Public Safety Committee on May 1st, 2014

[The Chair, Conservative, Daryl Kramp]

Good afternoon, colleagues and guests. We'll call the 22nd meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security to order today. Our order of business today will be to discuss the main estimates for the public safety portfolio.

We have a number of witnesses with us today. Of course, we certainly welcome The Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety, and of course we're so very pleased as well to have a number of department heads and senior people with various departments today. I'll just introduce them in no particular order here.

We have, from the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, François Guimont, deputy minister; from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Commissioner Bob Paulson; from Canada Border Services Agency, the president, Luc Portelance; from the Correctional Service of Canada, Commissioner Don Head; from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the director, Michel Coulombe; from the Parole Board of Canada, Harvey Cenaiko, chairperson; and from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Public Complaints Commission, Mr. Ian McPhail, the interim chair.

So thank you, one and all, for coming here today. Obviously, we will have a vote on the estimates at the conclusion of our dialogue with our witnesses today, but right off the bat we will go to the minister.

Mr. Blaney, you have the floor for a few minutes for a presentation. After that, we will open up to questions from the committee members.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon to the committee members.

First, I want to tell you that I am privileged to be here today to ask you to support the Main Estimates 2014-15 for the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

I would like to provide a brief review. This department was created following the tragedy of September 11 and the response co-ordinated by the Canadian government to group all security agencies under one responsible authority. I am extremely privileged to be surrounded here by representatives from these various agencies that do a remarkable job every day.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Excuse me, I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Conservative, Daryl Kramp]

Yes, Mr. Easter, you have a point of order.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Yes, Mr. Chair.

Look, a minister has a full department at his disposal. I see no reason why a minister would come before a committee and not have a statement that he can give out to us, so we can go along with his statement as he's speaking. This is happening all too often. Ministers have a full department, with a lot of agencies here. I would like ministers to come before the committee with a full statement translated the way it ought to be done.

[The Chair, Conservative, Daryl Kramp]

Fine, thank you, Mr. Easter. We'll take that under advisement. Should the minister have a statement, please be prepared to pass that around, and should he not, please continue, Minister.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Mr. Chair, my speech will be in both official languages, but I only have one copy. What I have said so far was not in my written text. However, I will be happy to answer questions in both official languages.

Basically, dear colleagues, my goal today is to provide you with as much information as possible to obtain your approval for the Main Estimates 2014-15 for the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

If I may, I will get started right away so I can respect the amount of time I have.

I would like to talk to you about two very important aspects that have come up since the last time we met. As you know, we have strengthened our commitment in relation to the Lac-Mégantic tragedy. I think it is important to mention it. With respect to the initial commitment of $60 million, $25 million was earmarked for public safety. Since then, we have concluded an additional agreement that would grant funds based on a 50-50 cost sharing formula for the full amount of the decontamination work. I am particularly proud of the fact that we are committed to supporting the Quebec government financially with respect to the amounts required for all the decontamination and restoration work of the site.

Obviously, we have also given our support to the Alberta communities that were devastated.

In March, our government announced an advance payment of $500 million in funding under the disaster financial assistance arrangements for costs incurred by the Province of Alberta for the severe and tragic flooding.

One of the extremely important public safety issues that I mentioned in my opening remarks is our relationship with the Americans, a relationship that is based on the market and trade, and on safety. That is why Public Safety Canada is responsible for implementing the agreement signed by President Obama and Prime Minister Harper, the beyond the border initiative.

More recently, Canada and the United States launched phase two of the pilot project, which involves pre-shipment inspection of cargo trucks at the Peace Bridge border crossing, between Fort Erie, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York. I was accompanied by Minister Nicholson and some American representatives. This is one of the deliverables of the beyond the border initiative, but not the only one. There are still other results to achieve and we are currently working on them.

This past January our government launched the anti-cyberbullying campaign, Stop Hating Online, to protect youth from cyberbullying, an issue that we all know can have devastating consequences. This builds on the protecting Canadians from online crime act, the legislation introduced by my colleague, Minister MacKay, and we seek support of all members for that important bill.

The campaign includes TV, online, and cinema ads aimed at parents and youth with a focus on the potential legal consequences of sharing intimate images online as proposed under the protecting Canadians from online crime act.

