We obviously have contacts with different police officers and with the RCMP specifically, and one of the things I’ve learned—it was quite interesting—is that they’re frustrated. They are really frustrated because one of the things that's happening is they are catching many of the smugglers coming up, for example, from Akwesasne. They lay charges against them, they have fines to pay, but they don't pay them. They just go back on Akwesasne. So I find that very strange. We never go, and get them back, and force them to pay their fines.
This bill will change that. It will have a much greater deterrent effect by having minimum jail time, and I think that's very important.
Something I did not know even though I worked in tobacco control for 20 years was contraband was not part of the Criminal Code so police officers at the municipal or provincial level are very limited in what they can do. In Quebec they have amended the Tobacco Tax Act so police officers can at the very least immobilize a vehicle, and if they suspect it has contraband in it, they could ask for a warrant and search the vehicle.
But they can't arrest the individual. It's the revenue department afterwards that lays charges against that individual, but they can't arrest them. This will change with Bill C-10. It will provide the necessary authority for the police officers to arrest the individual if they have a minimum quantity of contraband tobacco, which is a big help.
In Ontario it's even worse than in Quebec because they don't even enforce their Tobacco Tax Act.