Refuse to guard new arrivals, cite `tremendous cost'

VANCOUVER (CP) - The RCMP are flatly refusing to guard any new migrants that might come to British Columbia on leaky ships this year after the effort drained the force's coffers last year.

But it's unclear who will do the job in the force's place.

Corporal Grant Learned said yesterday the RCMP served written notice to the department of citizenship and immigration in February, saying the force ``would no longer be able to provide those services.

``We stepped into the breach last year,'' Learned said. ``That came at a tremendous cost in terms of our manpower and our resources.''

He said it's still the RCMP's responsibility to secure any ships that may arrive and to look for evidence of human smuggling. Officers would also investigate criminal activity. But guarding migrants while they are in detention is the responsibility of citizenship and immigration, Learned said.

``The RCMP have responsibility for security and safety issues,'' said an immigration department spokesperson. ``We don't. But of course, that's not to say that we don't work closely with them.''

Jim Redmond, the department's point man on the migrant issue, insisted ``the RCMP are still in the picture'' and the force and his department are still in discussions.

RCMP have not provided an estimate of how much the arrival of the four migrant ships cost the force last year other than to describe the expense as considerable.