Public Safety Committee on Nov. 27th, 2018

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Pierre Paul-Hus]

Thank you, Ms. Dabrusin.

Minister, before I turn the floor over to Mr. Blaney, I'd like to ask you a question.

We didn't see anything in the estimates related to the RCMP and CSIS warnings we received about interference in our systems by Russian and Chinese companies like Huawei.

Has any money been earmarked to ensure we are able to deal with potential threats to critical infrastructure from Huawei?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Mr. Paul-Hus, the issues with respect to the security of supply chains—and this is basically an information technology supply chain issue—are very squarely before the government. The agencies in my department and many other departments and agencies of the Government of Canada, including Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, are very much seized of this issue.

We are working now to accomplish two objectives to be able to deal with this new 5G technology that is just around the corner but coming very quickly. We want Canadians to be able to fully enjoy all the benefits that come from that amazing new technology, but we also want them to be able to enjoy those benefits in a safe and secure fashion so that their privacy, their safety and the national security of the country are properly protected.

We are at work right at this very moment to ensure we accomplish those two objectives. The funding provided in the estimates will support the work of CSIS, the RCMP, the Communications Security Establishment and all the other agencies of government—including ISED—to make sure we answer those two questions properly: getting the best of innovation for Canadians, and at the same time making sure their security is absolutely protected. We need the two of them together.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Pierre Paul-Hus]

Thank you.

Mr. Blaney, you may go ahead for five minutes.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

It's a pleasure, Minister, to have you appear before the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. In another time, under a different government, I was fortunate enough to be sitting where you are now. I must say the difference between where things stand today and where they stood then is significant. When I was minister, the Prime Minister never put me in impossible or unmanageable situations. One situation, in particular, that comes to mind is the porous Canadian border created by Prime Minister Trudeau. I never had to deal with problems like that, problems that cause chaos and seriously compromise the safety of Canadians.

I have a number of questions for you. In your opening statement, you mentioned natural disasters. As you know, the government operations centre, or GOC, provides an integrated emergency response. I'd like to know whether the supplementary estimates you're presenting today include measures to modernize the GOC.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Regina—Wascana, SK]

You're talking about the Government Operations Centre.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Absolutely.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Regina—Wascana, SK]

It was referred to in the last budget or the second-to-last budget.

[Malcolm Brown]

It was the second-to-last budget.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Mr. Blaney, I guess not many people will know about the downtown office building in Ottawa where that very important agency is located—the Government Operations Centre. It's an old building, and the facilities are not very good. We made the decision to find new facilities to make sure that the GOC can provide the absolutely indispensable services that it does.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

That's great. Thank you.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Regina—Wascana, SK]

That process is under way, and budget 2017 provided the resources to do it.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

I see.

I have another question along the same lines. It's about emergency preparedness but as it relates to bandwidth. In the event of a natural disaster, our security agencies have to be able to communicate with one another without being hamstrung by the network. Have you set aside any funding to manage bandwidth during emergency response?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Yes, this is a subject of federal and provincial discussion, because we need to make all of our communications systems—federal, provincial, municipal—communicate effectively together in dealing with an emergency.

We have been working with the provinces to develop a plan to find the right part of the spectrum that will be reserved for that purpose. It may be used for other purposes when it's not needed for an emergency, but that consultation with the service providers, with the provinces, with the emergency and first responder community is well advanced, and I hope to be in a position to bring that forward.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

The process is under way, then.

Here's a very simple question. Can you tell us how many ISIS terrorists have come back to Canada from countries where terrorist activities were being conducted? Can you tell us that number today, Minister?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Regina—Wascana, SK]

The number is published on an annual basis, Mr. Blaney, as you know, in the public threat report. That report will be made public sometime during the course of the month of December. The most up-to-date numbers will be provided at that time, but I can tell you that the arithmetic has hardly changed at all from 2015.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Very well.

Minister, today, we heard my fellow members voice some concerns. In your opening statement, you said that protecting Canadians was a priority.

Your prison bill met with unanimous criticism. Inmates and correctional officers alike spoke out against it. Under the bill, you intend to provide clean syringes to inmates. I was told that correctional officers asked for gloves to protect them against needlestick accidents, but what worries me is that you denied their request for gloves. Is that true?

Here is the easiest question I can ask. I believe you brought it up in your opening statement. Why not just withdraw the bill and go back to the drawing board to rework the measures that were criticized? As you know, the president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers said the system would cause significant problems, creating chaos. First, will you consider withdrawing the bill? Second, what are you doing to protect the health and safety of our correctional officers?

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Regina—Wascana, SK]

I had the opportunity for a very good discussion just last week with the president and other representatives of the UCCO, the union representing the correctional services officers. We discussed a number of these issues, and I have taken a number of their representations under advisement.

To make sure that they have absolute confidence that they are respected in the work they do—it is critically important and tough work—I want to make sure that we respond to the legitimate concerns of the representatives of the UCCO as much as humanly possible.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Pierre Paul-Hus]

Minister, thank you for being here. I'd also like to thank the officials joining you today.

