Border officers in Windsor seeing 'a lot more hostility' from Canadians

The union representing border service officers in Windsor, Ont.,says it's seen a "disturbing" rise in aggression from Canadian travellers.

"It's making the job much harder during an already stressful situation," Ken Turner,president ofCustoms and Immigration Union Local 18, said on Windsor Morning on Thursday.

Turner said a certain level of conflict comes with the territory of being a Canada Border Services Agency officer,but in the past, this has been largely in dealing with criminal activity or travellers denied entry from the U.S. to Canada.

Amid quarantine requirements and ever-changing rules, officers atborder pointsare seeing a lot more belligerence, he said.

"We're getting a lot more hostility from Canadian residents," he said.

Crossings between Canada and the U.S. havebeen limited to essential travellers for more than a year as the COVID-19 pandemic batters both sides of the border.The shutdown was recently extended to May 21.

Ottawa has implemented COVID-19 testing for incoming travellers, and is requiring themto present a recent negative test, as well as aplan for how they willcomplete a 14-day quarantine.

Those who don't take a test or have a suitableplan may be directed to a quarantine facility.

The stress border officers are facing isn't unique to Windsor, which borders Michigan. It's happening at crossings across the country, Turner said.

One officer in Niagara told CBC Toronto that they're seeing more and more people who are upset, refusing to quarantine and take COVID-19 tests.

"We're taking a lot of abuse at the border right now," said the officer,whom CBCNews agreed not to identify.

Local border officers to get vaccinated

The unionrepresents 540 staff in Windsor, 300on the front lines. Up tothis point, they've been doing their jobs without COVID-19 vaccinations, aside from a few who may have qualified for other reasons, said Turner.

But that changed on Wednesday, when vaccine registration was openedfor local border workers.

Throughout the pandemic, COVID-19 cases among border officers have been"in the double digits," though Turner said it's only been a few cases at a time.

"If we had a massive outbreak, it would have had serious repercussions for thelocal economy [and] supply chain."