Public Safety Committee on June 12th, 2017

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

That is the technical question, yes. Thank you for helping me get to that point.

My last question is for the customs officials, and it concerns immigration detention.

If I recall correctly, an announcement was made last year. There are many concerns n this area, especially in Ontario, where the provincial correctional services are responsible for the issue. What's the status of the situation? What are the next steps?

[Tina Namiesniowski]

With regard to the supplementary estimates (A),

no amount is identified in the agency's supplementary estimates (A) for

our national immigration framework for detentions.

I think as you know, Mr. Chair, our minister did announce a $138-million investment in the national immigration framework for detentions. That announcement includes funding that will enable us to build new federal national immigration detention facilities in British Columbia as well as in the province of Quebec, in addition to the immigration holding centre that we have in Toronto.

The objective of the framework also includes the ability to have fewer people in detention relative to what we have today, because part of the investment also deals with having alternatives to detention that we could pursue as a federal agency. These would help us reduce the number of people that we would have in detention. That would also, by extension, then result in fewer people having to be held in provincial correctional facilities.

That is part of the package that was announced last year as part of the national immigration framework for detentions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you.

I'll need to end you there.

You owe me a minute, Mr. Dubé.

Mr. Picard.

[Michel Picard, Liberal, Montarville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll try to limit my questions so that my colleague, Mr. Kang, can ask one later.

My first question concerns SIRC. I welcome the additional two million dollars for the relocation project. The money will help produce better reports and analyses.

Can you summarize or explain the following situation? Estimates were introduced recently. Was there an increase? Are you seeking a permanent budget? I want to put into perspective the additional two million dollars. What type of modernization are you talking about?

[Chantelle Bowers]

Thank you for the question.

The amount was allocated for the modernization and relocation project. The money was set aside for the project.

We were also recently granted a three-year extension for the funding to increase our human resources. That's another amount. Today, we're requesting funding specifically for the relocation and modernization project.

To answer your question on modernization, we're looking at updating our information management and information technology infrastructure, or our IM/IT infrastructure. The infrastructure is very outdated and needs an update. We're waiting until we relocate to a new building to do the update, given the security mechanisms needed for our organization. It's also a chance for SIRC to implement a project management and IT/IM system as part of the modernization.

[Michel Picard, Liberal, Montarville, QC]

We're talking about logistics instead. Okay.

Mr. Brown, let's talk about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or RCMP. I understand that the external review committee, an administrative tribunal, also receives funding, even from the RCMP. The estimates indicate a $600,000 decrease, which amounts to about 40%. Why doesn't the RCMP give this money back to the tribunal to help the tribunal carry out its work?

[Malcolm Brown]

A question directed to the RCMP really should be directed to the RCMP. They're not here today, so it's awkward for me to answer. I'm not going to get into why the RCMP may or may not be doing something. It's inappropriate for me to try to tackle that kind of answer.

[Michel Picard, Liberal, Montarville, QC]

That's fine.

I'll move on to the second question, which concerns the broadband network. Was this project developed following the events in Fort McMurray, or have we been talking about this project for some time? Since the Department of Public Safety is neither Bell nor Rogers, what progress has been made in terms of acquiring the necessary expertise? What steps have you taken to get a better idea of how to plan this major project?

[Malcolm Brown]

Thank you for your question.

There has been a long period of consultation with the provinces over the past few years. In 2015, the government decided to launch a consultation process to establish

the broadband network.

This is an initiative led by the public safety ministries both federally and provincially. We work very closely with our colleagues at Innovation, Science and Economic Development, which is clear in the funding request of a full $3 million. The expectation is that through the course of this year we will consult broadly with stakeholders on the structure of a broadband network. In reality, the technology is the easy part. It's the determination of system requirements—and the people who need to determine the system requirements are the users. Those are first responders and people in the front line. That's very much a responsibility of public safety ministries.

[Michel Picard, Liberal, Montarville, QC]

I'll give the floor to Mr. Kang.

[Darshan Singh Kang, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My questions are for the CBSA. Your agency is seeking $41.6 million to support a targeted admission of 300,000 immigrants under the government's 2017 plan. Is that enough money to process those applications in an orderly fashion? Is there a time frame for that?

[Tina Namiesniowski]

Mr. Chair, the additional $44 million, which includes the EBP, was calculated on the basis of an established formula that the government uses to estimate the costs of processing additional immigrants seeking to come to Canada.

Our sense is that yes, it is enough. The formula takes into account the speed in which we perform our role. But, of course, in relation to the multi-year levels plan, we're not the only one that operates in that space. It's very much a shared role that includes other partners, such as our colleagues at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the IRCC.

[Darshan Singh Kang, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Is there a time frame for security clearance, for example, such that it has to be done within two years or a certain period of time?

[Tina Namiesniowski]

In terms of the security clearance, we do play a role with respect to assessing the security-related considerations of any individuals who would potentially come to Canada as permanent residents. I'd have to get back to the committee, but I don't think we have a specific service standard for how quickly we do the security clearance. In part it depends on the complexity of each individual we look at.

[Darshan Singh Kang, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

That's what I'm getting at, how long a complex situation should take. Is it two years, three years, four years, five years? What would be a reasonable time? I have a couple of applications from gentlemen who have been waiting for seven or eight years. I don't think that's justified. It's uncalled for.

[Tina Namiesniowski]

It also depends on when we're asked to perform our role with respect to the security clearance piece of the application process. An applicant could potentially be in the system for a considerable period of time before we're actually asked to perform our piece of it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you. I need to end that there.

Mr. Miller.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Thank you very much.

Thanks to all of you for being here.

Ms. Namiesniowski, I hope I've pronounced your name correctly.

[Malcolm Brown]

Nobody in the portfolio does, except Tina.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

I apologize if I hatcheted it.

I have a question. You mentioned that some of the funding will go towards investing in the recruitment of new officers, and training, I presume. How many new officers will there be, and do you have any idea how many dollars it would take per officer to get somebody trained up to full speed?

[Tina Namiesniowski]

Mr. Chairman, let me attempt to answer that question. I do have a number. I'll have to dig into my material to find the actual amount that we've set aside for the recruitment piece associated with the levels plan.

It's part of our intake process. We will intake probably 300 to 400 people in any given year. It takes 22 weeks to put recruits through the training process at our college in Rigaud. We do have some attrition associated with that intake, because not everybody is necessarily successful at passing every piece of our training process, but we generally train about 300 people on an annual basis through our Rigaud facility.

As part of the immigration levels, we will have additional funding for recruitment. I'll get you the answer with respect to the number: it's $20 million of that $44 million that's for recruitment.

I'll also see if I can find you an answer with respect to how many people we expect in terms of increasing the complement of officers.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

I'd like to know how many you plan to train this year. You just mentioned 300.

[Tina Namiesniowski]

That's our regular training.

[Larry Miller, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Every year you train 300. Can you tell me how many of them are being trained due to attrition, to replace somebody, and how many are new, over and above the number you already have? Can you break that down for me?

[Tina Namiesniowski]

The 300 is what we typically train now—