The Stop Hating Online website, which provides concrete tools and tips for youth, parents, and educators is a great success. Our data is showing that this is one of the most effective campaigns the government has undertaken. We have had hundreds of thousands of visitors to the website since the campaign's launch, and Public Safety has been recognized for the high level of engagement it has seen on the Stop Hating Online initiative.

Let's talk now about the Main Estimates 2014-15 or, you might say, investments in safety.

The total funding for which I am seeking your approval is $8.399 billion. That is for the entire public safety portfolio and includes all the agencies represented here today. This is a net increase of $349.3 million, or 4%, over the Main Estimates 2013-14, which was approved and presented by my predecessor.

These investments will allow our government to continue to carry out vital programs needed to ensure safe and effective borders, a correctional system that actually corrects criminal behaviour and takes care of inmates with severe mental health issues, and a safe and secure country for all law-abiding Canadians.

Let me discuss some items found in the main estimates that are of interest to the members and certainly to Canadians.

Essentially, the increase can be attributed to the increase in financial transfers that we are going to make as part of the disaster financial assistance arrangements contribution program.

But there's some good news in the main estimates, such as Corrections Canada is returning to the fiscal framework nearly $119.5 million because the projected growth in the prisoner population as a result of our agenda on crime measures delivered....

As we have always said, locking up dangerous and violent criminals is the best way to reduce crime, and this is what is happening. The good news is that this is happening and the high projection of inmates is not materializing. On April 12 there were some suggestions that a lot of costs will be incurred for housing inmates. Well, we can see today that has not materialized. Correctional Service Canada is returning $119.5 million to the fiscal framework.

Regarding the Canada Border Services Agency to fulfill the Beyond the Border commitments, this request for $91 million is to modernize our border's infrastructure. I can give the example of Aldergrove where I was during this spring break...for modernizing our facility. These investments are important to ensure our border is safe and effective, and to allow the free flow of legitimate trade and travel, which is one of the key aspects of Beyond the Border, as well as slamming the door on criminals and terrorists who seek to harm law-abiding Canadians.

Lastly, as I indicated earlier, I would like to draw attention to funding requested directly by Public Safety Canada, notably a $662 million increase for funding under the disaster financial assistance arrangements. As you know this program is meant to help Canadians when they need our help, and that's what is happening here.

Clearly, a number of natural disasters have occurred. It is important to know that the process to reimburse expenses under the disaster financial assistance arrangements contribution program can sometimes take several months, if not years, after a disaster occurs. Initially, it is the provinces that reimburse the disaster victims and then there is an approval process for the expenses. That is why the expenses that have been approved under the arrangement include expenses related to the spring floods in Manitoba in 2009, the forest fire in British Columbia in 2010, the spring floods in Saskatchewan in 2011, and Hurricane Igor in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2010.

In 2012, there were also torrential rains in Nova Scotia.

The budget before you today also includes $500 million down payment, if I may call it that, for the unprecedented flooding that occurred in southern Alberta in 2013.

In summary, whether we are educating Canadians on the impact of cyberbullying, implementing the beyond the border action plan or helping communities recover after natural disasters, our government has the safety of Canadians at heart.

I would also like to mention that this budget provides for the modernization of the agency, which is under the direction of Ian McPhail, to put forward measures that we hope will strengthen the accountability process in terms of Royal Canadian Mounted Police monitoring.

I will be pleased to answer your questions. At the end of my first hour with you and when my colleagues answer your questions, I hope you will be able to support the Main Estimates 2014-15 relating to public safety.

[The Chair, Conservative, Daryl Kramp]

Thank you very much, Minister Blaney.

Before we start the questioning, I would just bring to the attention of the committee that Mr. Blaney will be here for the first hour, and in the second hour, of course, we will have the remaining witnesses here available for your questions.

I would just simply note, of course, that there will be votes. We will need 15 votes potentially on the estimates here, so we will reserve the last 10 minutes of the meeting for the votes. I just bring that to your attention now so you're familiar and comfortable with that.

At this particular point, we will just go right to the questions then.

First off, Ms. James, please.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and welcome, Minister, to our committee. It's always a pleasure to have you here as well as the other witnesses who will be present for the two hours.

