Mr. Chairman, honourable members of this committee, good afternoon.
The last time I addressed this committee was in 2001. I remember we asked ourselves this question: why is organized crime afraid of American laws and borders and not afraid of ours? Since 2001 nothing has changed. The situation is actually becoming worse.
According to the latest report of the Criminal Intelligence Service, most criminal markets appear highly resistant to long-term disruption, and in some cases they remain criminally active during incarceration. The same report listed hundreds of criminal organizations.
I used to call our country a Welcome Wagon for organized crime. The main problem lies with the definition of organized crime. We have criminal organizations that insulate themselves from risk, such as the Mafia and the 'Ndrangheta, which tend to be less visible and more difficult to link to criminal behaviour. They are more business oriented and have established links with politicians, business people, and professionals.
If you have the time to read the intelligence report prepared by the RCMP and the Montreal police about the Mafia in Quebec, you will find the names of important corporations, politicians, lawyers, and builders. From those reports, you will learn what the power of a criminal organization like the Mafia really is. Moreover, you will learn that they are more dangerous when they cannot be shocked.
The connections with decision-makers, business persons, politicians, and professionals are the backbone of criminal power. Nevertheless, this is an area that is off limits. How many investigations target the so-called grey area where politicians, criminals, professionals, and business people get together for various reasons? There are not many. This is the real target.
According to the Criminal Intelligence Service, the dividing line between illegality and legality is fine and can be redrawn with changes in regulations or legislation. As a result, some criminal groups undertake a series of enterprises that are on the margin of legitimacy or entirely legitimate. Some operate businesses that are primarily intended to facilitate criminal activities, while others offer legitimate trade but also facilitate illicit enterprises through, for example, laundering funds, income tax fraud, enabling fraud, or the illicit manipulation of stock markets. A criminal group may own or operate these businesses openly, conceal their dealings through nominees, or collude with, coerce, or deceive the owners or employees. These businesses can also enable criminal groups to distance themselves from criminal activity and provide an appearance of legitimacy. If this is the real issue, why do we stand idly by? Instead, and for obvious reasons, we continue to link organized crime only with violence and not with white collar crime.
Street gang activities often more directly have an impact on the general public than other organized crime groups, particularly as some gangs pose a threat to public safety through their high propensity for violence. We have a serious problem in Quebec, where many sectors of the economy are infiltrated by white collar criminals. We face increased violence on Montreal streets. Ninety percent of drug retailing is in the hands of street gangs and they are fighting for more turf to exert an influence over drug territory. They are not kids with guns. In Alberta police witnessed street gang members exchanging text messages while the alleged criminals were sitting at the same table. No words were exchanged during the meeting. They were using BlackBerry devices because they cannot be intercepted by police. This is only an example of the level of sophistication of our street gangs.
I hope this meeting will not be useless like the others. For many years, we as Canadians have remained like ostriches with our heads firmly planted in the sand. We have anti-gang legislation that we barely use outside of Quebec.
I remember when organized crime was identified as a priority, a government priority, both federally and provincially. They made only newspaper headlines and no action was taken. Whatever the reason, we are now faced with confronting criminal organizations that are immeasurably stronger and more sophisticated than they used to be. Some have retained superbly resourced dream teams of lawyers and chartered accountants, and a few are capable of successfully infiltrating law enforcement.
I'd like to quote Crown Attorney Stephen Sherriff. In a speech dated 2001, he said, “There is no point crying over spilt milk but we must realize that what started as spilt milk has turned into an oil spill.” Unfortunately, almost 10 years later, this is the current reality. It is a waste of time to debate how we got so far behind. The important thing is to not squander any more time. If we do not take action, we will have more bystanders at risk, more business people in the hands of criminals, and more narcotics on the streets.
I'd like to know, as a Canadian, if there is political will to fight organized crime. In the last 20 years, I've never had the sense that there is.
Thank you.