.

Limited tools and formal training

 The 2015 audit on professional standards found a number of problems with how the agency looks into employee misconduct cases.

According to the audit, limited tools and formal training were available for investigators and managers involved in misconduct investigations.

Misconduct allegations also went unreported to the proper authority.

The Security and Professional Standards Directorate wasn’t always informed about misconduct investigations despite the fact it had been a requirement since 2011.

Out of 78 complaints about border officers made in the span of one month in 2014, 14 cases are classified as undetermined.

Undetermined complaints include accusations of an officer assaulting a person, allegedly leaving deep scratch marks on their arm.

“Endured hours of detainment, hand-cuffed, strip-searched, horrific harassment by CBSA armed and loaded officers,” reads another undetermined complaint.

According to Senator Grant Mitchell, travellers with complaints may not see a resolution.

“There has been very very little recourse for people who feel they’ve been mistreated in someway, by the border service,” says Mitchell.

Mitchell served as deputy chair of the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence. The committee looked into the need for oversight at Canadian borders.

Lack of Oversight

 Senator Mitchell says border employees have zero oversight.

 “When you can just take away somebody’s rights, incarcerate them, hold them, invade their privacy,” Mitchell says, “There is a potential for abuse.”

 The committee recommended the government establish an oversight body and an independent, civilian review and complaints body for the border agency.

Mitchell says the oversight body would be proactive, ensuring appropriate compliance with legislation and policy and the review and complaints body would be there to support Canadians if an incident occurs at the border.

In June, the government introduced new legislation to create a joint oversight committee to monitor and oversee all government departments and agencies with national security responsibilities.

The Canadian Border Services Agency did not respond to interview requests  

Watch the video below to learn more about the weaknesses in the border agency’s investigative techniques

The agency responsible for the fleet patrolling Canada’s waters has trouble meeting the expectations set out for it by government, often sacrificing “needed” investment in its ships and relying on temporary funding to make ends meet.

According to a briefing book, received under the Access to Information Act, and prepared earlier this year for Hunter Tootoo, former Minister in charge of the department of Fisheries and Oceans, indicates the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) is now in dire straits with little hope for an immediate solution.

The Silent Service

Rob Huebert, Associate Director of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies and expert in Maritime security, described the CCG as a “silent service” — often asked to do more than anyone would think is reasonable, but always succeeding.

“We’re constantly in this bizarre situation where we completely and utterly rely on them for a whole host of issues,” says Huebert. “But the [restructuring] of the coast guard’s capabilities are not in a happy state.”

In the past 11 years over $7 billion has been committed to renewing the CCG.

But the majority of replacements for the CCG’s larger ships are not expected to arrive until 2025. Until they do, an estimate from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans says 83 per cent of the CCG’s budget is required to maintain the agency’s state of readiness.

An Aging Fleet

Even 15 years after retirement, Captain Harvey Adams still fondly remembers his time serving aboard the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent, one of the two remaining large icebreakers in the CCG’s fleet. During his 33 year career with the coast guard, he served aboard the ship when it was launched in 1969 and eventually became its captain.

“It was the biggest ship, the most powerful ship probably in North America at the time. Even the American’s couldn’t have matched it,” says Harvey, recalling his first thoughts of the Louis.

But that was 46 years ago, and like 31 per cent of the CCG’s current fleet, the Louis has aged significantly – putting the ship past its expected life cycle.

According to an analysis of documents included in the DFO briefing book, the figure will increase to 54 percent within the next five years.

Replacement

Some replacements ships are on their way. The replacement for the Louis, the CCG John G. Diefenbaker, will be the first to come off the line. While it was originally expected to arrive next year, construction is not expected to begin until 2022 at the earliest. It’s now scheduled to arrive in 2023.

Huebert says as a result of the National Shipbuilding Strategy – a long-term project to rebuild the nation’s fleet that prioritized providing ships to the Navy – the Louis will likely remain in service until the Diefenbaker arrives.

“When you think of something lasting from ’69 until now most people would go ‘Holy Moly! I wouldn’t be driving a car that is that old,’” says Huebert, “That is unless you’re into antiques.”

The Future

The new Minister for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Dominic LeBlanc, did not respond to a request for comment.

But with the mandate letter for the Minister of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans indicating a commitment to the National Shipbuilding Strategy, it appears the CCG is stuck on its current course.

For men like Adams, who spent most of their lives on the deck of a vessel it isn’t about the age of the ships they crew, or when new ones will arrive. It’s about the life he built on the water.

