Public Accounts Committee on Feb. 6th, 2017

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Okay, so they'd have to know that on both ends—

[Martin Bolduc]

Maybe to use an example, with regard to a truck carrying auto parts at the Windsor border, the same parts can cross the border seven times between the two countries.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

All right.

Then in terms of the evaluation criteria, it's low risk. What's the definition of low risk?

[Martin Bolduc]

Low risk is good character, no previous border related offence, no derog—

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Derogatory.

[Martin Bolduc]

Thank you. Some words in English are harder to pronounce than others.

Sorry about that.

[The Acting Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

That's okay.

[Martin Bolduc]

So if there's no adverse information, the approval is given.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Would drivers for individual companies, for example, have to be pre-approved in addition to the company itself?

[Martin Bolduc]

Yes.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Okay.

I see in the briefing note of the introductory remarks that there's a number of lanes going to be opened up. I assume that the corresponding lanes on the U.S. side, in Fort Erie, for example, will be ready to go at the same time.

[Martin Bolduc]

I wouldn't have the numbers on the lanes on the U.S. side. It's something I could provide to the committee, if needed.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Okay.

Is there a scenario in which an entry lane from Canada to the U.S. would be available, but not coming back through the same border?

[Martin Bolduc]

Again, I would have to confirm.

If I use the example of a NEXUS lane, usually they're available on both sides. That's the benefit of being a NEXUS member.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Okay.

I don't think I have much time left.

[The Vice-Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

You have half a minute.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

With regard to the approval process, have you had feedback from the people who are part of it already to see how effective it is from their perspective?

[Martin Bolduc]

No, not specifically for the FAST program. We hear a lot of good positive feedback on the NEXUS program. Again, the application is—

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Including from me, just for the record.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Martin Bolduc]

Okay.

It's a joint program. CBSA does its own assessment. USCBP does a separate assessment. If the two organizations give a green light, then you are deemed trusted and you get your membership into the program. FAST works on a similar basis.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Thank you very much.

Mr. McColeman, you have five minutes.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Going back to the example of the single window, it's stated in the report that you've accepted the recommendation of the Auditor General and that there will be certain actions going forward. My questions relate to that.

How well does CBSA modify its consultation process to ensure that the trusted trader program will meet stakeholders' businesses needs?

[John Ossowski]

As I said previously, and as I think my colleague said as well, we meet with them twice a year. At the most recent meeting, in November, we had agreement on an adoption strategy.

We're still onboarding our federal partners and programs to make sure that the system is complete. Several of them are going through the certification process and putting in their systems so we can talk to each other. We're going to be monitoring this very closely and, as I said in my comments, I believe that we'll have full, or pretty close to full, adoption by the spring of 2018.