Good morning, Mr. Chair and honourable members.
My name is Caroline Xavier. I appear today on behalf of the Canada Border Services Agency, the CBSA, in my capacity as Vice-President, Operations Branch. I would like to thank the committee for the invitation to speak today.
The opiate situation in Canada is a subject that is of immediate and ongoing concern to the CBSA. Our mandate to keep Canadians safe encompasses a wide range of enforcement and facilitative activities, not least of which is the seizure of harmful drugs at the border. Part of our job is to interrupt the flow of drugs through our borders. This is a job that requires a combination of partnership, technology, and constant vigilance.
Today, I will divide my remarks into three sections.
To begin, I will summarize the operational mandate and role of the CBSA in interdicting drugs at the border, including the importance of partnerships. Next, I will describe some of the technology we are using in identifying and seizing drugs. Finally, I will speak directly to how we are dealing with the fentanyl issue.
Mr. Chair, our operational mandate covers a range of pre, post, and at-border activities. We ensure public safety and national security through risk assessment and intelligence, and through coordinated responses to emergencies, threats, and emerging issues.
Clearly, fentanyl and similar opioids fall in this category. These are the newest and latest substances appearing in increasing volumes, most often found in our postal and courier stream. The most effective approach is to develop awareness of the threat and to mobilize a commanding response.
Our national targeting centre, which is a 24/7 facility, works to identify suspected high-risk people, goods, and conveyances through an integrated, comprehensive risk assessment program. Likewise, we deploy officers around the globe, pushing the border out to manage threats before they arrive at our doorstep. These measures demonstrate our capacity to look beyond the border, to the point of origin, for contraband and other threats.
In addition to our in-house capacities, we are deeply integrated with our law enforcement partners across the spectrum, including the local police services, provincial law enforcement, the RCMP, and our counterparts in the U.S. and other like-minded countries.
The border is an obvious nexus for cooperative enforcement against drug trafficking and major crime.
We are also constantly developing and researching innovative detection technology to assist our officers. There are a number of tools and systems in use at the moment. At the border, digital fingerprint machines allow us to quickly and securely transmit electronic fingerprint data to our partners in the RCMP.
Density meters at major border and marine ports can determine the density of a surface or an object. These meters can discover hidden walls and help us detect contraband.
We also use flexible video probes and X-rays to locate undeclared currency and contraband and fibre scopes to view areas of vehicles and cargo that are not visible to the naked eye. Various tools help us inspect the undercarriage of vehicles and other hard-to-reach areas.
Trace detection technology is used to detect trace amounts of narcotics and explosives on sampled goods and conveyances.
Finally, we are supported as well by a team of detector dogs that assist in the detection of illegal narcotics, firearms, and currency, which is further enhanced by the training we are giving our officers to identify threats and risks, and also supported by a world-recognized science and engineering laboratory.
Mr. Chair, with respect to fentanyl in particular, we've seen an increase in the number of seizures since 2014. Fentanyl powder and equivalent substances are most often smuggled into Canada mainly from China, as was stated by our RCMP colleague, through the postal stream in our case. From January 1, 2010, to September 22, 2016, the CBSA recorded over 115 fentanyl seizures.
Due to the increased volume of packages sent through the postal and courier streams, it can be a challenge for the CBSA to identify and intercept all shipments of concern. Postal and courier shipments are often accompanied by false declarations or are intentionally mislabelled.
The CBSA takes its employees' health and safety very seriously. To that end, safe handling procedures and adequate control measures are in place, including personal protective equipment, to prevent accidental exposures. Furthermore, given the pace of evolution with these products, the agency reviews their adequacy on an on-going basis.
Again, this is where partnerships and our intelligence are important. The CBSA's collaborative efforts to address the fentanyl threat to public safety are ongoing, at the regional, national, and international levels. We leverage our intelligence and work with partners to identify and risk assess subjects and businesses that may be involved in fentanyl trafficking.
We have a number of commercial risk assessment projects designed to intercept fentanyl and other controlled substances arriving via air and marine cargo shipments from China and Hong Kong. Our regional operations are participating in policy agency projects, and our international network has been engaged with customs authorities in China on the fentanyl issue.
The opiate crisis is a challenge that requires considerable resources and coordination. We have a responsibility to all Canadians to focus our efforts and strengthen our collaboration wherever possible.
This is a multi-dimensional challenge. There are significant social, public health, and criminal justice impacts, and part of the solution lies in keeping the substance out of Canada to the greatest extent possible. This is where the CBSA's responsibility lies, and we welcome the opportunity to discuss this further today.
Thank you.