Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, witnesses, for being here today.
I think one of the interesting things you'll find around this table is that we're all in agreement that we need to keep counterfeit products out of our country. As was said on Monday, that's really important, no matter what colour of tie we have or what party we sit on.
What I find interesting, though, is that from testimony to testimony, from witness to witness, we're hearing that once resources are allocated, we find more counterfeit. In the report we have here about Project O'Scorpion, we were able to capture $78 million from one year to the next. That's fantastic.
Thinking about the products we're seeing...you talked about the mining circuit breaker. I'm thinking about the thousands of men and women who go down the mines in my riding, and if that were one of those circuit breakers, what could happen? They are family and friends, not just in Sudbury but right across the country, so we need to do what we can.
Again, we heard my colleague Mr. Masse talking about the reduction of CBSA officers in dog detection. Even in this report, in 2012 the RCMP reported a total of 726 occurrences, a slight decrease from the previous year due to other priority cases drawing upon federal resources.
I think we need this to become a priority, to ensure that we're protecting our citizens and keeping these products off our streets. It's very concerning to see these type of things. From the training aspect, to the education of CBSA officers, to the allocation of resources and putting more of the officers on the front lines, it's a priority.
Mr. Lipkus, I guess I'll start with you. Isn't that a priority? Isn't it something we should be looking at?
