Bill C-21 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Customs Act

This enactment amends the Customs Act to authorize the Canada Border Services Agency to collect, from prescribed persons and prescribed sources, personal information on all persons who are leaving or have left Canada. It also amends the Act to authorize an officer, as defined in that Act, to require that goods that are to be exported from Canada are to be reported despite any exemption under that Act. In addition, it amends the Act to provide officers with the power to examine any goods that are to be exported. Finally, it amends the Act to authorize the disclosure of information collected under the Customs Act to an official of the Department of Employment and Social Development for the purposes of administering or enforcing the Old Age Security Act.

Business of the House

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, this afternoon we will resume third reading debate on Bill C-48 on the oil tanker moratorium. The debate shall continue tomorrow.

On Monday, we will start report stage and third reading of Bill C-65 on harassment. Tuesday will be an allotted day.

Next Wednesday, in accordance with the order adopted on April 26, the House will resolve itself into a committee of the whole following question period to welcome the athletes of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic and Paralympic Games. Afterward, the House will proceed with debate at report stage and third reading of Bill C-21, an act to amend the Customs Act.

Next Thursday, we will only begin the debate of Bill C-76, an act to amend the Canada Elections Act. As members have heard in this House numerous times, we are committed to seeing more people participate in democracy. I have always committed to ensuring that there is a reasonable amount of time to debate and also to ensure that the committee can do its work. Therefore, I look forward to hearing from all parties how much time is needed so that we can continue to ensure that legislation is advanced in a timely fashion.

Just quickly, Mr. Speaker, I want the opposition House leader and all colleagues to know that this is our parliamentary family, and we are always going to be here to work together. We know that in the days and weeks and years to come, there might be times that we need to lean on each other, and we will always be here to do that, and I know the opposition does the same. We sincerely appreciate those kind words today. Our thoughts and prayers are with the members.

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, today we will continue with debate on the NDP opposition motion.

Tomorrow, we will take up report stage and third reading debate of Bill S-5, the tobacco and vaping products act.

On Monday, we will commence report stage debate of Bill C-48, the oil tanker moratorium act.

Next Tuesday will be an allotted day.

On Wednesday, we will consider report stage and third reading of Bill C-21, an act to amend the Customs Act.

Last, discussions have taken place between the parties, and if you seek it, I think you will find unanimous consent for the following motion:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, following Question Period on Wednesday, May 9, 2018, the House resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole in order to welcome the athletes of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic and Paralympic Games; a) that the Speaker be permitted to preside over the Committee of the Whole from the Speaker's chair and make welcoming remarks on behalf of the House; b) that the names of the athletes present be deemed read and printed in the House of Commons Debates for that day; c) only authorized photographers be permitted to take photos during the proceedings of the Committee; and, d) when the proceedings of the Committee have concluded, the Committee shall rise.

Justice

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, it is regrettable to hear that kind of hyperbole and rhetoric from my hon. colleague. It would be more appropriate to hear that from his usual seat in the House. I notice he has come to this side of the aisle. On this side of the aisle, we are actually quite proud of our record when it comes to human trafficking. I will get to that in just a moment, but I would point out that, perhaps it was not my hon. colleague, but certainly the last Conservative government cut close to $1 billion from the public safety portfolio, including from the CBSA and the RCMP. All of that undermines many of the gross assertions he just made.

Returning to the question at hand, human trafficking is a heinous crime and a human rights offence. In collaboration with provinces and territories, indigenous communities, law enforcement, and community organizations as well as international partners, we are using a wide variety of measures to combat human trafficking, to support victims and potential victims, and to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.

The national action plan to combat human trafficking was a four-year initiative that ran until last year. Since then, Public Safety Canada has been leading a formal evaluation of the action plan to help inform how we move forward on this important issue. While that evaluation has been going on, federal departments and agencies have continued to combat human trafficking through a full range of initiatives. We have, for example, and my hon. colleague referred to it, introduced Bill C-38.

Contrary to what he said, the House has debated, and thoughtfully had a discourse about, reversing or easing some of the presumptions when it comes to the burden of proof so that prosecutors can ensure that offenders who participate in human trafficking are held to account. Unlike the last Conservative government, we believe we have an appropriate sentencing regime where we place faith in our judiciary. That means not supporting unconstitutional mandatory minimums, like the last Conservative government introduced, which was struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada. That means ensuring that we have an appropriate mandatory minimum sentencing regime, one that is evidence-based.

In addition to Bill C-38, we also introduced Bill C-21, which will be an important new tool to combat cross-border crimes. The RCMP has several initiatives that target human trafficking. Its human trafficking national coordination centre conducts public awareness campaigns, training, and awareness sessions for law enforcement and stakeholders, as well as national threat assessments on human trafficking.

This past October, the RCMP partnered with police agencies and community organizations across Canada in a coordinated anti-trafficking effort called Operation Northern Spotlight. There was also Project Protect, a joint initiative between the Government of Canada and the private sector. It allows Canadian financial institutions to report transactions that are suspected of money laundering related to trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation. The impact of Project Protect on identifying suspicious transactions linking money laundering to human trafficking has been phenomenal. In 2015, prior to Project Protect, there were 19 such disclosures.

In 2016-17, the government made over $21 million available to provinces, territories, and non-governmental organizations through the federal victims fund. In budget 2017, the government allocated $100.9 million over five years to establish a national strategy on gender-based violence, which obviously overlaps with human trafficking.

