Madam Chair, thank you for that bit of advice. I understand that committee members would like to have a lot of time. That is what I want too.
My comments will reflect the importance that we attach to the subject matter of today's meeting. I also want to congratulate committee members on their work. When we realize the terrible effect these crimes have on victims, we understand how very important your study is.
I'll just give you a brief overview of how we look at this from a policing point of view and from a security point of view.
The 33 recommendations that came from your study and from your report have served in a number of ways to guide us in terms of how we conduct various operations that are within the agencies and the purview of public safety. A lot of those recommendations were discussed today, and if there's more information you need, I can forward it to you, but you'll find they are kind of woven into the work that we have done.
When you look at the importance of the issue, how we have looked at it over the last two years since forming a government has paralleled that. For instance, we've increased by $6 million the amount of money to go to the RCMP National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre. If committee members would like to view that centre, Madam Chair, I make that opportunity available. You would be quite impressed with what goes on there, with the high-tech nature of it, and also the high level of dedication of the officers who work in incredibly demanding and sometimes excruciating situations. There's also the Human Trafficking National Coordination Centre within the RCMP for the purpose of coordinating the various activities.
As my colleague has just said, we've also tried to categorize the issues of safety and security into four areas: protection, prevention, prosecution, and the fourth, one that the RCMP and various areas of my department are charged with, the whole area of partnerships. We try to work in a coordinated way with about 18 different departments. You can imagine that that would be a challenge, but on an issue like this, I think people are motivated to put aside the issues that are related to silos and really work together.
In terms of the border itself, we've increased the number of border officers across the country, and we are in the process of hiring 400 more. All of the new hires and the existing ones get specific training related to the issue of human trafficking. In the last year, we've increased funding by $24 million for the integrated border enforcement teams, IBETs. Through these, our officers work in conjunction with officers on the other side of the border. They are also specifically trained and geared towards being attentive and attuned to what to look for as signs of possible human trafficking. There is much increased activity focusing on the issues you're concerned with here today.
Around the world, through CBSA, we have 44 migration integrity officers in 39 different locations. They are specifically trained and sensitized to the area of human trafficking to be able to prevent it, or, if there is going to be a prosecution, to be careful and fully informed of the protocols to make sure that prevention would take place or that those prosecutions would be successful.
In your report, you talk about the importance of national awareness in a number of different places. The RCMP is working with Crime Stoppers to develop, specifically for the area of human trafficking, education and awareness programs to provide the capability to have people call in for information if they are threatened, at risk, or aware that others may be at risk.
There's a high degree of cooperation going on there with local agencies across the country. This is the type of thing that, as you know from your study, can't be done just from a tower in Ottawa if we're going to combat it successfully. We have to be energizing and funding local groups and local organizations who know what's going on, on the street, and who can communicate back and forth to the various agencies.
As my colleague has indicated—and we'll also hear more about the IRPA from my colleague—there have been some modifications made to the Criminal Code to directly address the area related to human trafficking. That equips our officers to be able to move in, in an effective way, in this particular field.
You are right to be concerned about the 2010 Olympics. I can tell you that the amount of work that's obviously going into security in general for the Olympics is very extensive and detailed. This also involves our international partners, and it has involved some careful study of other international events in the past years. There's always the potential of problems related to human trafficking at a globally attractive event like the Olympics.
If there's a positive to this, we find, in looking at the events themselves and in doing significant criminal studies of past events—Olympics, G-8 meetings, large events like World Cup soccer—that in fact, because there is so much focus on security and because there is a higher level of scrutiny of people coming into the country, such as passports, visas, and other things, there's not a giant blip upwards in the particular activity of human trafficking related to a specific event. The possibilities are there. The concerns are there. There are related activities that have to be watched out for. But because there is such a focus on security itself, it has a deterring effect.
Having said that, our officers in the security, planning, and prevention process are very vigorous and very robust in relation to the Olympics. That's a message we're sending out to our partners, but we're also sending it out to those who might be thinking about being engaged in that type of activity.
I want to thank you again for your work and give you all the time you need to ask us the questions and give us the advice we need to make sure we're doing all we can to protect Canadians, especially in the particular area of your study here.
Thank you.