Public Safety committee  Yes, in fact Public Safety Canada leads that, so there is a group within Public Safety Canada that acts as the secretariat that calls the cross-cultural round table on security together. It supports that group and does provide and participate in the meetings in terms of sharing information and learning from each other and hearing from their experiences and what their concerns are in order to inform policy on public safety.

Public Safety committee  That's correct. We have representatives from IBET who are located in the national security criminal investigations component of the RCMP, and they're the ones who coordinate the sharing of national security information.

Public Safety committee  From an IBET perspective, yes, we have assets for the maritime environment, but most of those are close to shore. That's what we focus on primarily with our U.S. partners. In a maritime environment, on both the east and west coasts, as in the Great Lakes, there is greater coordination with the Canadian Coast Guard.

Public Safety committee  They are not, because the Canadian Coast Guard is not part of the IBET program.

Public Safety committee  Unfortunately, because this is not my area of expertise, I can't really answer that question. However, I would imagine that in an emergency situation, agreements allow workers to cross over the border and to provide the requested assistance, without encountering too many problems at the border.

Public Safety committee  I'm not sure whether there is a protocol in place.

Public Safety committee  I can assure you that we are not resting on our laurels. We constantly strive to improve things or to make changes, if necessary. We try to learn something every day and to look at best practices, to achieve a balance between security and the freedom of movement of goods and people.

Public Safety committee  We're weighing available options and looking at procedures that we could adopt, but I can't say that the solution to all of our problems is right around the corner.

Public Safety committee  Certainly in the IBET world, which is obviously vulnerable in the sense that we're working on a daily basis with our U.S. colleagues, we have instituted a protocol whereby the information that's shared is tracked. We have five co-locations—Assistant Commissioner Cabana referred to them in his opening remarks—where U.S. and Canadian law enforcement officers are working together on a daily basis, in the same office, exchanging intelligence.

Public Safety committee  I believe Assistant Commissioner Cabana is correct that it came to us through the CBSA, but I believe they received that request through the Department of Homeland Security. If memory serves, it was in December sometime.

Public Safety committee  No.

Public Safety committee  —some challenges.

Public Safety committee  And this is part of the protocols, as well, that we make sure that the information is verified. If we do find out that some of the information that was provided was inaccurate, there are provisions in there that we go back and correct those errors in information.

Public Safety committee  The crime forum is more specifically focused on Canada-U.S. relations and the Canada-U.S. border.

Public Safety committee  Certainly that would be addressed in the forum. Once they land, Canada is often seen as a transit country, so there is work done there. We're also involved and do a significant amount of work through the Bali process, the UN, the G-8, and the Organization of American States. We're involved in all of those and we address a lot of very similar issues, but on a broader, more global scale.