Public Safety Committee on Dec. 9th, 2025

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingdon, QC]

Okay.

[Brian Sauvé]

If the agency lets him go on his own or if he doesn't report to the authorities, it will come back to the Sûreté du Québec as a priority.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingdon, QC]

Are you made aware of smugglers who have been removed and suddenly return to Canada and continue to carry out illegal smuggling? For example, does the agency inform you when a smuggler has returned to Canada with another identity or name and is still illegally smuggling? Are you in close enough contact with the agency to be informed of that?

[Brian Sauvé]

The integrated team we were talking about earlier—the Sûreté du Québec; the Canada Border Services Agency; U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP; and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police—has that information. If someone who has been removed from Canada after serving in prison returns to engage in human trafficking, among other things, that information will immediately be sent to the integrated team.

That said, some always come back.

Criminals like to evade.

They evade law enforcement. They always find new tricks, and Canada is a fantastic place to be.

That's why everybody wants to be here.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingdon, QC]

It's a sieve.

[Brian Sauvé]

That's right.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Frank Caputo]

Thank you, Mrs. DeBellefeuille. Your time is up.

With that, we will move on to Mr. Au for five minutes, please.

[Chak Au, Conservative, Richmond Centre—Marpole, BC]

Thank you very much for the presentation. I agree with most of your recommendations.

Let's begin perhaps with the issues about identification. Right now, I want to know if there is one central place where police officers can access information about a person who's in front of the officer as to whether or not this guy is wanted. Is there one single place where you can get information?

[Brian Sauvé]

Yes. That's the Canadian Police Information Centre. We call it CPIC.

[Chak Au, Conservative, Richmond Centre—Marpole, BC]

Okay. How is this related to the information in the CBSA's possession?

[Brian Sauvé]

Well, when CPIC information is not updated in a timely fashion, that has an impact on law enforcement operations across the country. If someone is arrested on a domestic violence charge and is facing a first appearance, that information, with those conditions or release conditions, needs to be updated to CPIC in a timely fashion, so that other law enforcement agencies or other police officers who might encounter that individual can enforce those conditions. It's really speed and the ability to update CPIC.

[Chak Au, Conservative, Richmond Centre—Marpole, BC]

Right now, how fast is that being updated?

[Brian Sauvé]

The platform probably deserves a renewal. I think it's very old software.

[Chak Au, Conservative, Richmond Centre—Marpole, BC]

Okay. Very good.

Again, in an operation, assuming that a police officer encounters a person, is it automatic that the RCMP officer would check on the person's status as to whether or not he's wanted or whether there are any outstanding deportation warrants?

[Brian Sauvé]

I mean, assuming we.... We are assuming—let's start there. The assumption is that the person I stopped on the side of the road is going to be honest with me and give me their true identity. That's the first assumption. Assuming that we're dealing with the true first name, last name, date of birth and some physical characteristics, I can be accurate in my results search from CPIC. However, we're talking about folks who are not necessarily honest here, because they are trying to evade arrest. They know they are being sought for deportation or that they've missed an appearance, so it might take a bit longer to figure that one out. Then, we get into challenges of lawful detention and how long I can hold someone roadside for a motor vehicle act offence.

Obviously, identity is a challenge. It is one of the core tenets of being able to hold someone at the side of the road. However, it becomes more challenging, from a police officer's perspective, to work through pictures, physical characteristics and all of those things to ensure you're dealing with the right person.

[Chak Au, Conservative, Richmond Centre—Marpole, BC]

In other words, even if the person is wanted and he's in front of you, sometimes you cannot really identify that this is the guy who has to be arrested and detained.

[Brian Sauvé]

I'm saying that sometimes it takes longer. Sometimes you might even have to go to the extent of taking that person into custody and asking for fingerprints to get to that point.

[Chak Au, Conservative, Richmond Centre—Marpole, BC]

Again, if you have that person and you've identified he is the guy who's wanted and has a deportation warrant, what's next? Would you keep the person for as long as you need, or do you need to pass it on to CBSA for further action?

[Brian Sauvé]

It gets passed on to CBSA. We would take that person into custody, they would be brought into our cells, obviously, and then CBSA would be notified. It is their deportation warrant, so we would transfer custody to them and they would take care of them.

[Chak Au, Conservative, Richmond Centre—Marpole, BC]

Usually, how long would it take for the transfer?

[Brian Sauvé]

It depends on where you are. If you're in a major centre, it could be within hours. However, if you're in Fort St. John, or Cold Lake, Alberta, it might be the next day or two days.

[Chak Au, Conservative, Richmond Centre—Marpole, BC]

Has it happened before that, due to administrative or policy restrictions, you have to release that person before they can be handed over to CBSA?

[Brian Sauvé]

The RCMP wouldn't release unless CBSA authorizes the release.

[Chak Au, Conservative, Richmond Centre—Marpole, BC]

Do you have the authority to keep the person as long as needed?

[Brian Sauvé]

Yes.