This will please all the anti-union people

[Catz]

I don't know if anyone else pointed this out but, but the RCMP are looking to unionize and if they succeed, do you think that there will never again be an instance of a prisoner dying by his/her own hand while in custody?

And there are instances to numerous to list regarding very unprofessional and child like behavior exhibited by members of the highly paid nursing profession/union.

And let's not forget about the highly trained and unselfish teachers union whose prime motivation is not money or time off with pay but the welfare of our most precious commodity, our children.

The argument that you get what pay for has some merit but this is a poor example of that notion.

I do believe you get childish behaviour from any person....care to provide the facts while slamming the nursing union? Good and bad in any job. Wow.

[mexi cali]

Very close to the nurses union Catz.

[hobbyguy]

I actually don't see this as a union versus non-union issue.

At the heart of the matter is the corporatization of our government, and along with that the "low bidder" mentality.

When we as individuals choose a product or service, price matters to a point, but we are usually fairly careful about the value decisions. Many times we will choose a more costly product or service because it is more suitable to the need.

In this case, it is fairly obvious that the whole decision making process was driven by the lowest cost mentality. Reducing the reality and context to some beans to be counted.

It is arguable that whether union or non union, this service needs to be properly organized, properly staffed with folks who come in with the right talents, and who are then properly trained. All of that costs money. Reduce it to "minimum standard and cost", and you get poor organization, poor quality staff, poor training - which leads to poor delivery of service, in this case dysfunctional.

[A_Britishcolumbian]

the cbsa, the folks that can't recognize a stereotypical pipe bomb, the folks that smuggle drugs in such as the 182 kilos of cocaine recently caught. the folks that let this woman die, for more profit.

Lucia Vega Jimenez: Border services information censorship exposed

How the CBSA dodged questions involving an in-custody suicide

By Tara Carman, Vancouver Sun December 3, 2014

When the suicide of a Mexican woman at the Canada Border Services Agency’s airport holding cells became public knowledge in late January, more than a month after the fact, it raised important questions about the treatment of immigration detainees and how such a tragedy was allowed to occur.

The public was angry and wanted answers. The Vancouver Sun tried for four straight days to get those answers from the CBSA’s communications department.

At no point was any Sun reporter granted an interview; the CBSA would only take questions in writing and provide bare bones responses, frequently hours after deadline, that did not address the key issues.

CBSA was forced to provide answers months later at a coroner’s inquest into the death of Lucia Vega Jimenez. The Sun also filed Access to Information requests seeking correspondence of CBSA officials from the time the incident occurred to the time it was made public.

That correspondence — 1,700 pages — was recently released to all reporters, nine months after most of them made their requests.

Federal government departments rarely grant media interviews and tend to respond to reporters’ questions with written statements that must be put through multiple levels of approval.

The CBSA emails on the Jimenez incident provide a rare and unique window into the backroom workings of one of the most secretive departments in Ottawa.

They tell a story of information censorship at the highest levels and an institutional unwillingness to address questions the media were asking on behalf of taxpayers.

As one email explicitly stated, senior officials had “a concern that if we address specific questions, it might lead to more questions.”

Here is what the Canada Border Services Agency didn’t want the public to know about the case of a woman who took her own life on their watch.

Dec. 20, 2013: Mexican national Lucia Vega Jimenez, 42, is found hanging from a shower rod by a subcontracted security guard at the Canada Border Services Agency’s airport holding cells shortly before 7 a.m. She is first taken to Richmond hospital and then to Mount Saint Joseph hospital in critical condition. The Richmond RCMP is called to investigate.

CBSA officials decide not to publicly announce the incident in a news release but prepare “holding lines” to use in case media learn of the situation. They say only that a woman was discovered in medical distress at the CBSA’s airport holding centre and was transported to hospital, that RCMP is investigating and that the CBSA will not release further information. CBSA communications staff closely monitors social media, especially the ScanBC Twitter feed, which monitors emergency services dispatches, to see if any media have picked up on the incident.

An early draft of the approved media statement said guards from Genesis Security provided first aid until the arrival of paramedics, but this was edited out. At the inquest, it was revealed that Genesis personnel did not complete three required room checks the morning of the suicide attempt due to understaffing and that a supervisor falsified room check logs to make it appear they had. Internal communications drafts a statement from Pacific Region Director General Roslyn MacVicar informing CBSA employees one of their detained clients was taken to hospital in critical condition and provides contact information for employee assistance programs. Communications officer Jennifer Bourque expresses concern that CBSA is “inviting media scrutiny” by issuing an emailed internal memo that could be leaked.

