Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join hon. members and all Canadians in marking International Customs Day. As hon. members know our more than 5,000 Revenue Canada customs officers are the first people that visitors to our country and returning Canadians meet.
This is the International Year of the Family. Revenue Canada customs officers help reunite families by locating and returning to parents or lawful guardians missing or abducted children. They went above and beyond the call of duty all the while doing their jobs inspecting commercial shipments, processing more than 122 million travellers and seizing more than $1.3 billion worth of illegal drugs last year.
I assure all members of the House and all Canadians that the government is committed to maintaining and strengthening all components of national revenue so it may be more responsive to the needs of Canadians.
I call on all hon. members to join me in saluting our customs officers on this 41st anniversary of International Customs Day.