Finance Committee on March 8th, 2011

[Denis Meunier]

We have an evergreen plan to replace our equipment. And we are constantly updating, for instance, analytical tools. We use charts to describe the links. I could bring a chart that would show you all the connections between the people we're looking at. That takes quite a bit of skill by our analysts. We update this regularly.

We constantly update our systems. Just recently we added, about a year and a half ago, as a result of Bill C-25, some new casino disbursement reports. We had to upgrade our systems to receive these new kinds of reports. We're constantly updating our systems, which probably represent over 60% of our budget.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Massimo Pacetti]

You were referring to some charts, Mr. Meunier. Is it possible to send them to the committee?

[Denis Meunier]

Yes, we've presented at different committees and we'd be happy to send that to you.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Massimo Pacetti]

Mr. Allen.

[Mike Allen, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

The RCMP is a similar type of investment.

[A/Commr Stephen White]

I can't give a percentage of our budget that's committed. We're an organization of over 30,000 employees, so our informatics systems are extensive. We have our police reporting and occurrence system, and we maintain the Canadian Police Information Centre on behalf of all police services across Canada. Those are big systems with a lot of resources used in maintaining and updating those programs. With regard to financial crime, we have “Reporting Economic Crime On-Line”, where Canadians right across the country can go online and report fraudulent activity.

We are looking at new technology on an ongoing basis. New software can help us with enhanced analytics. In fraudulent activity, because the volume is so high, the more we can do through automatic intelligence analysis, the more efficient we will become.

[Mike Allen, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Meunier, you talked about the casino transactions and the changes to your system. Although you said in your testimony that it wasn't an exhaustive list of the banks and the casinos, what percentage, roughly, of the transactions you receive each day would be bank, casino, or credit union? Could you break down those categories?

[Denis Meunier]

I don't have the exact number. I can probably provide that to the committee. In order of magnitude, I would say that about 5% would come from casinos. But this is just order of magnitude. I will provide the committee with those statistics.

[Mike Allen, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

I'm trying to get at the stuff that goes on within the banks or financial institutions in Canada. Is there latitude within the banks to decide whether a transaction is suspicious or not?

[Denis Meunier]

It is totally up to them. We have provided them with guidelines, but once they reach a determination that something is suspicious, they are obligated by law to send it to us.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Massimo Pacetti]

Are the credit card companies a reporting entity that has to report transactions over $10,000?

[Yvon Carrière]

No, the credit card companies are not reporting entities per se. But a lot of financial entities such as banks give out credit cards. So insofar as they fall within another category of reporting entities, they would be subject to the act. If they're simply providing credit cards, they would not be a reporting entity.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Massimo Pacetti]

Great.

Before we adjourn, I'll go back to Mr. Rudderham. On March 22 we're going to have the police forces, and you're welcome to come. I don't think there's any objection around the table. We're going to be having our meeting in camera, so you're invited to come. I think we have somebody from the Manitoba police force, the B.C. police force, and the Ontario police force as well. You are invited to come. Is that okay with everybody?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Massimo Pacetti]

I want to thank everybody. You were good members, you behaved, so we'll see you Thursday.

This meeting stands adjourned to the call of the chair.