Public Safety Committee on Feb. 18th, 2016

[Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Thank you.

With respect to preventative detention, to your knowledge has it been used since the inception of the act?

[Monik Beauregard]

I don't think it has, but that's a very precise question that we can get back to you on.

[Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Thank you.

To move away from that topic—I'll ask CSIS those questions, perhaps—my colleague Mr. Mendicino raised the issue of cybercrime. I'd like to explore the issue of financing a little bit more, specifically such tools as Bitcoin, Silk Road, and the darknet market, as a topic of study that perhaps this committee could look at.

Can you speak to what tools the department has looked at and is currently using, and the tools it's currently looking to use in the future? As well, is this an area of study that you would suggest this committee look at?

[Gina Wilson]

Many of the questions you've asked are very focused and very targeted indeed. We'd be glad to come back with some kind of briefing that's more specific to that particular line of questioning.

At this point in time, I would ask my colleagues if they have anything to add about the tools that we specifically use.

[Monik Beauregard]

Given the time we have, I would just invite you to the Public Safety website. We have a very full page on cyber. It walks you through all the cybersecurity programs that we have in place. It gives you a sense of who we work with and what our objectives are.

[Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Thanks very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

To our guests, thank you for your time today.

[Gina Wilson]

It's our pleasure. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

We'll take a couple of minutes as we switch over to our next guests.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you very much for joining us.

We are beginning the first session of a new Parliament. We are a new committee, getting our feet wet on a variety of issues. Among the vast number of issues within the public safety and national security umbrella, CBSA is certainly of keen interest to us. Thank you for accepting our invitation to come today.

I understand that Ms. Semaan will give a presentation—

Yes, Mr. O'Toole.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order with respect to the chair's violation of Standing Order 108(2). I'll lay out the grounds for my point of order.

This Parliament has been sitting for over 100 days. We've had 30 sitting days. This is our third meeting of the standing committee. As all members know, at the first meeting I asked for the committee to look at two specific items: radicalization and terrorism related to domestic radicalization, and the security screening of Syrian refugees.

My question today is based on The Globe and Mail story on the 12 young radicalized women from Canada. The minister's spokesperson's comment in that story about a community outreach office and a counter-radicalization coordinator and strategy are all issues this committee should be seized with. Ms. Beauregard—I didn't want to interrupt that first session—said that the radicalization issue was one of the priorities of the government.

The violation, Mr. Chair, was that yesterday, in conversation on the Hill with MPs and staff, you were heard to directly say that the strategy on the security and public safety committee was to delay new work of the committee because of the heavy workload on the physician-assisted dying committee.

I certainly respect the fact that you are juggling a lot of things. You're very talented. But when that comment was relayed to me, having raised these specific issues in our first meeting, having read in the paper about the minister's comments on new programs....

Standing Order 108(2) says that committees are “empowered to study and report on all matters” relating to their mandate. I feel that this is being purposely delayed. I suggest that we cease all agenda items, have an immediate meeting, or that one be scheduled today, of the subcommittee on agenda, and have those two items placed on the agenda.

We've now had two meetings that are essentially review—

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I think we're into debate on this as opposed to a point of order, so—

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

No, this is a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I think that the chair decides if it's a point of order. You may suggest something is a point of order. Let me be very clear that the work of this committee is continuing exactly by motion. There was a motion passed to set the agenda items for these three meetings. Let me assure you there is no delay taking place. We are continuing to do our work.

There was a motion passed that requested our analysts do a briefing with us at our second meeting. We had a similar motion passed that we are now continuing to do and that is to invite officials for continued work, to lay the groundwork. We will continue to do this work as has been passed by motion of this committee. There is no delay. The work is proceeding as you as a committee have voted, as opposed to anything to do with me whatsoever. It has to do with the motions passed.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Chair, on Tuesday with MPs and staff, did you not say that—

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I did not say anything about delaying the committee or this work. Absolutely categorically I did not say that we delay this work, especially about another committee.

[Nicola Di Iorio, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

May I speak? I'd like to comment on what Mr. O'Toole said.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I don't think this is debatable. I have ruled it's not a point of order so we're going to continue with our work.

Thank you very much and excuse us.

[Nada Semaan, Executive Vice-President, Canada Border Services Agency]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and good afternoon everybody.

I am pleased to appear before this committee to provide an overview of the Canada Border Services Agency and outline some of our key priorities.

My name is Nada Semaan and I'm the executive vice-president of the Canada Border Services Agency. I'm joined today by two members of our senior management team, Mr. Martin Bolduc, our vice-president of programs branch and Ms. Caroline Xavier, our vice-president of operations.

We have prepared a brief overview presentation for the committee's reference and will be happy to answer your questions.