We will now suspend momentarily to bring in the next panel of witnesses.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Pierre Paul-Hus]

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

Minister, welcome to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. We will now continue our examination of supplementary estimates (A).

We will now begin the first round of questions. Everyone will have seven minutes each. Ms. Dabrusin, you may go ahead.

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

The minister won't be making a presentation?

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Pierre Paul-Hus]

My apologies. This is my first time chairing the meeting.

Minister, you have 10 minutes for your presentation. Please go ahead.

[Bill Blair, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I was quite interested in participating in a new approach to these committee meetings whereby you would ask the questions first and then I would deliver my remarks. I want to thank Ms. Dabrusin for sharing her time with me.

Good afternoon, everyone.

I'm very pleased and honoured to have the opportunity to attend before this committee today to speak about the supplementary estimates (A) for the Public Safety portfolio as it pertains to my responsibilities.

I know you have just spent an hour with Minister Goodale, who noted earlier that the portfolio as a whole is requesting adjustments for the fiscal year resulting in a net increase of $262 million in authorities.

The minister, I believe, has given this committee a broad overview of the estimate items and why they are important for Canadians. My remarks today will focus on those items that fall strictly within my purview and my mandate and its priorities. Specifically, I hope to focus my attention on two issues that are top of mind for Canadians, the cannabis implementation and guns and gangs.

The country is currently seeing a surge in gun violence. Much of that violence is related to gang activities involving reprisals or rival gangs battling over turf. Mr. Chair and committee members, this is not simply happening in large urban centres in our country; smaller cities are plagued by this problem, as well as rural and indigenous communities. People are concerned.

I have had the opportunity over the past several months to travel across the country to communities large and small. We're listening to their concerns and then working hard to take concrete action to reduce violent gun crime and to keep communities safe.

Just over one year ago, the government announced the launch of an initiative to take action against gun and gang violence. This initiative reflects the need to take a broad and all-encompassing approach to reducing violence in our communities. For example, we recognize that while this is a nationwide concern, the problem is not the same everywhere: Different regions and communities are facing distinct and unique challenges, and those challenges require distinct and unique solutions. It's very important to hear perspectives from all parts of the country and from every perspective on the issue. We're making sure we do precisely that.

The Prime Minister has asked me to engage Canadians in a dialogue on handguns and assault-style weapons. I've been talking to experts, front-line police officers and members of the public across the country to seek their views, to listen to the evidence and to examine the data. I look forward to making recommendations based on those findings upon the completion of my examination.

We have also committed to investing $327.6 million over five years as part of a gun and gang violence action fund. This fund will help support a variety of initiatives that will help reduce gun crime related to gun and gang activities. A portion of that funding is aimed at reducing the supply of illegal guns that show up on our streets and get in the hands of people who would commit violent criminal acts with them. An important first step in eradicating gun and gang violence is investigating and stopping the smuggling of firearms, especially handguns, into our country. Our front-line law enforcement officers with the CBSA and the RCMP are already doing extraordinary work in that regard, and we have many examples to share of the successes they have achieved.

As Minister Goodale and I announced earlier this month, the government is making major investments to strengthen the enforcement capacity of the RCMP and the CBSA. Significant funding, for example, will be provided to the CBSA to increase its operational capacity to screen passengers and examine commercial shipments at the border.

Funding is also being provided to the RCMP for a new integrated criminal firearms initiative. These are important first steps to restore the force's ability to support law enforcement across the country to ensure that front-line officers have access to an integrated suite of resources to support firearm investigations.

At the same time, Mr. Chair, there's a clear consensus that gun and gang violence cannot be tackled through enforcement alone. I know from experience as a police officer and a police chief in a large urban centre that outreach and awareness are also essential. In other words, we need not only to interdict the supply of guns that get into the hands of criminals but to reduce the demand for those guns as well.

That's one reason the largest portion of the $327.6 million in new funding that has been announced, over $200 million over a five-year period, will be going to the provinces and territories to respond to specific needs in their communities.

We are aiming to start signing some of those funding agreements before the end of this calendar year. A major purpose of this funding is to support the efforts of local organizations that offer prevention and intervention programs. These types of programs help divert young people from gang culture that can almost inevitably draw them into a life of violence and criminality.

The response of any government must be to protect the health and safety of our citizens. There is no greater responsibility that all of us share, and that's why we are taking action on multiple fronts to reduce violent gun crime. Public Safety Canada, CBSA and the RCMP are seeking a combined total of $29.9 million in these supplementary estimates to support this important work.

