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ltmurnauIt seems we don't have enough of anything to service this ten-day jock-sniff properly, except for scenery....
Up to 5,000 foreign guards could work Games' security
Damian Inwood, The Province
Published: Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Security screening at Vancouver 2010 Olympic venues could be performed by up to 5,000 foreign private-security guards under changes to B.C. legislation.
And starting in September, rookie security guards will be able to work for up to 90 days "under supervision" while they get trained, said a senior government official last night.
But NDP Olympic critic Harry Bains slammed the plan, saying bringing in foreign security guards won't sit well with taxpayers.
"How comfortable will our citizens feel when they see foreigners protecting them?" he said. "This whole area is not very well thought out."
Leo Knight, chief operations officer for Paladin Security, said the move is a "knee-jerk reaction" to get around a shortage of B.C. security guards to do the 2010 job.
A new Security Services Act was passed by the B.C. legislature last year but will only come into effect when its regulations are passed, said Sam MacLeod, executive director of the security programs in the Solicitor-General's Ministry.
Under the previous law, which is still in effect, only Canadian citizens can work as licensed security workers in B.C. MacLeod said it's hoped the new regulations will be passed by Sept. 1.
The new act allows people "normally resident in Canada" to become guards and includes foreigners with work visas and student visas.
"We are contemplating, under the new regulations, a 90-day 'under-supervision' licence which allows an individual to work for 90 days while they become trained," said MacLeod.
He said security workers would still need to pass a criminal record check before starting work.
MacLeod said the new rules aren't "strictly for the Olympics" but "respond to the concerns from industry."
About 40 people attended a meeting last Friday between the RCMP's 2010 Integrated Security Unit and private security officials.
RCMP Cpl. Gursharn Bernier said the ISU wants a single security-guard provider, although that could be a partnership made up of smaller firms.
"This opens it up to other firms from outside the country," she said.
It would then be up to federal immigration officials to decide whether to allow foreign workers into Canada, said Bernier.
"There was talk at the meeting of needing between 3,500 and 5,000 private security [guards], but because we're still refining the requirements and details of shifts and logistics, they don't know exactly how many," she said.
The ISU expects guards will be needed for up to 900,000 hours over a three-month period from January through March 2010.
Olympic security screening normally involves running airport-style "mag-and-bag" machines at the entrances to venues.
Knight said B.C. firms -- currently with between 6,000 and 7,000 licensed security guards, 4,800 of them in the Lower Mainland -- won't be able to handle the extra 2010 load.
And he said the situation will be made tougher as security levels at hospitals and B.C. Hydro and Terasen Gas facilities will need to be ramped up during the Games.
"They are only doing this because of the Olympics," he said.
Joe Gavaghan, Boston spokesman for Garda, a U.S. security firm, said his company sent the RCMP information after the ISU asked for input from private security companies recently.
dinwood@png.canwest.com
Up to 5,000 foreign guards could work Games' security
Damian Inwood, The Province
Published: Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Security screening at Vancouver 2010 Olympic venues could be performed by up to 5,000 foreign private-security guards under changes to B.C. legislation.
And starting in September, rookie security guards will be able to work for up to 90 days "under supervision" while they get trained, said a senior government official last night.
But NDP Olympic critic Harry Bains slammed the plan, saying bringing in foreign security guards won't sit well with taxpayers.
"How comfortable will our citizens feel when they see foreigners protecting them?" he said. "This whole area is not very well thought out."
Leo Knight, chief operations officer for Paladin Security, said the move is a "knee-jerk reaction" to get around a shortage of B.C. security guards to do the 2010 job.
A new Security Services Act was passed by the B.C. legislature last year but will only come into effect when its regulations are passed, said Sam MacLeod, executive director of the security programs in the Solicitor-General's Ministry.
Under the previous law, which is still in effect, only Canadian citizens can work as licensed security workers in B.C. MacLeod said it's hoped the new regulations will be passed by Sept. 1.
The new act allows people "normally resident in Canada" to become guards and includes foreigners with work visas and student visas.
"We are contemplating, under the new regulations, a 90-day 'under-supervision' licence which allows an individual to work for 90 days while they become trained," said MacLeod.
He said security workers would still need to pass a criminal record check before starting work.
MacLeod said the new rules aren't "strictly for the Olympics" but "respond to the concerns from industry."
About 40 people attended a meeting last Friday between the RCMP's 2010 Integrated Security Unit and private security officials.
RCMP Cpl. Gursharn Bernier said the ISU wants a single security-guard provider, although that could be a partnership made up of smaller firms.
"This opens it up to other firms from outside the country," she said.
It would then be up to federal immigration officials to decide whether to allow foreign workers into Canada, said Bernier.
"There was talk at the meeting of needing between 3,500 and 5,000 private security [guards], but because we're still refining the requirements and details of shifts and logistics, they don't know exactly how many," she said.
The ISU expects guards will be needed for up to 900,000 hours over a three-month period from January through March 2010.
Olympic security screening normally involves running airport-style "mag-and-bag" machines at the entrances to venues.
Knight said B.C. firms -- currently with between 6,000 and 7,000 licensed security guards, 4,800 of them in the Lower Mainland -- won't be able to handle the extra 2010 load.
And he said the situation will be made tougher as security levels at hospitals and B.C. Hydro and Terasen Gas facilities will need to be ramped up during the Games.
"They are only doing this because of the Olympics," he said.
Joe Gavaghan, Boston spokesman for Garda, a U.S. security firm, said his company sent the RCMP information after the ISU asked for input from private security companies recently.
dinwood@png.canwest.com