“The Coast Guard is one of the best jobs going to sea in Canada,” he says. “I have so many good memories it’s hard to remember just one.

If dance as an art form is to grow in Nova Scotia, more funding and a dedicated performance space is needed, says Sara Coffin, director of Mocean Dance.

Last year, grants from the Canada Council for the Arts to dance organizations in the province were slightly more than $180,000. A drop of $40,000 from the year previous, and testimony to struggle of the dance community to gain steady financial ground in the province.

“As an individual you have to be able to cut it right away if you don’t get the money, because it’s just impossible, and it’s way too much of a risk to put yourself in that much debt,” says Coffin. Even for smaller companies, funding is crucial. “It means shortening the season, or working for free. It means you have to be very adaptable, and look for other ways to raise money.”

Dance in the province, and the Maritimes as a whole, remains a minor figure in the arts landscape. Last year, the sum of awards given to dance organizations in Nova Scotia was the smallest among the major art disciplines.

That isn’t the case elsewhere in Canada. Held up against other provinces, one sees the contrast. Alberta receives more than double of the entire Atlantic region combined.

Applications for grants are evaluated by a jury of peers familiar with the community. A system meant to ensure artistic merit remains the priority. However, this can also mean grants are reserved for a select few.

“The companies that are sucking the money dry are the big ballet companies, so all the money is being funneled into Ontario and Quebec,” says Coffin. “They’re institutions, and they’re important, but then there’s only so much to go around, and then it’s harder for the new surge of energy or blood to come up.”

The numbers reflect the artistic hierarchy.  Last year, more than two-thirds of the grant money to organizations went to Ontario and Quebec.  

If other provinces are to establish dance communities of their own, more money needs to find its way there, says Coffin.

“They’re definitely propping up city centers instead of helping new areas develop,” she says. A major milestone for the province would be a venue for dance artists to call their own – a dedicated space for rehearsal and performance. “That’s where we need support, because we’re all rehearsing in our living rooms and these weird spaces we can find that are cheap. There is no center here for us to work in.”  

But changes are coming.

Starting in 2017, the Council will change its grant programs. Instead of 147 discipline-based programs, the new model will instead have only six, each with its own nationwide mandate, be it nurturing aboriginal artistry or supporting artists abroad.

In an email, Council spokeswoman Meredith Sharpe explained that “so many of the restrictions that have been in place for years will change and the funding model will truly become artist-centered.”

Should the changes mean more money flowing into the province, it would come at an opportune time, says Coffin, because there’s a growing pool of talent in Halifax. 

“For the first time we have three generations of dancers working in Halifax,” Coffin says. However, lack of funding will hamper the next generation’s growth. “There’s not enough money being sent here, so they’re usually excluded first, so they have a longer time get their momentum going.”

Halifax Regional Municipality received over 2000 calls in 2015 complaining about properties with unkempt lawns and overflowing garbage, but one resident feels that the complaint process is built on a system of “snitching.”

According to records previously released under freedom of information legislation, residents called the city 415,290 times in 2015.

Jim Creelman was the subject of one of those calls.

The reason? His house on Montague Road in Loon Lake.

Creelman’s home was one of the 2442 complaints Haligonians had about unsightly properties last year.

Unsightly property is defined as any building, usually a house, that is partly destroyed, decayed, or deteriorated. The building in question clashes with the character of a neighbourhood or the wellbeing of nearby residents, said Halifax Regional Municipality public affairs officer Adam Richardson.

Watch the video below for an explainer on unsightly property and how the complaint-process works.

The information to make this data visualization was from previously released records under the freedom of information laws. As you can see, the number of calls have mostly been consistent. 

‘Snitch mentality’ at the heart of complaint-driven process

A self-admitted hoarder and owner of a small snow removal business, Creelman says he “collects stuff” and can’t always get around to cleaning it up.

Still, that doesn’t justify the whole process of making a complaint on his home, he says.

First, he says “a rookie officer” who wasn’t flexible with the rules came by to inspect his property. Then, the officer’s supervisor was too involved with his case, something that Creelman says is “not normal.”

Creelman managed to get an extension on clean-up time from the city council committee responsible for granting appeals.

But when he spoke to the committee in September 2015, Creelman did not shy away from discussing his true feelings on calls made about unsightly properties.

“It promotes a snitch mentality,” he said.

Past action, results in the future?

Nancy Lewis, who lives in the North End of Halifax, couldn’t agree more.

