Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I think one of the most important tasks that consular officers abroad perform is this delicate balance between assistance and identifying Canadians as Canadians. As my colleague from CBSA has noted, there is an increase in the use of fraudulent documents. Certainly we have noticed in our consular work that more and more Canadians are falling prey to scams and other criminal activities.
In terms of the integrity of the passport, that is under the purview of Passport Canada, which is a special operating agency. This is important in terms of our work. Basically we provide the program abroad, but we go back to Passport Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada to confirm the details of information that is provided by any citizen who comes to us.
In terms of the working relationship between Passport Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada, I would say it's very close. The standard operating procedures are being refined at all points. The framework in which we are working is being refined as well. Basically we have an excellent working relationship in place that I can say is being improved every day through lessons learned. We take copious notes in terms of all the cases that we deal with. These notes go forward with the case, so there's always continuity. In terms of an identity of a person, we are always looking for ways to improve in terms of lessons learned.
We do work closely, of course, with any person who comes and presents a document. But in terms of the documents themselves and the information that's contained in them, that is the purview of Passport Canada. We rely on our colleagues in CBSA, and perhaps my colleague in CBSA would like to talk to that a bit. And of course we go back to Citizenship and Immigration Canada to discuss exactly the information in terms of citizenship.
I wonder if my colleague in CBSA would like to talk to that point, in terms of passports and the integrity of passports.