In particular, Mr. Chair, we look forward to working with the members of this committee as you move forward on your mandate. The Canada Border Services Agency was established in December 2003. Its creation integrated border functions related to customs, immigration, enforcement, and food, plant, and animal inspection.

Today we are the second-largest law enforcement organization in the country.

While the environment in which we operate continues to evolve, the CBSA's dual mandate remains the same. We support both national security and economic prosperity by preventing the entry of those travellers or goods posing a potential threat to Canada while at the same time facilitating the flow of people and legitimate goods across the borders.

The Canada Border Services Agency Act is our enabling legislation. It sets out the responsibilities, mandate, powers, and duties of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, as well as those of the president. We administer and enforce the Customs Act, which outlines our responsibilities to collect duties and taxes on imported goods, interdict illegal goods, and administer trade legislation and agreements.

With Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, we share responsibility for administering the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, also known as IRPA. IRPA governs both the admissibility of people into Canada and the identification, detention, and removal of those deemed to be inadmissible under the act.

Finally, the agency enforces over 90 other statutes on behalf of federal departments and agencies.

To support this work, the agency has a total budget in 2015-16 of approximately $1.87 billion. Most of this budget covers operating expenditures required for ongoing border management. Included in this amount, the agency was allocated $223 million for investments in information technology and ports of entry, as well as $182 million for employee benefit plans.

We are a big operation and we function 24-7, 365 days a year. Our workforce of 14,000 employees includes approximately 6,700 uniformed border service officers who operate across Canada at airports, marine ports, land ports of entry, and remote border crossings, as well as overseas.

Our staff are proud and professional, and take their responsibilities seriously.

We have shared with the committee some presentation slides that give a sense of our operating environment, in order to highlight the important role the agency plays in supporting Canada's security and prosperity both at home and abroad.

You'll also see that we shared with you a little handy cheat sheet that shows that we processed last year approximately 97.5 million travellers who entered Canada, which means that the agency processed over 260,000 travellers on an average day.

One-third of these travellers arrived by air and close to two-thirds, by land.

We processed tens of millions of commercial shipments. In terms of trade between Canada and the United States alone, the CBSA facilitated approximately $1.4 million in goods every minute last year.

We collected about $29 billion in duties and taxes, which accounts for 10% of the Government of Canada's revenues.

We made over 8,000 drug seizures worth over $400 million; 7,400 weapons and firearms seizures; and 43,000 seizures of prohibited food, plants, and animals.

Finally, we removed over 11,000 individuals who were deemed inadmissible to Canada.

The CBSA is the first point of contact for travellers and goods arriving to Canada. We are, in effect, the face of Canada.

As such, underpinning our efforts is a strong commitment to service excellence rooted in our core values of integrity, respect, and professionalism. For travellers and trade partners, our goal is to help them reach their destination with minimal interventions. For importers and exporters, we want to ensure that appropriate regulations and laws are applied and that duties and taxes are collected.

We publish and report on our service standards on our website. There are a variety of internal and external complaint and redress mechanisms available for both the public and businesses.

Our work is organized along four major business lines, plus the internal services that are required to support the agency. First is the traveller program, which aims at facilitating the flow of admissible travellers. The commercial and trade program concentrates on the importation and export of commercial goods. The enforcement and intelligence program identifies high risks and targets before people and goods enter Canada, enforces customs and immigration laws, and pursues criminal prosecution. The border services management program involves the development of our frontline border service officer workforce, our supporting infrastructure, and our innovation in science and engineering.

Internal services refers to the information technology and corporate processes that support our business.

Border management is increasingly complex and requires global co-operation. By 2025 it is expected that global trade, the flow of goods and services and finance, will be worth approximately $85 trillion dollars. Up to 50% of the world's GDP is based on trade, with most growth expected in emerging economies. Trade flows and what we do at the border impact Canada's GDP.

At the same time, we must keep pace with emerging security risks like cyber-attacks, and improve our security monitoring to detect, for example, synthetic designer drugs, or insects and organisms that could compromise our food supply or our natural environment.

Organized cross-border crime is increasingly networked and tech-savvy, which demands vigilance.

The effects of the global refugee crisis led last year to the largest mass migration since World War II, and one that the agency has been particularly involved in with the screening and admission of 25,000 Syrian refugees. At the same time, we work with global and domestic partners in countering or preventing a range of threats, be they posed by organized crime, human smugglers, terrorists, or global human and/or animal health.

Partnerships are key to our agency's effectiveness.

Naturally, we work closely with our Government of Canada partners—most closely with other agencies in the public safety portfolio, who you will be hearing from next week.

We also have strong working relationships with provincial and municipal law enforcement agencies across the country.