Dec. 24, 2013: CBSA assistant communications director Bernée Bolton recounts to colleagues a conversation with media relations officials at B.C. Corrections about how to handle similar situations. They advise CBSA to only confirm an incident or death in response to media requests, cite “privacy lines” as a reason not to go into detail and emphasize cooperation with the police investigation. They raise the possibility that inmates, immigration detainees or employees of B.C. Corrections, CBSA or Genesis could inform the media of the incident.

Dec. 28, 2013: Jimenez is removed from life support at Mount Saint Joseph hospital, with her sister by her side.

Jan. 11, 2014: CBSA media relations receives a question from News 1130 reporter Renee Bernard about a refugee claimant who allegedly committed suicide in a holding cell. Asked to clarify the timeline, Bernard adds that she believes it occurred within the last 70 hours. CBSA staff speculates that Bernard may be referring to a more recent suicide attempt. Amy Jarrette, CBSA public affairs director, notes that Correctional Service Canada releases the names and ages of fatality victims but that it is unclear if CBSA is in a position to do so.

Jan. 12, 2014: CBSA’s Bolton sends a response to News 1130’s Bernard saying first responders were called to the airport holding centre Dec. 20 and a detainee was taken to hospital, but died Dec. 28. Next of kin were notified and CBSA is co-operating with the Richmond RCMP and BC Coroners investigation, the statement said.

1. Bolton suggests putting out a news release after the 1130 report airs. CBSA director Yvette-Monique Gray agrees.

Jan. 27, 2014: News 1130 first reports the story. The delay, Bernard told The Sun, was because a source had relayed information that it was a female failed refugee claimant from Mexico who had hanged herself, which the CBSA did not confirm. She asked Barbara McLintock at the BC Coroners Service to confirm. “News 1130 broke the story ... when McLintock did find the information and relayed it to us,” Bernard said. Other media quickly pick the story up.

Jan. 28, 2014: Sun reporter Kim Pemberton sends CBSA spokeswoman Bolton a list of 11 questions.

Bolton receives a response from Ottawa, approved by Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney’s office and the Privy Council Office to provide to all reporters, including Pemberton. The statement does not address her questions.

2. Jan. 29, 2014: Pemberton emails another list of nine questions. CBSA responds with two sentences.

3. Bolton notes, regarding media inquiries in general, “HQ has a concern that if we respond to specific questions, then more questions will follow.”

4. Another flurry of emails is generated by The Sun’s front-page photo of the shower stall at the airport holding centre. CBSA has Genesis staff review security footage to see who took the photo.

Jan. 30, 2014: Pemberton emails CBSA media relations asking her questions a third time. She also requests an interview with Minister Blaney. The Minister’s office forwards the request to CBSA communications personnel in Ottawa. Esme Bailey of CBSA in Ottawa asks colleagues to confirm that they have already responded to Pemberton and will not release further info.

5. CBSA communications staff edit Pemberton’s seven questions down to two and draft a more comprehensive response, but most of this is edited out.

6. Staff at Blaney’s office reduce the response even more and the reference to the Canadian Red Cross is also eliminated.

7. The 54-word response eventually sent to Pemberton went through at least six levels of approval, which took nine hours.

Bolton notes that the federal Publc Works department gave Sun reporter Matthew Robinson publicly available information about the CBSA’s contract with Genesis.

James Deans, a program manager with CBSA’s Pacific Region Enforcement and Intelligence Provision, sends an internal notice about a candlelight vigil for Jimenez, to take place at CBSA’s Library Square office the next day, classifying it under “incidents that may result in serious complaint/media interest, threat to physical CBSA assets or infrastructure.” Part of his memo about the vigil reads: “An intelligence analyst has been assigned to gather information on an ongoing basis.”

CBSA staff monitors Twitter traffic in the days leading up to the vigil.

Jan. 31, 2014: Sun reporter Tara Carman re-sends the CBSA Pemberton’s seven questions regarding the role of Genesis and procedures at the airport holding centre. Patrizia Giolti with CBSA’s communications office in Ottawa asks Bolton in Vancouver to send her the email addresses of reporters who have asked questions that day.

“At this juncture the Qs are not necessary as all will get same response (but do keep them on file,)” she wrote.

Giolti also asks staff to remove all references in a forthcoming news release to the detention-monitoring role of the Canadian Red Cross.

That evening, two hours after deadline, Carman receives a statement drafted by CBSA communications staff but attributed to Pacific Region Director General Roslyn MacVicar.

It does not fully address The Sun’s questions, especially about contracted security guards, so Carman files several Access to Information requests the following week.

The shower rods at the airport holding centre, one of which Jimenez used to hang herself from, are finally replaced.

follow the link for video
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Lucia+ ... picks=true