Finance Committee on May 17th, 2012

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

It hasn't happened to date.

[Andy Lalonde]

We have closed some down, but fortunately the floods receded quickly and weren't significant. If they went on for more than a few days and we had to relocate, we'd want to be able to do that and have the same authority we have today.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

Thank you, Mr. Marston.

I have Ms. Glover, please.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Thank you, Chair.

I would like you to perhaps inform us, when you talk about only having to use the new designated authority in exigent circumstances—like the flooding, etc., that you listed—on average over maybe the last ten years, how often has that situation presented itself, the extenuating circumstances where this would have been a nice-to-have authority?

[Andy Lalonde]

The flooding has been the most prominent one out in the Red River area, and in New Brunswick we've had a few offices we've had to close down.

As I said, fortunately the floods receded without interfering too much. The one big one we're facing now, which has gone on for almost 34 months now, is the Cornwall-Massena crossing.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

When you say the Red River, was Emerson affected?

[Andy Lalonde]

Yes.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

I'm from Manitoba, and I had heard about some of these problems. I know that in Manitoba it's something that would be important to see happen. Aside from the flooding at the Red River, how many times have you had that happen in about ten years?

[Andy Lalonde]

It's happened a number of times. I can't tell you exactly. But the fortunate thing is that they had Emerson east and west at the time, and they're not all that far apart, so they were able to double up the traffic there.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Sure.

[Andy Lalonde]

In the case of something like this occurring at one of our major ports of entry, where we're getting a truck in Windsor every seven seconds, for example, without the ability to move it, it would be devastating not only to the local economy but the Canadian economy at large, because most of our products that come by truck come in through Windsor. So it's a preventive thing. It's something we need to have in place.

We learned from our lesson in Cornwall-Massena, and we don't want to have it happen again.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

I appreciate that, because as everyone knows, the budget is really focused on economic growth and protecting jobs and so on and so forth, and this could actually damage that.

I am also curious. For 30 months, the Cornwall location really hasn't had to use the new measures. Has there been a lot of push-back there for stopping people without technically having a real authority to do so?

[Andy Lalonde]

It's been questioned. One of the communities that is at the Cornwall-Massena crossing is the Mohawk community. Community members account for a large percentage of the traffic that goes through the Cornwall-Massena crossing. The geography is quite unique there—you have parts of Canada that are actually located in New York State that are part of the reserve. So they commute between Canada and the U.S. a lot.

They've been impacted by this a little bit because they have to come to us and report in the city of Cornwall, and then return back to Cornwall Island. They've been a little upset.

The problem is that we haven't been able to come up with another solution other than to close it, so they've been somewhat understanding.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

Will this help fix that frustration?

[Andy Lalonde]

Not particularly, no. It will provide us a legal foundation so that we can have all of our authorities to act appropriately, because currently we don't.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

When I sat on the public safety committee, we did a study, and there were some Mohawks who actually wanted to see more security, more checks, because there is a problem with goods and services, unfortunately some fraud and some illegal activity regarding the transport of goods and what not. So I know that in that aspect I would think that would satisfy some of the Mohawk people who want to see some more security measures in that area.

Am I correct to think that, given these measures?

[Andy Lalonde]

Absolutely. This isn't to pick sides with the smugglers or the residents who are all law-abiding people in the majority. It's one of those situations where Cornwall is somewhat unique because of the description you've just played with—cigarette smuggling and people smuggling, quite frankly. Cornwall actually ranks fifth of the top thirteen highest-risk ports of entry that we have in the country. That's pretty significant for a location that only processes approximately 1.6 million, while a place like Windsor processes 12 million a year. So it's a pretty significant place.

We have to be there to protect the Canadians, and we have to be there to protect and do our job.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

And to protect the aboriginals as well—

[Andy Lalonde]

Absolutely.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

—and make it safe and secure, and make this process transparent.

[Andy Lalonde]

Yes.

[Shelly Glover, Conservative, Saint Boniface, MB]

I appreciate that. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

Thank you, Ms. Glover.

Mr. Brison, do you have any questions?

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

No, thanks.