Protecting Canadians is also why we have legalized, strictly regulated and restricted access to cannabis in Canada. Prior to October 17, all non-medical cannabis in this country was produced and sold, 100%, by criminal organizations. They were responsible for the illegal production and distribution of cannabis, and they made billions of dollars in illicit profit. What they were selling, Mr. Chair, to both adults and our kids, was unregulated, untested and often unsafe. It put the health and safety of Canadians at risk, and the system was failing our children. We had the highest rates of cannabis use of any country in the world. Our children were being criminalized for the simple possession of cannabis, and criminals were becoming enriched by that activity in the amount of billions of dollars each year.

We now have a far better, far more comprehensive and effective system in place. The new regulations offer Canadian adults a choice. It's a choice of a legal, regulated and reliable product of known potency and purity. We expect this will help to take a big bite out of the criminal black market.

However, our work has only begun; it is not yet complete. As I have said many times, the implementation of the Cannabis Act is a process, not an event. It's one reason that the RCMP is seeking $3.3 million in these supplementary estimates to support the delivery of Canada's new, legal cannabis framework.

The government also continues to take action to crack down on impaired driving. It's not a new problem, Mr. Chair. Since 1925, drug-impaired driving has been a crime in this country, but up until fairly recently, the police had neither the training, the legal authorities nor the access to the technologies they needed to be effective in keeping our country and our roadways safe.

The problem with drug-impaired driving did not suddenly come into existence simply because cannabis was now legally available from a legitimate, licensed source. Those who get behind the wheel after consuming drugs or alcohol represent a significant danger to the public, and this has always been the case, but I am pleased to tell you that today, with Bill C-46 now in effect, our police services have the tools that they have long asked for to keep the public and our roadways safe. The bill also strengthens our impaired driving laws with tough new penalties and new, important provisions to control alcohol-impaired driving as well.

All of this is to be complemented by important investments in public education and awareness. We want to ensure that Canadians know the dangers and consequences of driving while impaired by drugs, including cannabis. That's why we have been running an ad campaign on social media, online, on TV and elsewhere in the country to counter the persistent myths and misconceptions that Canadians unfortunately held with respect to cannabis-impaired driving. These ads are aimed at youth and young adults, and they have a simple message, Mr. Chair: don't drive high.

Public Safety Canada is seeking $2 million under the supplementary estimates to support this evolving campaign. Mr. Chair, the campaign is achieving a high level of success. We have heard from law enforcement agencies across the country that with the implementation of the new regulations, they have not seen a significant increase in drug-impaired driving, but what they have now available to them are the tools, the technology and the training they need to respond appropriately.

Mr. Chair, these are just a few examples of the important work that is happening across the Public Safety portfolio. I'd like to thank the hard-working men and women throughout the portfolio for all that they do, and acknowledge and thank the senior officials who have joined me here today. We are grateful for the work they do to protect Canadians from all manner of threats and dangers.

I'd like to thank the members of the committee for your efforts on the many public safety matters that come before you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to appear before you and answer the questions of your members.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Pierre Paul-Hus]

Thank you, Minister.

Ms. Dabrusin, it is now your turn for seven minutes.

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Now it's my time. Excellent.

Minister, thank you for coming here today.

In my community, we're nearing the anniversary, in the next few weeks, of the loss of someone who was a youth leader and a mentor, someone who worked with the Boys and Girls Club. His loss was important for the Eastview community, the Blake-Boultbee community. The person I'm talking about is Kempton Howard. In a few weeks, it will be 15 years since we lost him.

I raise this because I have worked with his mother. She's been a fearless advocate on gun violence issues and someone who has become a strong leader in our community. I have helped her to work on some petitions that she has put forward on these issues. I was hoping that with you here, I might be able to ask about what our government is doing with respect to some of the things that she has put forward in these petitions.

First, she's concerned about where the guns come from and how to prevent the flow of guns coming over the border from the United States. One of the requests that she has put forward in her petitions has been to see more support for the Canada Border Services Agency to prevent these guns from coming illegally across our borders.

I was wondering if you could let us know what our government is doing to address that.

[Bill Blair]

Thank you very much, Julie. I'll try to be brief, because I want to be respectful of everyone's limited time.

First of all, I know Joan Howard and her son. I was involved in that investigation. You're right that she's a compelling advocate, as are so many mothers who have lost their children. I think they're a voice that we cannot ignore.

With respect to where the guns are coming from, one of the things that we did very carefully in Toronto when I worked there was examine the origin of every crime gun that came into our possession. We were able to identify the origin in most cases. They came, essentially, from two sources.

We live next to one of the largest handgun arsenals in the world, and guns are smuggled across the border from the United States. There are individuals who do it, but quite often criminal organizations are responsible for that. I will tell you that....

Perhaps I'll even refer to the RCMP and the CBSA, who are here. There are integrated border enforcement teams. There are very important comprehensive investigations, complex investigations, taking place into the organizations responsible for that. However, we also recognize that you can't just do that work at the border. It requires work on both sides of the border, and that's why we have integrated border enforcement teams. We saw some success recently with the CBSA working in partnership with the Toronto Police Service. They seized about 22 firearms, I believe.

Is that correct, John?