Competition Bureau wants staff designated peace officers to help close “boiler rooms”

The Competition Bureau is quietly pushing to have some of its staff designated peace officers, and possibly carry firearms, as part of the current lawful access consultation process, Network Letter has learned. The proposal was unearthed by Bruce Graham, the Canadian Bar Association’s (CBA) chair of the national competition law section, in discussions with the Competition Bureau, and was revealed in the CBA’s submission to the Department of Justice on the federal government’s lawful access proposals (NL, Sept. 23/02). The move, says Graham, is likely to ease the job of competition officers when serving warrants on illegal telemarketing "boiler rooms." Competition Bureau spokespeople did not respond to Network Letter’s request for confirmation that the proposal is on the table. Graham, however, says he learned of it in a conference call with bureau officials as the CBA pressed various government agencies for details about the lawful access proposals under consideration. In the course of that conversation, he was told of the suggestion to make commerce officers at the bureau peace officers, and that arming those officers was being considered. It’s not the first time the bureau has raised the issue, Graham says. The proposal raises concerns in his mind, expressed in the CBA’s lawful access submission filed last month, about safety and a potential lack of training to have competition officers carry arms to execute searches. "This is something they were giving consideration to, but they realize it was going to be a little tough because your average commerce officer is either somebody with either an economic or business training background, or perhaps a legal background as well, but they don’t have any training in hard law enforcement…," Graham tells NL."They’re going to spend 99% of their time doing what a commerce officer usually does, which is reviewing documents, interviewing potential witnesses, talking to people on the phone, preparing summaries and so on and so forth. Part of the concern would be if you don’t have somebody who’s doing this on a regular basis, in a difficult situation that can become emotional sometimes people who aren’t doing it all the time can overreact." Asked whether the bureau is specifically contemplating providing arms to commerce officers, Graham responds: "We had the impression that that was being given consideration, though I frankly don’t know how serious that was." The designation of peace officer covers a broad spectrum of officials, ranging from police to prison guards to customs officers and even to a city’s mayor or a township reeve. In general, peace officers have broader powers of arrest, are exempt from some firearms laws, and also have greater responsibilities to carry out the law than ordinary citizens. The move, if it is being contemplated, is likely in response to the changing nature of bureau enforcement work as it tackles an increasing problem of fraudulent telemarketing (NL, March 12/01). Published reports tie organized crime to "boiler room" operations, which use high-pressure tactics to sign up victims for contest and stock scams. New laws here and in the United States have been put on the books in recent years to help the government shut those operations down. The CBA submission notes that it is usual when encountering a potentially volatile situation to call in the RCMP’s commercial crime unit, but that it is not always possible to get an officer on short notice. Rather than designate bureau staff as peace officers, however, the CBA recommends in its submission that:"Clearly, what is needed would be better coordination with the RCMP, so that personnel with the training and experience to defuse potentially volatile situations, or deal with intimidation tactics, are available to the Bureau on a timely basis. For example, arrangements could be made for designation of RCMP personnel specifically responsible for assisting in Competition Act matters, and if demand warranted, an officer could be assigned to the Bureau."

Competition Bureau wants staff designated peace officers to help close “boiler rooms”

News | 01/13/2003 5:00 am EST

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