Mr. Speaker, that is a very good question. It is a question that I continually asked the previous government. Frankly it did not do a heck of a lot to solve it. However we have taken the bull by the horns and are starting to address these
issues. It is not simple. We cannot just bring in legislation and all of a sudden think it will solve the problem.
As a government we have gone beyond the legislative process. First and foremost we must work with Canadians on the matter. We must work with local communities that are having specific problems in terms of smuggling. We have increased the enforcement aspect of it. We have put more police on it. We have a large border. We have the largest undefended border in the world. We have a particular problem in Canada to deal with. One of the ways to deal with it is through enforcement.
Another way is to make sure that when laws are brought in and criminals are convicted they get the punishment they deserve and we do not bargain off their penalties for other things. That is the commitment made by the government. We are not only bringing in tougher laws. We will make sure the penalties for people breaking those laws are in force, that they serve their time and the penalties are not bargained off somehow.
That is not easy to do. Changes to our criminal justice system cannot happen overnight. We are working on it. We will make sure the criminals are told they should not be involved in this type of activity.