Whistleblower

Canada’s immigration enforcement system suffers from ‘orchestrated mismanagement,’ whistleblower claims

A former Canada Border Services Agency manager is blowing the whistle on the alleged “orchestrated mismanagement” of Canada’s immigration enforcement system, revealing a precipitous drop in the number of illegal immigrants deported at the same time as agency overspending and escalating detention costs.

“Simply put, more money was spent to produce less,” Reg Williams, the former director of CBSA’s Toronto enforcement office, says in a whistleblowing letter to the Privy Council that was obtained by the National Post.

The 23-page letter claims CBSA’s immigration enforcement is “unraveling” just as CBSA bosses are being considered for substantial bonus payments for their performance.

“As a retired public servant, taxpayer and citizen, I am deeply concerned … that the downward trend in productivity, if not addressed, will threaten community safety and security,” he writes in the letter, dated June 26.

“Taxpayers deserve to know why the immigration enforcement program has produced significantly less while spending significantly more.”

The CBSA president, Luc Portelance, who has an annual salary of between $257,700 and $323,100, stands to add $85,000 to $125,000 in performance pay under the federal public service’s executive pay system, the letter says. CBSA’s vice-president of operations, Martin Bolduc, whose annual salary is between $178,800 and $200,300, is in line for a bonus of between $46,500 to $52,000, it says.

Meanwhile, the removal of illegal immigrants from Canada has dropped about 26% nationally in the fiscal year ending March 31, compared to last year, and dropped about 34% in the Toronto region, an office previously boasting double-digit increases in removals each year since 2008, the letter says.

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