Editorializing the BC Border guard strike

I noted previously that the BC border guards walked off the job in response to apparently what was an armed and dangerous threat. With the arrival of the Harper government, border guards in Canada have been making much noise about how they are unarmed. Of course, the answer is obvious: arm the guards. However, an editorial in the Vancouver Sun points out that giving border guards weapons and 3 weeks of training is not really securing the borders.

I'm going to have agree with all the points this editorial makes. Providing permanent police stations at the major border crossings makes all the right sense. Handling dangerous situations is something that is difficult to train for. That is why police are generally given a significant amount of training.

This walkout smells like a politically oriented action, even though it's in response to an actual situation. A more reasonable response would have been to request visible RCMP backup on site for the duration of the threat. Of course, reasonable responses doesn't drive headlines, and awareness of the border guard union demands.