Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Members of the panel, most of my questions will centre on the integrated market enforcement teams, or IMETs.
You covered a lot of territory in your submission, so I think we need to drill down on what IMETs have been doing since 2003. In particular, since we're discussing whether there has been a growth in commercial crime activity—and I think there has been—it might be useful to put more flesh on the IMET bones.
I understand they were established in 2003 in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary. Is there a plan to expand to other locations? Are they cooperating well with the prosecution services, forensic accountants, and financial advisers? Are there any statistics on the number of crimes that have been detected and brought to conviction by IMETs? Does this bill do anything for IMETs? Are you sufficiently resourced to do what you do?
What were Nick Le Pan's recommendations? He tabled a report, I understand, in 2007. He talks about tools and resources. You say that you're trying to meet those needs. How's that going? I wonder if in his 2007 report any of the aspects of Bill C-52 were the tools asked for. I suspect that it had more to do with resources; with bringing down the barriers between the financial sector, commercial crimes units, and prosecution offices; and with encouraging more cooperation and an easier flow of electronic information.
We're very much in favour of IMETs. Could you give us a history of how this has gone since 2003 and tell us where you want to go in the future?