We consult frequently with airport and bridge authorities, where there is significant interest in working with us to modernize infrastructure.

Industry stakeholders as well, such as the Business Council of Canada, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, as well as the Canadian/American Border Trade Alliance, and the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region are all key interlocutors and important partners in our modernization efforts. Internationally we have an important relationship with the United States for both security and economic prosperity. The CBSA also works mostly with the Department of Homeland Security and its constituent parts, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

We have a growing relationship with Mexico, where there is an opportunity to expand co-operation in areas such as trusted travellers.

The CBSA also participates in an intelligence alliance with Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We engage with these countries bilaterally and in different fora on border, trade, and security issues. We also play a constructive role through the World Customs Organization to work with large trading partners and with developing countries to promote common approaches and facilitate global trade flows.

Mr. Chair, I'm nearing the end of my presentation. I would end my opening remarks and conclude with a few words about some of our key priorities to improve border management.

We take pride in the agency's contribution to the whole-of-government effort to help resettle Syrian refugees. Over 21,000 refugees have arrived in Canada to date. The CBSA has been a key player, both through overseas security screening and through the processing of newcomers upon landing.

We continue to help strengthen trilateral North American co-op eration with the United States and Mexico.

This includes working in areas that improve border security while supporting trade and facilitating the movement of people. The CBSA continues to innovate in order to better serve clients and modernize border efficiency and security. To this end, we have a number of transformative information technology projects under way.

Finally, we are making a significant effort to upgrade more than 70 land ports of entry located across the country.

For these reasons, Mr. Chair, it is truly a rewarding and exciting time to be working at the Canada Border Services Agency.

I do thank you for your attention while I went through our processes. My colleagues and I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you very much, Ms. Semaan.

Mr. Di lorio.

[Nicola Di Iorio, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Good afternoon, Ms. Semaan.

I would like to begin by echoing the comments of my colleague Mr. Spengemann, when he welcomed the previous witnesses to the committee. I want to thank you very much for the work that you and your thousands of colleagues do every day. We are extremely grateful.

You made an important point. You and your colleagues are the first point of contact for travellers arriving to Canada. You even called yourselves the face of Canada.

Two things concern me, so I'd like to discuss them in order to get some clarification from you. I'm referring to best practices and a review process. Allow me to explain.

Canada sees itself as a friendly and welcoming country, and that idea is founded on two important elements. The first is that it reflects Canada's true identity. It's in our nature as Canadians to be warm and welcoming. Clearly, then, that's the image the country wants to project. Second, a very important practical consideration comes into play. By being a welcoming country, we will attract more people. It improves our capacity to attract the best immigrants, the best tourists and the best partners in business.

Now I'm getting to my point. I mentioned best practices and review. Is there a review mechanism in place to ensure that, physically and materially, officers present themselves in the best manner possible when a traveller arrives at Canada's borders?

As far as best practices go, we pay attention to how we stack up against other countries. We have all travelled to other countries and noticed that the material manner in which officers present themselves differs from country to country. Officers who welcome people to Canada look a certain way. The way they present themselves materially is comparable to that of the U.S., for instance. But when we travel to countries such as China or Israel, which do, after all, have major concerns around security, we can see that the way in which their officers present themselves is entirely different. And that outward presentation can deter ill-intentioned people.

In other words, we want to attract tourists and business people and we want them to have a positive image of Canada.

Do you have some sort of review mechanism to ensure that the outward presentation of our officers is in line with best practices around the world?

[Nada Semaan]

Thank you very much.

I will begin. Afterwards, I will see if anyone wants to add something. I will be speaking French, but—

[Nicola Di Iorio, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Please feel free to answer me in English.

[Nada Semaan]

First of all, there are a lot of mechanisms for review. As part of an agency within the Government of Canada, we have agents of Parliament such as the OAG, the Privacy Commissioner, the Information Commissioner, and the Commissioner of Official Languages, and all of them review our services.

However, internally, which I think was more what your question was about, what do we have for review? We have an internal recourse program that is separate from operations. Anybody who has any complaints whatsoever, or who has an appeal, or who has had a reinforcement action and doesn't agree with it, can call the recourse program and they will be heard by an independent person in terms of what happened at the border—

[Nicola Di Iorio, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

I'm sorry if I interrupt you. My question is more specific.

I want to know if you compare the way Canadians and foreigners are welcomed to our borders with best practices around the world. How are we welcomed when we go to China, for example, or when we go to Israel, which are countries that have very high security concerns? But materially, the way their agents are dressed and the way they physically address foreigners is very different from the way we address foreigners and our own citizens. Do you review those processes, do you review those practices, on a regular basis?