Mr. Speaker, it was a tragedy the other evening when lives were lost in an illegal attempt to smuggle people across the border.
The hon. member knows that any such activity is a criminal offence under the present laws of Canada, that the RCMP work closely with the American immigration and naturalization service. Every effort is made to discourage, detect and to prosecute this unlawful activity.
The reality is that some three years ago, the government created the anti-smuggling initiative which represented an increased investment of funds and people into the resources of the RCMP and related services to deal with smuggling in general, including the smuggling of people.
Our resolve in that regard continues. We shall do everything we can to detect and to prosecute such illegal activity.