In 2009-2010, Lewis started a petition to change the complaint-driven system for inspecting unsightly properties.

She said that her house on North Street has been the subject of calls in the past, but not anymore.

Even though she admits her house needed a paint job, it was still “much better looking” than the rest of the homes on her street that weren’t the subject of complaints at all.

She suspects the calls came from contractors who were painting nearby houses.

Creelman, on the other hand, isn’t sure who made the call since all complaints are anonymous. However, his lawyer suggested he make a freedom of information request to find out.

Lewis thinks it’s a waste of time for bylaw officers to inspect every single complaint that comes their way, especially since they’re mostly frivolous.

She points to the latest issue faced by one of her neighbours as an example.

“She puts one extra garbage bag out and the city is running back and forth,” she said.

Her petition wasn’t much of a success outside her neighbourhood, but it managed to catch the attention of Brenden Sommerhalder, who is running to represent the north end in the upcoming municipal election.

The former director of marketing for the Downtown Business Commission says that complaints about properties can be used as a “civic weapon” by feuding neighbours.

If elected, he says he would like to investigate the issue seriously and assess whether there are suitable alternatives to the complaint-driven process.

For Creelman, the best alternative would be if neighbours simply talked to each other about their concerns instead of going to the city.

That way, he would “feel less harassed.”

But for now, he says he is going to clean up his act — literally.

“I’m out of step with (the city)” he said. “I don’t blame them.”

The CBC expects to unveil its new social media guidelines for employees in September 2016. It will replace existing guidelines, adopted in 2007, and revised in 2010. The policy regulates employee conduct both on and off the job, while setting out standards of behaviour for employees using social media.

The CBC’s 2007 employee social media guidelines were released following an Access to Information request by an applicant and later made available at its website. In crafting a new policy CBC must tread a path that both upholds its reputation as Canada’s public broadcaster while also respecting its employees’ rights to freedom of expression. Every CBC employee must read and affirm their compliance with the broadcaster’s social media guidelines.

The news and broadcasting industry places a high premium on safeguarding core values of non-partisanship and lack of bias. The credibility of a reputable news organization rests on objective reporting of events. The CBC’s employee social media policy incorporates elements of its other HR codes, including its Employee Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct, which prohibits the publishing of racist or other discriminatory content. In contrast to its competitors in the private sector, the CBC shoulders the burden of protecting the Charter rights of employees when crafting a social media policy. Employees of the broadcaster are required to uphold the corporation’s core values both on the job and in their off-duty time.

Similar restrictions are in place at Reuters, the Associated Press other broadcasters. An important difference between these competitors and CBC is that as a public news and entertainment provider, CBC must adhere to federal statutes, most notably the Charter of Rights. When creating a social media set of guidelines for employees, the CBC must exercise caution in not infringing on certain provisions of the Canadian Charter.

Professor Wayne MacKay is a constitutional expert who teaches law at Dalhousie University. He said the CBC has a higher standard to meet compared to private sector news organizations when employee codes such as a social media policy are drafted. This is reflected in tighter provisions contained in some CBC competitor codes. For example, Reuters and the Associated Press strongly discourage employees ‘liking’ tweets or comments on other individual’s feeds, especially those that contain news reports or contentious material.

Adapted from a survey of twelve media organizations’ employee social media guidelines as depicted in Table 1, page 208 of Managing Social Media Use: Whither Social Media Guidelines in News Organizations by authors Michaël Opgenhaffen & Leen d’Haenens. The International Journal on Media Management, 17:201–216, 2015.

CBC Media Relations manager Alexandra Fortier explains that the CBC has no restriction on such activity. Ms. Fortier refused to comment when asked if a CBC employee had ever challenged the provisions in the existing corporate guidelines, citing privacy. When asked about the CBC’s less restrictive approach to employees ‘liking’ news-related content published on colleague’s Twitter feeds, Professor MacKay noted that a judge in the U.S. recently ruled that ‘liking’ on social media is a form of freedom of speech.

The CBC expects its employees to make a distinction between their official CBC accounts and personal social media platforms. They are asked not to publish anything that they would not feel comfortable saying in a job-related capacity. Despite its vigilance in safeguarding its reputation as a non-partisan news and entertainment provider to Canadians, the broadcaster must balance these priorities with other considerations – to a greater extent than is the case with others in the industry.

The task at hand is to strike a balance between intersecting interests while meeting its mandate to the Canadian public.