On September 25, CIU National President Mark Weber addressed the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade (CIIT) to discuss the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management System (CARM), highlighting several issues, including a severe lack of consultation, glaringly insufficient training, and a complete disregard for both stakeholders and staff affected by the new platform.

Weber’s testimony in front of CIIT followed the submission of a brief by CIU last April on the many problems associated with CARM’s implementation – a brief which one MP referred to as “scathing”. When asked how the union felt today regarding CARM, Weber answered: “Confused and worried would best describe the atmosphere amongst our membership”, pointing to the “very little training” that had been delivered to CBSA personnel regarding the new platform set to be launched on October 21 – despite CARM’s launch having already been delayed.

The lack of consultation and in-house involvement in the development of CARM is also a grave concern. “I really believe this should have been developed in house” said Weber of the platform produced by third-party firm Deloitte, “I think the expertise is there.”

“You need to talk to the people who use it every day,” explained Mark Weber to committee members about CARM. “Those frontline officers have not been consulted at all. It’s again like we saw with ArriveCAN, with other apps and ideas that CBSA has had. The people who use it are not consulted and don’t have any involvement in its development whatsoever.”

“The dog ate my homework”

Weber further touched on CBSA using FB strike votes as an excuse for CARM’s failure to launch in the spring. “I’m trying to be measured in my words, but there are some questions about integrity here.” Referring to the Agency’s lack of accountability, the CIU National President didn’t mince words: “That’s the federal agency equivalent of the dog ate my homework to be honest. Our members were furious when they read that. That had no bearing whatsoever on them launching CARM. They still aren’t ready.”

The union’s overarching message to the committee is clear: CBSA and the federal government must learn from the ArriveCAN and Phoenix debacles and seize this opportunity to change course. “The launch must be delayed once again until the people who are working at the border, who are going to be able to assist […] importers have an idea how to use the system. We cannot replicate what happened with ArriveCAN” concluded Weber.

See selected clips below. A full recording of the Committee proceedings can be viewed here (with interpretation language options).