Share
Borderlines
#184 - Retired CBSA Chief of Enforcement & Intelligence Operations, Christian Lane
•
Christian Lane is a retired Canada Border Services Agency officer whose career included serving as a Border Services Officer, Inland Enforcement Officer, Manager of Immigration Detention Operations and Chief of Enforcement & Intelligence Operations.
Topics discussed include Christian's various roles, the moral stress of immigration enforcement, whether individual officers and the agency want discretion when it comes to removals, immigration background checks and security screening, the role of CSIS vs. CBSA, and why public-safety agencies struggle to advocate for themselves.
👉 Listen/Follow. Team 10-8 Podcast, Christian's amazing podcast featuring interviews with various first responders, politicians and law enforcement officials. teamteneight.com
04:19 Christian’s CBSA start as a Border Services Officer
10:12 Jump to inland enforcement, the moral compexity of removals and the mental-health toll on officers
16:45 The role of discretion in a “no-surprises” risk adverse organizational culture
31:00 CBSA Enforcement & Intelligence Operations
36:10 Comprehensive background checks—who does what
46:00 Security screening trade-offs
53:15 Transparency & public advocacy by agencies; morale and leadership
58:00 Recommended Team 10-8 episodes
More episodes
View all episodes
#205 - Former CBSA Chief On Immigration Investigations & Removal Priorities
56:20|Former CBSA Chief Christian Lane explains how CBSA immigration investigations and deportations work in Canada.Topics discussed include CBSA investigative priorities, removals, organized crime investigations, misrepresentation, Bill C-12, refugee claims, intelligence work, the political pressure shaping immigration enforcement, whether immigration enforcement agencies sometimes pursue “low-hanging fruit” when removing individuals from Canada, and agency culture. Christian Lane hosts the Team 1080 podcast, which features interviews with professionals working in public safety, law enforcement, healthcare, and military roles.2:00 Immigration investigations 6:00 Enforcement priorities15:05 Extortion investigations 25:03 Discretion43:34 Why CBSA ranked last among federal agencies in employee satisfaction#204 - Stop Bill C-12! With Sharry Aiken
41:17|This epsiode offers insight into Professor Aiken's ongoing efforts to raise concern with Bill C-12 (the Stronger Borders legislation currently before Senate) -- both with the Canadian government, and with the UN Human Rights Committee.#203 - New Express Entry Manager Category (2026): Who Actually Qualifies — and Who Doesn’t
07:08|This was originally intended to be a YouTube only episode but several podcast listeners asked that we add it to the audio-only feed as well. A break down the new Express Entry categories announced on February 18, 2026, with a particular focus on the senior managers with Canadian work experience category.Key topics include:Why this category generally does not help entrepreneurs or owner-operators.How IRCC assesses self-employment.What it really means to be a senior manager (NOC 00).Federal Court cases discussed on what constitutes "senior management" include Recursive Craft Inc. v. Canada (Employment and Social Development), 2022 FC 1206, and Merijohn v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2025 FC 1003.#201 - IRCC’s Security Screening Delays: Causes, Timelines, and Legal Impacts
15:41|As of November 2025, internal IRCC projections reveal a stark reality about Canada’s security screening system. Based on recent processing times by partner agencies and current inventory levels, permanent residence applications referred for comprehensive security screening are projected to take approximately 64.8 months to complete. For temporary residence applications, the projected timeline is 30.3 months.Lev Abramovich joins to break down what these projections actually mean and current issues with security screening.#202 - The Emergencies Act and the Freedom Convoy
45:29|Josh Dehaas, Interim Litigation Director at the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), joins to walk through the Federal Court of Appeal’s Emergencies Act decision, often referred to as the “Freedom Convoy” case.Topics discussed include what actually happened in Ottawa in early 2022, why existing laws were already available to address blockades, what it practically meant when the Emergencies Act was invoked nationwide, protest bands, the freezing of bank accounts and why public support for extraordinary measures can be durable.Guest: Josh Dehaas, Interim Litigation Director, Canadian Constitution FoundationCCF podcast: Not Reserving JudgmentChapters / timestamps4:38 – Setting the stage: COVID restrictions, mandates, and public frustration11:45 – Border blockades22:50 – What invoking the Emergencies Act meant nationwide29:28 – Was there a coherent convoy “message”?31:24 – Did it accelerate the end of restrictions? (Ontario vs. federal)35:32 – What this says about Canada, public opinion, and civil liberties40:09 – What the Federal Court / FCA held (speech, search/seizure, emergency threshold)#200 - Building a Corporate Immigration Law Practice
57:12|Jonathan Leebosh is a recently retired partner and longtime leader of EY Law’s immigration practice in Vancouver.In this episode Jonathan reflects on a career that took him from refugee camps in Hong Kong with the UNHCR to building a corporate immigration practices inside a Big Four firm. Topics discussed include how EY Law scaled, serving multinational corporate clients, managing people, policy innovation, the growing role of national security in immigration decisions, processing delays, and advice for young lawyers and consultants hoping to move from individual files to corporate work.07:20 – Building EY Law’s corporate immigration practice16:30 – Managing people vs. practicing law24:00 – Policy innovation and lobbying41:30 – The state of Canadian immigration#199 - Is Canada’s Population Decline Good for the Economy?
53:40|Canada is deliberately slowing, and possibly reversing, its population growth. But what does that actually mean for the economy?We are joined by economist Mikuel Scutterat for a wide-ranging and candid conversation about Canada’s immigration reset, GDP per capita, shrinking rental markets, Express Entry category draws, francophone targets, regional programs, and the political risks of a rapidly changing system, winners and losers when immigration rises or falls, why focusing on “essential workers” may be bad long-term policy and social cohesion. 03:06 – Does population size actually matter for prosperity?10:45 – Falling rents and distributional effects15:01 – Human capital vs labour shortages20:39 – Are French targets distorting outcomes?Listener Questions32:55 – Economics of mass regularization39:02 – Regional immigration targets 43:39 – Country caps48:57 – Underemployment#198 - How Decisions Get Written, with Justice Peter Edelmann
01:08:12|In this audio-only reunion episode, former Borderlines Podcast host Peter Edelman joins to discuss life on the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Topics discussed include how decisions get made and written, the role of counsel in shaping outcomes, pressures facing Canada’s judicial review system, judicial collegiality and dissenting reasons, immigration backlogs, adversarial justice, and the emotional weight of judging. 2:16 – Learning curve: trial court vs appellate court 6:31 – Does good lawyering really matter in judicial review? 19:28 – Precision in judgments & unintended interpretations 23:40 – Dissents, concurrences & shaping the law 27:17 – Should judges clarify controversial rulings later? 33:06 – Rethinking adversarial justice 49:06 – Is it easier to judge or be judged? 55:07 – Does being a judge change personal decision-making?https://youtu.be/nJ8kM4zJLdU?si=5L4nmGJz5eaKbXAm#197 - New World Order
29:53|We discuss possible immigration implications of Mark Carney’s recent speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Topics discussed include trade agreements, mobility rights, national security screening, CUSMA, and the growing tension between rule-based systems and political reality.