Public Safety Committee on Sept. 25th, 2025

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

Ms. Dandurand, you have the floor.

[Marianne Dandurand, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Mr. Chair, you said that the member was off topic, but he's asking the same question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

Members get a certain amount of leeway in terms of the questions they ask, but witnesses, of course, can't always provide the helpful answers that members want if the questions don't relate to the topic on the agenda.

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

On the same point of order, Mr. Chair, I will continue. The reason I will continue is that we are talking about auto theft. Central to auto theft is our border. Central to our border is how many RCMP officers are there. Central to how many RCMP officers are there is how many were promised. I will continue on with this questioning.

Mr. Price, are you prepared to send a text message to somebody who knows, and then we can come back to you in the next round?

[Liam Price]

Mr. Chair—

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

Mr. Ehsassi, you have the floor.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Mr. Chair, we're all familiar with the procedures that are used in committee. The way it works, as I'm sure Mr. Caputo is fully aware, is not that you ask a witness to text someone back in the department. That is truly unprofessional and a practice we would not want to encourage here.

If Mr. Caputo wants to ask Mr. Price to follow up with information, that is permitted, but the practice Mr. Caputo is promoting is truly unprofessional.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

Thank you for pointing this out.

Obviously, Mr. Caputo and all other MPs are free to formulate their questions in the way they choose, but obviously they will want to take into account those points of view.

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

Unfortunately for my Liberal colleague, I'm here on behalf of Canadians who have questions. We need those questions answered and we need those questions answered now.

I don't think it's unprofessional to ask a senior member of the RCMP whether they can get the information in a timely manner. In fact, I think that's not only professional; it is my constitutional obligation as a member of His Majesty's loyal opposition.

How many containers—

[Jacques Ramsay, Liberal, La Prairie—Atateken, QC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

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

Okay, this is getting ridiculous.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

Go ahead, Mr. Ramsay.

[Jacques Ramsay, Liberal, La Prairie—Atateken, QC]

Mr. Caputo is on the same line. He's asking an officer a question on something that is not his area. He doesn't work in human resources but on car thefts, so I don't think it's realistic to ask him to answer the question and to imply that he should know that answer.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

Again, witnesses have the freedom to say whether they can or cannot answer the questions.

I'll follow up again with you, Mr. Caputo.

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

On the same point of order, I've been interrupted three times while asking a very basic question.

There were promises made by this government. I am asking whether—

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

I have a point of order.

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

No, I have the floor here, Chair. I'm responding on a point of order. He cannot raise a point of order on my point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

It's the same point of order. I think we've already discussed it quite well now, so I would just encourage everyone to focus on the issue of interest today.

We have the benefit of three great witnesses and we want to hear from them.

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

Has my time been stopped throughout?

[The Chair, Liberal, Jean-Yves Duclos]

I will enhance your time. You have another minute and a half.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The point I'm trying to get to, Mr. Price, is this: This issue has come up in the House of Commons countless times. We all can acknowledge that. You are a senior member of the RCMP. I think it's reasonable that we, as parliamentarians, would expect that if you don't have an answer, you will get that answer forthwith. We would also expect and hope that this is information you would be armed with when you come to committee.

I will move on.

Mr. McCrorie, what percentage of export containers are scanned at the border?

[Aaron McCrorie]

Thank you for the question.

I couldn't give you a breakdown in terms of import versus export, but I'd suggest that around 1% to 2% of containers are examined.

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

I'm not talking about imports. I've asked this question before. I'm aware of the answer, but I need to get it on the record.

One per cent to 2% of import containers, or 1.5%, are scanned. I'm only asking about export. Do you have statistics about how many export containers are scanned? That's where the stolen vehicles are.

[Aaron McCrorie]

It'll be a fraction of that.

What I need to emphasize is that what we're talking about here is whether or not those containers are physically examined or scanned with an X-ray machine, for example.