Mr. Speaker, I wish to inform you that I also intend to share my time.
The motion before the House today is one of great importance. It touches each and every Canadian, in fact it involves everyone around the world. The problem of organized crime is one that has no borders. Organized criminal groups do not even have to operate in Canada to have victims here. Simply put, organized crime is a global problem.
The government has made great strides in the fight against organized crime. We recognize it as the government's number one law enforcement priority. We have worked with other jurisdictions to provide enforcement agencies with more and better tools to fight organized crime.
In the recent Speech from the Throne the government repeated its commitment to fighting organized crime to make our communities safer places to live. The RCMP plays a key role in the fight against organized crime. In fact, for the first time ever, the RCMP recently created the new position of deputy commissioner in charge of organized crime investigations.
The government also recognizes that in the war on organized crime no level of government can act alone. Many levels of law enforcement and government are involved in protecting public safety. That is why fighting organized crime in a co-ordinated way is the key priority, indeed it is essential. In recent years the federal government has taken many steps in partnership with the provinces and territories to help the police in its fight against organized crime.
Canadians know that this government has a longstanding commitment to provide safe communities. Our efforts to fight organized crime have been and continue to be comprehensive and wide ranging. I would like to outline some of the examples of the initiatives we have taken since 1993.
The anti-smuggling initiative introduced in 1994 provides resources for the RCMP, Justice Canada and Revenue Canada. It targets smuggling and distribution networks at the border, in our ports and across the country. This initiative has led to 17,000 smuggling related charges and fines totalling over $113 million. This year the federal government injected another $78 million over four years to fight smuggling.
Money laundering is another major part of organized crime. That is why we created 13 integrated proceeds of crime units in 1997. These units bring together police, government and outside experts to target organized criminal groups and seize their ill-gotten gains. Over $110 million has been collected so far. Simply put, these units are designed to take the profit out of organized crime.
In April 1997 the government put forward a strong anti-gang bill. These changes to the criminal code make participating in criminal organizations an indictable offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Also, amendments made to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act prevent people convicted of organized crime offences from getting accelerated parole review.
In May 1997 this government passed legislation to control illicit drugs. We modernized our approach to drug control with innovative police techniques for money laundering and drug investigations. These developments toughened Canada's enforcement efforts and in particular, undercover investigations directed at high level drug traffickers.
The Criminal Law Improvement Act adopted in 1997 established new provisions in the criminal code to allow police to conduct undercover anti money laundering operations.
New telemarketing fraud offences were created by the amendments to the Competition Act last March. These offences are now considered enterprise crimes. This means that they are within the scope of the criminal code scheme for seizure and forfeiture of proceeds of crime.
As the House will recall, DNA data bank legislation was given royal assent last December. Since then the RCMP, working with partners, has been busy setting up the system. They expect to have it up and running by June 2000. Canada is breaking new ground in establishing this national data bank. It will have great implications for law enforcement in the new millennium.
The national DNA data bank will help to identify suspects more quickly and speed up criminal investigations. It will shorten trials and lead to more guilty pleas. One important application of this technology is to clear innocent people who have been wrongly convicted.
Last April I announced $115 million to rebuild the Canadian Police Information Centre, known as CPIC, with modern computer technology. A crucial improvement will be in the ability to share information more widely in a more timely manner among police, prosecutors, courts, corrections and parole. It complements the work of the provinces and territories which are themselves investing in improved information sharing.
CPIC will be replaced with a modern computer system for improving information sharing with other law enforcement agencies, provincial and federal databases. This translates into more crime prevented or solved, or a better co-ordination of action against organized crime.
Five months ago I announced approximately $15 million for the RCMP to fight organized crime at Canada's three largest airports, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. As a result, there are now 100 more RCMP members to increase federal policing pressure to target organized criminals who use these airports to get into Canada.
In September 1996 the Solicitor General and the Minister of Justice hosted a national forum on organized crime that brought together the police, federal and provincial governments, the private sector, the legal community and academics. At that time it was clear that Canada needed a more co-ordinated approach to fight organized crime.
It is precisely with this in mind that this week in Vancouver the Minister of Justice and I will meet with our provincial and territorial colleagues. We will be discussing the challenges posed by organized crime and what more we can do collectively to deal with the problem. It is only by continuing to work effectively in partnership with other levels of government, the law enforcement community and others that we can put in place the arrangement needed to protect Canadians.
There is no easy solution to this problem. That is why I am pleased to support this motion before the House. As I have said, this government has identified organized crime as its top law enforcement priority.
We have brought together provincial and municipal governments. We have discussed possible solutions with our international partners. We have sought the views of those in the law enforcement community across Canada and around the world. We recognize that in the fight against organized crime we must gather our forces and involve as many people as possible to find the solution. That includes bringing the matter before the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
Organized criminals target the most vulnerable in our society and they make victims of us all. We owe it to Canadians to bring our resources together to fight organized crime.