We began our training of various criminal justice participants, prosecutors and law enforcement, very shortly after the legislation came into force, early in 2002.
In June 2002, in fact, we had an opportunity to speak with prosecutors from across the country. We invited them to Ottawa for a four-day session, two days on Bill C-24 and two days on Bill C-36. Since then we've hit the road. I've spoken to provincial prosecutors, local police, and RCMP. And it's not just the three of us; quite a large group of prosecutors and counsel within the Department of Justice has been involved in this. The last time I gave the course--about a year ago in Montreal to RCMP undercover--one of our Justice colleagues from the Montreal regional office presented along with me. As you heard from Mr. Scromeda, it was a two-day course. Our participation was limited to the first day. The second day involved mostly scenarios, and we didn't need to be there for that part of the program.
So in terms of training, up until January 2003 I believe more than 1,700 individuals, almost 2,000, were trained. This included municipal prosecutors, federal law enforcement, federal prosecutors, provincial law enforcement, municipal law enforcement--basically a good cross-section of law enforcement.
I remember very well training some Fisheries Canada investigators in Vancouver. I don't know if they had been using the techniques or if they had recourse to this scheme, but in the investigation of illegal fishing, for instance, one thing you might do is buy a fish. In those sorts of activities, you never know; when you're offered the fish, you might be offered an illegal firearm of some kind that was stolen or unregistered or whatever. The undercover officer who has received this type of training and has received the designation may say, “Thanks, I will take that.” You've just expanded the investigation, and you can pursue it.
So it's not just pure organized crime. Sometimes it's smaller things. You never know when they might come up. You're not dressed in your police uniform and someone offers you something, some kind of contraband, and because you have this law enforcement justification protection, it helps you.
Sorry, I went off on a tangent there.
Since the beginning of 2003, as I indicated, there has been more training. Perhaps when officials from the RCMP appear before you, they can tell you what the totals are now.
Erin.