Justice Committee on Oct. 5th, 2026

[C/Supt Mike Saghbini]

The one thing to add is that on the prosecution side, I think the vision would be for some embeds to be embedded from PPSC within financial crimes. I think that's extremely important, because what came up in the FATF review was the prosecution. I think having embeds within financial crimes would be great for the global financial crime world, if you want to call it that.

[Doly Begum, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Actually, to Mr. Stewart's point, in regard to the increase in money laundering, one thing we tried to address with the provincial governments and in my previous work in bringing forward legislation that helps address it—through FSRA, for example—was that there are gaps in how the two jurisdictions work together.

Are there challenges that we're still facing? Would this agency be able to help look into some of the serious crimes that some of the provinces are not able to address?

[Rob Stewart]

The fundamental challenge we face across the system is access to information and the willingness and ability to share information. There are guardrails—privacy and PIPEDA in the business community—that have to be respected, but there are circumstances in which information can be and is shared and cases where we've created safe harbour for institutions to share within a framework approved by the Privacy Commissioner.

Building on the capacity to share information, where lawful, is the single most important challenge and objective we have. We want to put the financial crimes agency at the centre of that effort.

[The Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

Thank you very much.

We will now move to Monsieur Fortin for two and a half minutes.

Please go ahead, sir.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair. Two and a half minutes go by quickly.

Mr. Saghbini, I have a few questions for you. There's FINTRAC, which monitors money laundering and terrorist financing. We think it is an important agency or organization. However, FINTRAC does not have the power to prosecute.

Does the RCMP currently work with FINTRAC?

[C/Supt Mike Saghbini]

Yes, we currently work very closely with FINTRAC. They have disclosures that they proactively disclose to us. In certain cases, we will request information on certain targets, be it on terrorism, financing or organized crime. It could be a myriad of crimes. We will request information from FINTRAC. FINTRAC will provide it through their channels and we will conduct the investigations.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Will the mandate of the agency that is being created encroach on that of FINTRAC? Is there no similarity between the two?

[C/Supt Mike Saghbini]

I'll pass that over to our financial crimes agency colleague.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Saghbini, I'm not saying that Mr. Brazeau's opinion isn't important—it is and I'd like to hear it—but I only have two minutes. Do you collaborate with FINTRAC? Are you going to work with the agency in the same way? Wouldn't one encroach on the other?

[C/Supt Mike Saghbini]

These are things we'll have to come up with—standard operating procedures to ensure that we're not duplicating work. I think there will be avenues where we will be working directly with FINTRAC on certain things and where we will be working with the financial crimes agency on others. We will—

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

You don't think they are the same thing.

[C/Supt Mike Saghbini]

No. The purpose would be not to duplicate. There's enough work for all of us to do that we would like to spread it, but we wouldn't—

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Saghbini.

Mr. Brazeau, would you like to add to Mr. Saghbini's answer briefly?

[Julien Brazeau]

Thank you for the question. FINTRAC is an intelligence agency. It gets its information from reporting entities, such as financial institutions. If it finds what it considers suspicious transactions, it passes on the information. FINTRAC will also do compliance work to ensure that reporting entities do their homework. Furthermore, it will use this information to prepare reports, and then those reports will be sent to the entities investigating these crimes. These are really distinct mandates.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

Thank you very much.

Just for the record, Monsieur Fortin, I gave you lots of extra time right now. I hope you'll appreciate it one day.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

I will appreciate it one day.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Liberal, Iqra Khalid]

Thank you.

We'll move to Mr. Baber for five minutes.

Please go ahead.

[Roman Baber, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Director Saghbini, I want to get the RCMP's perspective on all this. Are you at all concerned that the RCMP will lose oversight over financial crimes?

[C/Supt Mike Saghbini]

We don't necessarily have an oversight role. As I said, there's room for the RCMP to have our investigations into certain financial crimes. I think there will be a role for the financial crimes agency to do what it is going to do best and to work in collaboration.

[Roman Baber, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Do you understand what that role is?

[C/Supt Mike Saghbini]

Do you mean what the financial crimes agency is going to do?

[Roman Baber, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Yes...versus the RCMP right now.

[C/Supt Mike Saghbini]

We know a bit of what the mandate will look like, but as to exactly what it will look like, not at this point. I think that would be a better question for the financial crimes agency.