Wayne Brown considers himself pretty fortunate to have had such a long and enjoyable career with the federal public service.
The Estevan resident retired from the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) at the end of August. The CBSA announced his retirement, via its Twitter feed, on Sept. 26.
Brown believes this was the best time to retire. He was still enjoying his job, but he also thought 35 years was long enough, and there are other things he wants to do. He said he ended his career on a high note by working on a project that he loved for the last four years.
“I was approached by the regional director-general out of Winnipeg for the Prairie Region of the CBSA to develop and implement a leadership development program for the region,” Brown said in an interview with Lifestyles. “So for the past four years, that’s what I’ve been doing, and it’s such an honour and a privilege to provide assistance to, I believe, about 130 managers and senior leaders from across the region.”
Brown was helping them developing their own leadership skills and competency.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better way, and a more rewarding way, to end my career,” said Brown.
Brown started with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) in 1983. He was always interested in a career in law enforcement, and so he applied to work in CIC’s North Portal office and was hired. He worked as an officer, as a national trainer who trained officers from across Canada, and was also a use of force instructor.
“I did that job for 20 years, and I remember driving to work, even after 20 years one morning, and I said ‘I can’t believe how much I love my job, and how interesting it was,’” said Brown.
In 2002, he accepted a job as the manager of the CIC inland office in Regina.
“There were so many different programs with the inland enforcement unit, and the airport port of entry,” said Brown. “I was involved with citizenship ceremonies, settlement programs, and it opened my eyes to newly-arrived immigrants and how we provided assistance to those folks.”
His department with CIC and other agencies were rolled into the creation of the CBSA in 2003.
In 2007, he became the chief of operations for the Saskatchewan district of the CBSA. It meant a move back to North Portal, which he viewed as a great opportunity.
“I loved the people I worked with,” said Brown. “They were such a dedicated group of men and women, and I was able to surround myself, without a word of a doubt, the best management team in the region.”
It could be a challenge to manage more than 100 staff members, but they were great to work with.
Then he took on the leadership development program in 2013.
“I’m so fortunate to have had so many opportunities within CBSA, or Citizenship and Immigration Canada at that time, and to travel and to see the country and to go overseas on escorts,” said Brown.
Technology has generated a lot of changes. When he started in 1983, there weren’t any computers. He worked with a typewriter and a telex machine. They didn’t have access to information databases. They had to rely on interviewing techniques and skills to secure information.
“I remember the first word processor we got in the office,” said Brown. “It was back in 1985 or something like that, and I was amazed that I didn’t have to use Wite-Out anymore, or type a key 20 times over to … correct a mistake.”
The other big change is moving from an unarmed workforce to an armed workforce, which he said has been for the better. If they had to arrest someone entering the country illegally at the port, through a train or in a field, they didn’t have any protective equipment.
And if officers arrested someone and took that person to the RCMP station in Estevan, a personal vehicle was used.
At a retirement ceremony on Sept. 9, he was overwhelmed with the number of people present. He received tributes from a director from Regina, whom Brown described as a mentor, and another from Winnipeg.
Brown has enjoyed his retirement thus far, with more trips to the lake and time spent with family. He looks forward to travelling, and spending more time with the Estevan Taekwondo Club, where he is an instructor.
“That’s an area that I’m still so passionate about, so I will enjoy that,” said Brown. “My body is still not keeping up with my enthusiasm as much as my mind is, but I’ll do what I can.”
Brown said he would strongly encourage anyone interested in a law enforcement career to consider the CBSA. There are approximately 30 different positions under the CBSA umbrella to work in. He is grateful for the tremendous career he had with the agency, and he hopes others will enjoy it, too.