In your opening remarks, Minister, you had talked specifically about supporting vital programs within Correctional Service Canada. In part they are to correct behaviour for eventual release back into the community—and we obviously want to correct that behaviour and make sure our communities are safe—but you also specifically addressed mental health issues.

This morning, you made an announcement regarding the government's launch of a comprehensive mental health action plan for offenders that will address serious mental health issues. I think this is a topic that we are all very interested in, and I wonder if you could comment on the pillars of that action plan and also the pilot projects that will be undertaken with that announcement you made this morning. I think it's terrific news.

Thank you, Minister.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Thank you, Madam Parliamentary Secretary.

Indeed this morning I was at the Royal Ottawa hospital for an announcement, along with our commissioner from Correctional Service Canada, as part of our strategy to deal with mental health in our facilities and also a response to the coroner's inquiry that was done by the Ontario government following the death of Ashley Smith. As you know, this was a tragedy that occurred in one of our facilities. This is why we took, and are taking, very seriously the recommendations of the coroner. Correctional Services had already taken initiatives under the mental health strategy, which addresses many of the recommendations presented by the coroner. Indeed, at this point in time, already a third of the recommendations of the coroner have been implemented. More than 50% of those recommendations are under evaluation and work at this current time.

What I announced this morning is that we are going further, as we had planned in December, to present the final report based on the recommendations. One interesting thing is that we are now expanding the range of services, the capabilities, offered by Correctional Service Canada, including a health facility with which we have partnered, namely the Brockville centre.

We also renewed the agreement with the Institut Philippe-Pinel in Montreal, which has 12 beds available to inmates with acute health problems.

We are also actively working with the east, with

...the Dartmouth mental health clinic in the Atlantic region.

We are currently undergoing many agreements. Those three are well advanced. We also have agreements in principle like the one in Brockville. We also have many beds within Correctional Service Canada that have been adapted to the very serious and acute needs of inmates.

This being said, the penitentiary, especially at the federal level, occurs at the end of the continuum. One of the most important things we need to do, not only at Public Safety but also working with other federal departments and provinces, is to see how we can, up front, prevent individuals with mental health issues from falling into the trap of the justice and correctional system. Obviously this is not necessarily the best place for them, but since we have some of these individuals in our facilities, we need to adjust to that. That's why we are moving forward with the strategy that was presented by Correctional Service Canada, the action plan.

If you wish, I could elaborate more on the pillars, but essentially they are aimed at making sure that once an inmate arrives at one of our facilities, we are able to assess if there are any mental health issues associated with that particular individual. We can then make the interventions that are appropriate. We can make sure that our officers are trained to deal with those particular cases, and then we can provide guidance, make sure there's good follow-up, and eventually provide them with a facility like Brockville.

In a nutshell, that's basically what the announcement this morning was all about: Correctional Services implementing the recommendations of the coroner's report, integrated in this action plan.

[Roxanne James, Conservative, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you, Minister Blaney.

In your opening remarks, you also talked about an announcement you had made back in the spring break. I believe you said Aldergrove. I'm just wondering if you could share with the committee the funding that was committed with that announcement, and the infrastructure improvements that will be made with that as well.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Aldergrove is in British Columbia, and it's part of a corridor that is highly used by people from B.C. and Washington state. I was in Aldergrove to announce the refurbishment...or actually the demolition of the current facility, which was built in the 1970s. You can understand that with the increase in flow, the capacity has reached its total limit.

This investment of $17.7 million is adding more lanes, more NEXUS lanes, and is state of the art with some built-in facilities, especially for...sometimes I must say “organized crime”, which is trying to pass some illegal merchandise, or even individuals, through the border.

Madam Parliamentary Secretary, this announcement concerns Aldergrove.

The facility was an award recipient at the time, but it dates from the beginning of the 1970s. This facility is one of several to share investments of $60 million. The announcement concerning Aldergrove is interesting in that it will allow not only for a modern infrastructure, but will also help those who want to cross the border where the wait times are the shortest. The representatives of the agency will in fact be able to talk about it more at length.

We expect Aldergrove to channel a part of the traffic from other, busier border crossings and deal with demand.

