Public Safety committee  Thank you for that excellent question. These funds will basically disappear. However, I am pleased to tell you that this $20 million is included in the 2015 budget. So there will be no changes in our front-line operations.

Public Safety committee  The other good news is that the 2015 budget provides for major investments to that end. We are getting ready to renovate and refit over 70 border crossings. I believe the Beebe crossing is one of them, but don't quote me on that. We are going to renovate most of the small and medium border crossings over the next three years.

Public Safety committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the question. The bulk of the money is going to be allocated towards infrastructure technology and projects associated with beyond the border action plan. Some of this is to refurbish major ports of entry. Some will be going to technology at ports of entry, such as the implementation of RFID.

Public Safety committee  I think the greatest advantage—certainly for the CBSA—associated with a preclearance agreement is that it paves the way for meeting one of the key commitments of the beyond the border action plan, which is to develop a preclearance operation in Massena, New York. It's a key element of the CBSA's operations.

Public Safety committee  Thank you. Well, I guess I have a couple of thoughts. In terms of the statistics, the 40% reduction since 2003, I don't have those numbers. However, I've seen the numbers since 2008, and the numbers have been holding steady at the Ambassador Bridge, and in fact in the land mode in general.

Public Safety committee  Certainly. I don't have a list of the various seizures. It is a very dynamic environment, as you suggest. But I would say that we are working closely and effectively with law enforcement partners. Obviously we have responsibility for the port of entry in Cornwall. That is one of the 20 busiest ports of entry in Canada, so just in terms of the flow of legitimate people and goods it's an important port of entry.

Public Safety committee  Thank you. Perhaps just to clarify the two separate issues, the lapse that you referred to is unrelated to the intelligence officers. That lapse was actually mostly reprofiled on projects, money we couldn't spend one year into another. On your specific question with respect to intelligence officers, those positions were indeed reduced, as we had promised through the deficit reduction action plan.

Public Safety committee  Thank you for the question. That briefing note I do have.

Public Safety committee  Enforcing the immigration act is a key part of our mandate, obviously. That number is based on the last 10 years of the existence of CBSA. This past year, I've seen some recent numbers for the last fiscal year and I think we're still tracking at around 14,000 or so removals. On average, that's pretty much what we're removing per year, and that remains consistent.

Public Safety committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair. Just going back to the first part of the question, it's correct to say that at the upper end of the individuals we worry about most are the ones who have serious criminal antecedents who should be removed from Canada. The CBSA last year set a target of removing 100% of individuals with criminal records who were ready for removal.

Public Safety committee  This is another rather important element of the Beyond the Border action plan. If I may, I will just illustrate what happens today to compare to what we will have in the future. Today, when you board an aircraft from Europe, let's say, the CBSA gets the information on passenger manifests after the aircraft has left Europe.

Public Safety committee  No problem.

Public Safety committee  I really do appreciate the opportunity to speak to this rather important issue. The whole concept of managing exit information in Canada is really the cornerstone of the modernization of managing Canada's border. Historically, Canada has not collected information on individuals leaving the country, whether they be Canadians or non-Canadians.

Public Safety committee  I'm intimately aware of the case the member is referring to. There are two components to that particular issue. One of them actually falls under the responsibility of the Public Service Commission, and that has to do with the partisan activities of public servants. From the CBSA perspective, the responsibility we had was to determine whether or not the employee was using our facilities and our tools for purposes that were inconsistent with their responsibilities.

Public Safety committee  First, I welcome the opportunity to clarify the record in terms of the impact on the border. In general terms, the numbers you've quoted are accurate. The CBSA, like all other departments, contributed to the effort in fighting the government deficit, so we contributed $143 million.