Evidence of meeting #19 for Public Safety and National Security in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was officers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Claude DeBellefeuille Bloc Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingdon, QC
Mr. Chair, I'm going to use these two minutes to give Mr. Sauvé the opportunity to make the most important recommendation related to our study. In other words, it's a matter of looking at how we could intervene more quickly to neutralize foreign criminal nationals.
Mr. Sauvé, if you have a recommendation to suggest to us, I'll let you describe it.
President, National Police Federation
In budget 2025, the federal government committed to hiring 1,000 Canada Border Services Agency officers and 1,000 RCMP officers. The budget also provides for investments in modernizing technology and equipment, which will serve to ensure border security. The work really starts at the border. We need a secure border. We're on the same page about reducing illegal crossings.
Those 1,000 Canada Border Services Agency officers and those 1,000 RCMP officers will have new tools and new technologies to fulfill their mandates. It's about strengthening intelligence sharing, because our priority is to secure the border. That way, we're going to remove all the malicious individuals who are in Canada. We're making that a priority and will be reporting on it about twice a year.
Bloc
Claude DeBellefeuille Bloc Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingdon, QC
I have one last question for you.
Are you in favour of the RCMP's request for satellite stations, especially for officers working at the southern border in Quebec?
The RCMP is asking for satellite stations so that police officers can be closer to the border. Stations are often far from the border, which poses a challenge in terms of travel. In the context of the current study, do you think it would be beneficial to encourage the creation of satellite stations so that it's possible to intervene more quickly?
President, National Police Federation
I couldn't agree more.
I think my colleague Mr. Bédard talked about this last time we appeared before the committee. In the Beauce region, for example, there are 470 kilometres of border that have to be secured, all along which satellite stations would be really welcome.
Bloc
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Frank Caputo
Thank you, Mr. Sauvé and Mrs. DeBellefeuille.
For the committee's benefit, we started at 11:49. We are currently at 12:41, so we have eight minutes. I'm in the committee's hands here as to whether we finish up. We've heard a great deal of testimony, because we had only one opening statement. We could have four minutes apiece and use most of our time, or, obviously, the chair has to entertain a motion to adjourn. I'm in the committee's hands here.
Would you like four minutes each?
Okay. I'm not sure who from the Conservatives will be going ahead here.
It's Mr. Au. Thank you.
Conservative
Chak Au Conservative Richmond Centre—Marpole, BC
This is a question I want to ask.
You talked about needing more resources and more support for the enforcement force. The government talks about hiring more RCMP and CBSA officers. However, at the same time, the minister has confirmed that there will be a 2% cut to both the RCMP and CBSA budgets. How will this play out?
On the one hand, you need more, but at the same time the government is telling you that it's going to cut 2%. What is your response?
President, National Police Federation
The responsible government spending initiative, I think it is, will cut 2%, meaning $98 million over three years, for the RCMP. Members have asked me about that as well. They come and say, “Well, how are we going to cut $98 million and hire at the same time?” That's a quandary.
In my discussions with the commissioner, with the RCMP, their 2% has been solely focused on meeting the administrative challenges they face within the national headquarters area by amalgamating numerous policy centres into one policy centre and being more strategic with the deployment of their resources in an administrative capacity. I've had a commitment from the commissioner that the 2% will not impact operations at all.
I know there have been some impacts to operations over the last five months as they awaited their funding envelope from budget 2025, but now that the funding is in place, I'm still following up with the commissioner to ensure that none of those operations are frozen.
Conservative
Chak Au Conservative Richmond Centre—Marpole, BC
Also, in your presentation you mentioned the high risk for your officers in carrying out those duties. Can you elaborate on that and how these types of issues can be addressed?
President, National Police Federation
Let's just start with a traffic stop, for example. Police officers have no idea who's in that car, whether it's the driver or any of the passengers. That's where your risk is heightened. One of the most dangerous things a police officer can do is a traffic stop, whether it be in broad daylight at Portage la Prairie on Highway 1 or in the middle of the night in Surrey, B.C., or New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.
You need to have accurate information and have resources available to you. It might be as simple as backup, the ability to have another police officer available to you within a reasonable time frame to support you should something go south.
Conservative
Chak Au Conservative Richmond Centre—Marpole, BC
Do you think you do not have that kind of support at the present moment?
President, National Police Federation
It depends on where you are. In some places in Saskatchewan or Manitoba or Nunavut or the Northwest Territories, or even across New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and British Columbia, backup might be an hour away.
Conservative
Chak Au Conservative Richmond Centre—Marpole, BC
You also mentioned that in some areas there's a very high number of people on warrant. It seems like the Toronto area is one of those districts, so again, what do you see as the problem? Why is it?
President, National Police Federation
Obviously, Toronto has a municipal police service, the Toronto Police Service, which does a fantastic job of serving Torontonians, and Toronto is surrounded by a number of other municipal police agencies. With a lot of police services being able to bring support, you could end up in a more favourable situation if you require assistance, and then there's the OPP as well. However, in larger geographical places such as Manitoba, you're surrounded by a lot of small communities, and it can be easier to hide in a smaller community than in a larger centre.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Frank Caputo
Thank you very much, Mr. Sauvé and Mr. Au.
It's now the Liberals' turn.
Ms. Acan, you have the floor for four minutes.
Liberal
Sima Acan Liberal Oakville West, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Sauvé, Canada is the only Five Eyes partner lacking comprehensive lawful access legislation, a gap the National Police Federation seeks to resolve through the provisions still contained in Bill C-2, parts 14 and 15.
When investigating sophisticated cyber-enabled threats and organized crime networks operating abroad, how does the absence of parity in lawful access capabilities hinder the RCMP's ability to efficiently co-operate and share with allies, such as the U.S., real-time intelligence that will be immediately relevant to enforcing deportation orders against criminal foreign nationals?
President, National Police Federation
From the operational perspective, I'm sure you've had some great witnesses from the RCMP to speak to that. From our perspective, what we see is that we get slower. In this information age, in 2025 and 2026, I don't think anybody—in Canada, at least—predicted how quickly things would meteorically explode.
At our last committee meeting, Dr. West was speaking about IP addresses that can be alive for just minutes, versus hours, weeks, months or years. I've spoken to criminals who use burner phones and ditch the phone, or the subscriber information is not accurate. If we were able to access that information in a timely fashion to be able to work with our Five Eyes partners or across to the United States, for example, we could be a valued partner. However, if we can't get it in a timely manner or it no longer exists, all of a sudden we aren't such a valued partner.
Liberal
Sima Acan Liberal Oakville West, ON
Thank you so much.
Part 6 of Bill C-12 strengthens the information sharing between IRCC, CBSA and federal and provincial police partners.
Given that inadmissibility based on security grounds requires robust intelligence, how significantly does improved inter-agency co-operation enable the RCMP to provide early actionable intelligence necessary for CBSA officers to make efficient inadmissibility determinations, thereby safeguarding the integrity of Canada's entry and removal system?
President, National Police Federation
I think it's extremely important. That goes back to when Mr. Powlowski and I were talking about integration and inter-agency co-operation. From the border security perspective, I've had the opportunity to speak to a number of my colleagues in New York and Vermont, their state trooper associations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. When working together, they work extremely well, even though we're talking about different nations sharing information. Police officers—law enforcement officers—on the street will get the job done and work extremely well together.
It's when it goes up to the agency higher-ups that they start to question how much information they can share—if they have to leave in page 2 or if they have to take it out or cut out that paragraph. That's where it becomes challenging.
Being able to share is great.
President, National Police Federation
Yes, and I'm not a fan of silos unless I'm in the Prairies.
Liberal