Liberals mull creating a watchdog for CBSA

OTTAWA— The Liberal government says it is looking for ways to improve scrutiny of Canada’s border agency amid mounting calls to create an independent watchdog for the organization.

The office of Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Tuesday the government “is examining how best to provide the Canada Border Services Agency with appropriate review mechanisms.”

The statement came as civil rights groups and refugee lawyers decried the second death of someone in the border agency’s custody in less than a week.

The agency holds people who are considered a flight risk or a danger to the public and those whose identities cannot be confirmed.

In 2013-14, it detained 10,088 immigrants — almost one-fifth of them refugee claimants — in a variety of facilities, including federal holding centres and provincial and municipal jails.

On March 7, the border services agency was notified by the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services that an individual in immigration detention at the Toronto East Detention Centre had died.

On Sunday, the border agency was advised by the Ontario ministry that a person detained at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex had died.

A border agency spokeswoman declined Tuesday to identify the two individuals, citing privacy law.

The agency’s mandate requires it to use detention “only when necessary” and to “safeguard the health, well-being and safety of detainees,” noted Scott Bardsley, a spokesman for Goodale.

The Ottawa-based International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group wants an independent probe of incustody deaths at the border agency.