Public Safety Committee on March 24th, 2026

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

I would say that the president of the CBSA—

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

I am sorry to interrupt again, but that's my unfortunate job.

We'll have to conduct this in a manner that is suitable to everyone's understanding. Given that the time is over, we'll need to turn to MP—

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

I have 15 seconds more, by my watch.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

I can give you 15 more seconds.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

Thank you.

Minister, Canadians are experiencing crime at an unprecedented level, and you just said it's not your job to know. For that, you should be ashamed. It is your job to know. The buck stops with you.

That's my time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

Thank you, Mr. Caputo.

Now it's MP Acan for six minutes, please.

[Sima Acan, Liberal, Oakville West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's a sad start for me to see this. Being respectful is a different thing and asking straightforward questions is a different thing. Once again, we are seeing a very disrespectful start to this meeting, and finishing that 15 seconds with this comment will definitely make good clips for our colleague across the table.

Going back to the minister, I had the privilege of joining you and members of this committee in witnessing the graduation of the officers in class 25C of the CBSA, who will be stationed at points of entry and facilities across our country. Once again, thank you very much for including members of this committee and inviting us to that meaningful day.

Graduation ceremonies like the one we attended symbolize the investments made by CBSA instructors into training new officers, but they are also a reminder of the investments made by the department and the government to support the recruitment of border agents.

Regarding the recruitment of 1,000 new RCMP and 1,000 CBSA personnel to strengthen our border, could you please speak to how the funding in the estimates will supplement the recruitment initiatives outlined by our government?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

Thank you, Ms. Acan.

I want to thank members of the committee who were at the first CBSA graduation several weeks ago. I note that on April 2, the first cohort of canine units trained on fentanyl will also be graduating, along with other members of CBSA.

I would like to invite President O'Gorman and Commissioner Duheme to give a response to your question.

[Erin O'Gorman, President, Canada Border Services Agency]

In terms of CBSA officers, we've hired 50, and we currently have 90 at the college. I'm hoping—God willing—they all graduate.

It's a tough curriculum, but they should graduate by June. Every cohort after that will have members who are attributed to the 1,000 officers.

[Sima Acan, Liberal, Oakville West, ON]

Thank you very much for your answer.

Can you also explain, Minister, how this funding complements existing recruitment work and the training programs already under way with the RCMP and CBSA?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

Commissioner, do you want to answer this?

[Commissioner Michael Duheme, Commissioner, Royal Canadian Mounted Police]

Yes, sure.

When you're looking at the request for funding in the supplementary (C)s, it's hitting three key areas: federal policing when it comes to our investigative capability; cross-border criminal activity; and targeting clandestine laboratories and synthetic drugs.

On drug-impaired driving enforcement, the RCMP has the lead to train law enforcement from across the country to keep them up to date, with the continuous training and certification of individuals. The last money we're asking for in the supplementary (C)s is for the national security and intelligence review requirements. The last two are recurrent funding that were always related to the TB submission, to have a proper team to respond to any NSICOP or NSIRA requests.

As for the 1,000, I can share with you that the budget for the RCMP will be coming on April 1, and we've already planned a series of hiring for 750 police officers.

[Sima Acan, Liberal, Oakville West, ON]

Thank you very much, Commissioner.

The following question can probably be answered by Ms. O'Gorman and you, Commissioner.

Will this funding be directed towards modernizing the training facilities, equipment or technology to support increased frontline capacity for the agencies?

[Erin O'Gorman]

I can start.

Part of the funding will be for increasing the stipend that's available. That will allow us to recruit a broader, diverse array of people into the college. It will also equip all of our new officers. In tandem, we've received money through the border plan for significant new equipment: large-scale imaging, detector dog teams and handheld devices.

There will be equipment, large and small, in addition to the personal equipment that all new officers will receive.

[Sima Acan, Liberal, Oakville West, ON]

Thank you very much.

[Commr Michael Duheme]

Are you referring to the budget for the 1,000 new officers?

[Sima Acan, Liberal, Oakville West, ON]

I meant the funding that will come to the agencies.

[Commr Michael Duheme]

I would separate it into three different areas.

One is investigative capability, which touches on national security, transnational organized crime, Arctic security, covert operations, our international footprint and our technical capabilities. That would be one tranche. The other one is with regard to the program training intake model, to look at a training unit for federal policing and applicant screening, because there is a considerable number of new people coming through the process. There's also funding for data digitalization for federal policing in order to upgrade our current systems to improve efficiencies.

[Sima Acan, Liberal, Oakville West, ON]

Thank you very much, Commissioner.

Minister, you and many of my colleagues know that I use all opportunities to go around the country and visit with law enforcement and do site visits with them. I had the opportunity to visit the Cornwall point of entry and understand the different operational needs that frontline officers require when it comes to stopping smuggling at the border. This includes the use of different equipment or specialized units to support investigations and operations, whether it's a tactical unit, a canine unit or the surveillance unit.

Regarding the allocation of funding, could you please speak to how these strategic investments will support personnel at our borders, in particular RCMP border integrity units in regions experiencing cross-border smuggling and organized crime?

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

Unfortunately, we went over the time, MP Acan, so I would invite the—

[Sima Acan, Liberal, Oakville West, ON]

That was a good question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

It was a great question. The time is not so great, so we'll have to find a way for you to get the proper answer from the department and the minister.

We now go to Mrs. DeBellefeuille for six minutes.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for being with us, Minister.

We'll quickly try to understand the cuts. I've read your departmental plans for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the RCMP, which include 173 full-time job cuts, representing $130 million over three years. Given what the Auditor General noted in her report about the RCMP's difficulty in recruiting, I don't see how you'll be able to attain your goal of hiring 1,000 border officers, especially since you stated in a press conference that, to keep people safe, the gaps identified by the Auditor General would be filled from among the 1,000 officers to be hired.

I'd like to hear your explanation for that because, right now, I don't agree with you at all. The 1,000 officers need to be dedicated to border management. Are you telling me that these officers are essentially going to be taken away from the border? The number one priority was to have 1,000 officers dedicated to border security. I also doubt that you'll be able to recruit within the deadlines you've set.

How do you explain your answer that officers will be sent to national police services or indigenous jurisdictions?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

Thank you for the question, Mrs. DeBellefeuille.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, ON]

I just want to clarify that with respect to the CBSA, there is a plan, and we can elaborate on the plan itself. People are already graduating from CBSA, from Rigaud, and they are going out into the community—