National

Ontario won't work with Border Services Agency on safety blitzes after arrests

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 10 Oct, 2014 11:02 AM

TORONTO - The Ontario government is immediately ending joint road safety blitzes with the Canada Border Services Agency because the feds used one to arrest undocumented workers.

Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca has written the federal government to say that partnering with the agency "does not align" with the ministry's mandate to make roads as safe as possible.

Ontario's Liberal government ordered the review after a joint commercial vehicle roadside blitz in Toronto in mid-August, when 21 people were arrested because of immigration violations.

The New Democrats wrote Premier Kathleen Wynne after the arrests to say that the roadside inspections are meant to improve safety and are "not for immigration-related interrogations, arrests and deportation."

Del Duca's letter to Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney says the ministry will only partner with groups that have a shared objective to make roads safer and ensure commercial vehicles comply with all the regulations.

He says Ontario will keep inspecting commercial vehicles at border entry points because "they do not involve CBSA resources."

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