The point is, on this side of the House, contrary to where my hon. colleague is currently sitting, we believe in evidence-based policy-making. We believe in supporting our law enforcement branches to ensure women and girls are protected as part of our overall national plan when it comes to human trafficking.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, human trafficking is abhorrent, and we must do everything within our power to stop it. That is why we work with our domestic and international partners to protect victims and to ensure we do everything we can to stop this practice. Recently, we introduced Bill C-38 to give police and prosecutors new tools to investigate and prosecute human trafficking offences. We have also introduced Bill C-21, which gives important tools to combat cross-border crimes.

I look forward to working with the member on this important issue.

Public Safety and National Security

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 14th report of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security concerning Bill C-21, An Act to amend the Customs Act.

The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House with an amendment.

[Sven Spengemann, Liberal, Mississauga—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Chair, thank you very much.

Liberal members are opposed to the amendment because it's essentially creating an obligation to report very specifically on sections 92 to 94. This is redundant in the context of the minister's broader practice to table an annual departmental report but cover the activities of the entire agency and that would include those impacted by Bill C-21.

[Solomon Wong]

Through the chair, it is our expectation in the deployment of this that there would be no fees added on a transaction or other basis to pay for any kind of data system. Based on the way that Bill C-21...and the implementation to date, and in terms of information sharing, the idea is to reduce duplication and reuse data that's already available: exiting Canada as the entry record to the U.S. and exiting the U.S. as the entry record to Canada. Those are the efficiencies that would be gained from that as opposed to a transactional fee.

[Solomon Wong]

Through the chair, in terms of capabilities under Bill C-21, that particular scenario may be a little outside the scope of the bill. But the scenario you describe is a long-standing issue that has been documented about in-transit movements through the other country, so a Canada-to-Canada movement through the U.S., or a U.S.-to-U.S. movement through Canada.

In terms of what makes for a logistical flow, the ability to make that transit movement, which is basically a domestic movement through another country, as seamless as possible is important in making sure both CBP and CBSA have the right mechanisms to deal with that data.

[Michel Picard, Liberal, Montarville, QC]

In other words, based on what Bill C-21 suggests, the fact that my information is already in my passport, information that I give to every country I visit is pretty much basic information with not that much impact. Is that right?

[Solomon Wong]

Our understanding of the use of that section is that it's a power that's available for additional questions, just as there are separate provisions already dealing with currency. The expansion under Bill C-21 as proposed would allow for an officer, a BSO, if they do need to ask somebody a question about goods in their possession that may be controlled exports, to be able to answer truthfully.

[Solomon Wong]

We do see provisions, Mr. Chair, that provide additional powers related to outbound inspections. Certainly from the use of the powers, we'll have to see what that means in practice. We have seen the responses from CBSA to the committee on some of the questions on that, but it's something that, again, will depend on how things are exercised in practice.

The U.S. and Canada largely have co-operated a lot in terms of data elements and different things already, in terms of manifest information on shipments. Certainly the approach and moving towards other initiatives unrelated to Bill C-21 around single window and those kinds of things are still very important, but they are outside of the relevance of this particular piece of legislation.

[Michel Picard, Liberal, Montarville, QC]

Thank you.

Mr. Wong, I would like to hear from you on the trade side of things. Do I understand correctly that you think Bill C-21 should be one of many tools to increase and facilitate trade between the two countries and to do so in a more efficient way?

[Solomon Wong]

I think very much, Mr. Chair, in terms of looking at opportunities for resourcing as well as what it is that border agencies as well as government as a whole need to be able to deal with big data.... This is, in essence, a large dataset that requires specified skills to be able to analyze, disseminate, as well as potentially act upon. On the kinds of interactions needed, I think numbers are one thing, but the skill set to be able to avoid false positives, meaning errant analysis of information, as well as potentially looking at ways to speed up the process are some things that would be looked at operationally as far as being able to get to the benefits of having powers under Bill C-21 is concerned.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Thank you to both of you for testifying.

Implicit, Ms. Bhandari, in your presentation is the idea that Canadians should be concerned about their electronic media being seized at the border upon entering the United States.

I've read articles that you have put forward with colleagues, citing figures about the amount of electronic media that is being seized. But even in 2016 when there was a significant increase in the number of electronic media that was searched by U.S. border officials, this still amounted to a very miniscule number. In fact, it amounted to less than 1/100th of 1% of all international arrivals, or 0.0061% of total arrivals to the United States had their electronic media searched.

If we look at the Canadian figures on that—and I don't have them—it's a much smaller number than 0.0061%. I think it's important to put things into context, but I do want to give you an opportunity to reply to that because I don't think it's an insignificant issue. You raise a legitimate concern, although it doesn't relate to the substance of Bill C-21. It's something we should be aware of, but we're talking about a very small number of seizures here.

[Solomon Wong]

Primarily, in looking at the powers themselves, in and of itself it's a cornerstone. How CBSA and to some extent IRCC choose to implement and use the provisions is where there are opportunities for facilitation. In the example I cited earlier, when Canadian citizens are coming back into the country and are asked how long they have been away, even though that's seconds in terms of the interaction, the ability to speed that up could create efficiencies in terms of the interaction between a CBSA border service officer and somebody coming into the country.

It would also give more opportunities to deal with potential issues as opposed to day-to-day questions of how long you have been away, which are really rooted in what we have had in the past in terms of the duties and taxes paid on goods. Since the limits have been elevated so much in successive governments, that really isn't as high a priority. Being able to find those kinds of things that could improve the process is what we see as the opportunity in Bill C-21.