MAIL

Try to board an aircraft these days with even a tiny pair of scissors in
your hand luggage and odds are you'll never get it on the plane.

That's because all luggage is X-rayed as a matter of routine and, in a
post-9/11 world, the screeners have been instructed to be scrupulous.

Then again, you can always arrange to have someone ship you an illegal
handgun -- or drugs -- from the U.S. or overseas via Canada's mail system
and odds are it will arrive safe and sound.

That's because Canada Customs and Revenue Agency inspects and X-rays less
than 5% of the mail coming into Canada, and is prohibited by law from
touching any mail under 30 grams. It's just one more way for criminals to
get guns, drugs and other contraband into the country as the Sun's Maria
McClintock reported last week.

Documents she obtained under Access to Information legislation show that
guns, teargas and drugs, including cocaine and heroin, are routinely
smuggled into Canada through the mail.

And since less than 5% of the mail is actually inspected, according to
Customs and Excise Union president Ron Moran, it's a safe bet that far more
contraband gets through than is ever caught. Clearly, this is just one more
way for for thugs to get illegal guns and drugs on our streets.

The way to fight the problem seems obvious: Inspect every piece of mail
coming into the country -- or at least as much of it as is physically
possible, not just that which arouses the suspicion of Customs officers. And
eliminate the 30-gram limit. The right to privacy doesn't include the right
to mail drugs and other contraband illegally into Canada.

The federal Liberal government is intent on having 100% of Canada's gun
owners register their legal firearms in a program which has turned into a
billion-dollar boondoggle as part of their so-called war on crime.

Isn't it a tad inconsistent, then, that its approach to stopping illegal
guns from coming into Canada via the mail consists of random checks
involving less than 5% of the packages? That's not the fault of front-line
CCRA inspectors. It's a question of political will and resources.

Where is all that money the federal government has been taking from us ever
since 9/11, ostensibly to help make our borders more secure, going anyway?