I want to add just a couple of things.
Thinking outside the box was discussed. I think that should be a definite direction for this committee. There may be things that have been done for a while that need to be looked at. For example, we see one, and again, it may not be at the top of the list of major issues, but we see a jurisdictional issue.
I listened to Mark Weber, a prior witness, who is the union head for CBSA, say that he feels his frontline officers aren't able to do certain things. We also see that as a port operator. There are situations that may be different, let's say, on the U.S. side versus Canada.
If an issue arises on our bridge, we're directed to call the local law enforcement. We're actually calling regional police or the RCMP, and there may be a time delay in getting to the border to handle an issue. That's something that may have been done for a while, but again, I did hear Mark Weber complain about it from his perspective.
We just don't understand it ourselves, but that's one small area, I guess, that I would take a look at and ask why it is that we have CBSA officers who have guns and are able to...but they must be getting told as part of their mandate not to confront anyone, that local law enforcement has to be called.
That's a small issue, but thinking outside of the box I think is something that we all can do. I think all the port operators are willing to get involved in any type of pilot program to assist with any type of infrastructure, move things forward faster and experiment.
I'll take Queenston Plaza, for example. We have eight truck bays. Before this testimony, I asked how often they are used. Typically, I think the most anybody has ever seen is four truck bays being used at one time, and that's extremely unusual.
We have infrastructure. We have facilities. We just need to find a way to use them. Obviously, an additional 1,000 officers will help, but more than the 1,000 officers, improving any of the IT work or anything along that side is going to be critical.