Blood Samples: Canada and Oversight Bodies

blood samples: The Canada Border Services Agency CBSA has the powers of arrest, detention and search and seizure, and can stop travellers for questioning, and take breath and blood samples without a warrant, yet there is no independent civilian oversight of the organization, said the B.C. Civil Liberties Association report, according to Toronto Star. This is a highly unusual situation in Canada. DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO By Nicholas Keung Immigration reporter Wed., June 14, 2017 Ottawa should set up two independent oversight bodies to deal with public complaints against Canada's border officials and to review policies involving enforcement and detention, says a new report. Every significant police agency in the country has some form of independent oversight or review body, and in many cases, multiple such agencies, said the 56-page report, released Wednesday. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, who oversees the border agency, was under fire last year after a series of deaths of detainees in immigration custody and an earlier report by the United Nations over Canada's record of lengthy immigration detention stays and a lack of medical support for inmates. In light of a worrying number of deaths of migrants in detention, deplorable conditions of prolonged confinement in immigration detention facilities, and numerous examples of egregious officer conduct, this glaring gap in oversight must be urgently remedied. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.