Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the opportunity to question the panel here.
I'm pleased that Mr. Montour came forward to testify. It's interesting. I've been invited down into your area several times by some friends who live in the community. Part of it has to do with the increased activity when it comes to contraband that is distributed in the region.
I was quite surprised that you mentioned the term “like a war zone” in regard to the area and the reserve. I assume that's what you meant by utilizing the term “war zone”. It obviously creates some concern for you about what might be happening or what might possibly be happening in the future. I don't know what you meant by that, but I would like some clarification.
I did actually buy some of those contraband cigarettes while I was there, and I was quite surprised that for $6 or $8 you can pick up a pack. But what surprised me even more was the amount of this contraband that's being sold in Calgary. Truckers pick it up, they move it right across the country, and they're selling it--what they can pick up here for $6--for $40 in Calgary. So I can see that there's quite a generation of capital, of cash, with no tax being paid on any of it.
The other thing that surprised me was the number of these smoke shacks, as Mr. McCarty has relayed, just in that one area that I was--I'm going to say--fortunate enough to visit, because I don't think anybody has a perspective on what's happening until you go and see for yourself. There are something in the neighbourhood of 200 just off the reserve. It's quite a business operation.
It concerns me, as a member of Parliament, as a former law enforcement officer. I have to say that I would like to see the law enforced evenly too. You, as a businessman, would like to see the law enforced. That would mean everybody gets equal treatment. What I get from you is that not everybody is getting equal treatment. And this is just in one area. It doesn't just apply to contraband; it probably should apply to all aspects of the law to create a safe environment.
Mr. Montour, you have a concern for the future of your reserve, your people, and I would have to assume that it goes beyond just your reserve and your people. It would deal with your business, and probably the community around you, because we don't live in isolation from one another.
I'm curious as to what you see happening with the youngsters in your community, then, when it comes to their involvement in dealing with some of this contraband, if it's just the young people in the Six Nations, for instance—and I don't mean to single out Six Nations, but that's the only place I've seen this kind of activity. What could we do together to get rid of the problem?