Thank you for your question.
To answer it directly, there was an increase of 3% to a substantive budget of $1.736 billion. As you know, we increased by 26% the number of inspectors at the Border Services Agency.
I think your question touches on an important issue. Over the past decade, we saw the emergence of an agency that is occupying an increasingly large place in the life of Canadians, be it at borders or in controlling illegal immigrants. Canada Border Services Agency is called on to play an increasingly high profile role. Indeed, it celebrated the 10th anniversary of its creation. As you know, although we also have the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, the Agency is responsible for the enforcement of the Immigration Act.
To get back to border posts, no changes are necessarily planned regarding their hours of business. Of course, we continue to put resources in place. The Agency has many draws on it be it to ensure the free circulation of goods at border posts or to intercept dangerous and illegal goods or drugs.
To get back to yesterday's example the seizure that was made in cooperation with the Sûreté du Québec, one sometimes has the impression that the cat cannot jump on the mouse because the mouse is running, but when the cat uses its claws, it hurts. That is all of the more true when the Agency in cooperation with other agencies targets its activities to attack the heads of a network. We saw the results. So at the Border Services Agency there is an increase in the budget and a consolidation of its activities.
We know that border services officers are now armed. We also note an increase in traffic at borders. How can we manage an increase in air traffic while maintaining an interesting client experience in airports? In other words, we have to determine how to allow the honest citizen, those passengers, to circulate freely while being able through various mechanisms to intercept undesirable individuals.