[The Chair, Conservative, Daryl Kramp]

Thank you very much, Mr. Blaney.

We'll go to Mr. Garrison, now, please, for seven minutes.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the minister for being here today.

I want to go back to the announcement you made this morning, which you characterized as a response to the coroner's inquest into the death of Ashley Smith. I have had a brief chance to look at that announcement. I think there are several important things missing from that announcement, and one of those is a sense of urgency.

We all know that Ashley Smith died in custody in 2007. In 2008 the correctional investigator gave the current minister a set of recommendations that are essentially the same as those that were made following the coroner's inquest. Certainly you've had the 104 recommendations of the coroner for four months. There is a very important thing that I think is missing from this, and it's actually shocking to me. You've paid compensation to the family of Ashley Smith, so there is no need to fear consequences of legal action, but we still don't have a public apology for her death. The coroner's jury found that this was a homicide, meaning that it was an avoidable death in custody, and clearly in those cases the buck stops on your desk.

So will the minister now publicly apologize to the family and to Canadians for the wrongful death of Ashley Smith?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

I thank you for your question.

The best way to pay tribute to Ashley Smith is to make sure that such an event never happens again in one of our facilities. That is why, as soon as this tragedy occurred, an inquiry was conducted by Correctional Service Canada and immediate steps were taken.

When we realized that there were systemic problems, a strategy was put in place and we announced an action plan.

I would like to share with you an interesting statistic from Correctional Services. Since that tragedy, there were approximately 1,379 interventions involving inmates with acute health problems, in particular persons who injured themselves. In all cases, the purpose of those interventions was to protect the inmates.

That is one direct consequence of the changes made to practices and procedures. That is why we are moving forward with the strategy aimed at assessing an inmate's status as soon as he or she arrives in one of our establishments. This allows us to act in a way that is adapted to the inmate's needs.

Moreover, we are training staff so that they adopt appropriate behaviours. You must understand that Correctional Service agents must sometimes deal with people who have mental health issues. Of course, we have to do preventive work so that these people do not wind up in our establishments. The Department of Public Safety must continue its efforts as must all other levels of government so that social services can take care of these persons.

We intend to take measures in that direction. As I indicated, even though we are working on following up on the recommendations, we have already put measures in place.

If I can reassure you, I will ask the correctional investigator to follow up on the action that has been taken and to follow up on the action plan that is presented and on the report that will be tabled by the end of this year.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

I can certainly agree with the minister that the best way to pay homage is to make sure that it doesn't happen again. But in our parliamentary system of government, the minister is ultimately accountable, and the family has been waiting for seven years for an apology for the wrongful death of their daughter. So I ask you again, will you, on behalf of the Government of Canada, apologize to Ashley Smith's family and to Canadians for this wrongful death that occurred in custody?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

What I can tell you is that I will do, within all my capacity, what I can to make sure that this never happens again. This is what I have committed to. This is why I was in the Ottawa health facility this morning. This is why Correctional Service Canada is working at improving the way we are dealing with inmates who have mental health issues.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

What new resources have been allocated to this strategy as of today? What new resources are part of the estimates that we are talking about?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

We will allocate the resources based on the needs—

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

So no new resources at this point have been allocated?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

We've signed a financial agreement with those facilities, and whenever we are using those beds the costs are incurred. This is not a matter of money. This is a matter of making sure that we are able to provide the inmates with the structure that they need in a safe environment, where they can be dealt with properly.

I will tell you, I hope we can help them with rehabilitation because the goal of Correctional Service Canada is to rehabilitate anyone who comes to the service. I can tell you, from the conversation I had with the Ottawa health institute this morning, I believe that anyone can be helped.

This is the way we are moving forward. This is our approach, and we are confident we will get sound results. This is why this is a pilot project and I'm confident we will get good results. With those good results, of course, we'll move forward, but I will be happy to share the results with you when I come back to meet with you.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

But it's a matter of concern when we look at the estimates for Correctional Service Canada, and we see there will be a reduction in spending.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Yes, there's a reduction in spending because—

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

It's not a reduction in planned spending. It's a reduction in real spending from this year, so where are you going to get the resources for—

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Lévis—Bellechasse, QC]

Your party was expecting we would have 3,000 more inmates.