Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 25th, 2022

[Supt Martin Roach]

The vast majority of the 120 would be concentrated at Roxham Road. They patrol the border. There are other pressures along the border, but they—

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Would it be ninety percent?

[Supt Martin Roach]

Yes, let's say 90%.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

What do the officers actually do at the border crossing at Roxham Road?

[Supt Martin Roach]

At Roxham Road, our mandate for the RCMP is to ensure there is no national security risk, that there are no links to organized crime, transnational criminality.

We do have individuals who will cross the border who may present a risk to the country or may attempt to commit a crime, so the officers will be arresting the individuals under the Customs Act. They will be conducting the initial background checks and interviews of the individuals to make sure there is no risk to the country, no national security risk.

If there are no elements of criminality, then the individuals will be transferred over to the CBSA. That work is done in co-operation with our American partners and, obviously, the CBSA and the national partners as well.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

What time frame does that involve, from intercepting a person to handing them over to the CBSA? Are we talking about hours, days, weeks?

[Supt Martin Roach]

If somebody committed an offence and we were to lay charges, we would have to do it within 24 hours. All our processes are in place to make sure that we respect those 24 hours as per the legislation.

In terms of the time frame, it varies depending on the workflow. Sometimes it is prolonged to 18 hours because of the volumes that are coming through, but we ensure that we have the number of resources...and we adapt our processes to respect the legislation.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Just so that it's clear to me, your piece of this takes a day or two days. Is it that kind of time frame?

[D/Commr Michael Duheme]

Yes, it does, but it ebbs and flows.

If someone comes with a lot of personal belongings that we have to go through and assess to confirm their identity, it ebbs and flows. It varies. To put a specific time on it is difficult, but as Martin said, our role is that the first contact with the person is by the RCMP.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

That's fair enough.

For those members who are at Roxham Road, could they be used for other activities such as counterterrorism or organized crime if they weren't being used at Roxham Road?

[D/Commr Michael Duheme]

Some of them, yes, and some of them actually were a part of those units that we had to mobilize to the party already at Quebec's Roxham Road to increase our capacity.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

I'm going to assume that you don't have excess manpower in C division. Is it fair to say that if your members were not at Roxham Road they would be investigating drug traffickers, gun smugglers and other similar criminals?

[D/Commr Michael Duheme]

They would be assigned to other priorities under the federal policing mandate in the province—correct.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Given that, is it safe, then, to assume that other criminals are not getting investigated to the extent they might be if officers weren't spending time at Roxham Road?

[D/Commr Michael Duheme]

Our mandate is fairly complex and with the resources we have we prioritize what needs to be done and assign the right resources to the priorities.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

If Roxham Road weren't a priority, would that be better for the overall rate of crime in Quebec and in Canada?

[D/Commr Michael Duheme]

You'd redistribute the resources within the other units that we have in the province: serious and organized crime, financial crime and national security.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Roach, you worked at Roxham Road, or you're very familiar with Roxham Road. I want to talk a bit about smuggling. You mentioned smuggling in your statement. When you were interviewing people, did you uncover evidence of smuggling?

[Supt Martin Roach]

There'll be evidence of coordination, of definitely coordinated efforts at smuggling. Sometimes it's links to individuals who are already in Canada. Sometimes it's individuals in the States or abroad internationally. That all comes out through the interviews, depending on the individuals we're interacting with.

We've had many cases of smuggling where we lay charges in Canada against groups that were already established in Canada, or sometimes, yes, they were in the States.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

On that, if you have 100 people coming across, what is the percentage? Is it 10% or 20%? How many charges have you laid for smuggling?

[Supt Martin Roach]

I don't have the exact number of cases where we laid charges. In terms of the percentage, it's not a vast majority, but there is the presence of human smuggling.

[D/Commr Michael Duheme]

If I may, Madam Chair, just to add to that, once the people are across, it's a challenge to get them to talk, because they have reached their goal—they're across. The idea is, how do you intercept them beforehand so that you can get them to talk a little more? It is a challenge, once they're on Canadian soil, to get them to talk about the process and the structure that's in place.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Thank you.

How much time do I have, Madam Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Your time is up.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Thank you.