Madam Speaker, I congratulate the previous speaker on his recent designation as world expert in the area of money laundering.
Bill C-22 is of course a very important bill before us today and it is long overdue. In the final analysis it will bring about some very necessary and important changes in the country.
Put quite simply, Bill C-22 will make it mandatory for financial institutions to report suspicious transactions and will create a new federal centre to receive and manage reported information with respect to potential criminal activity, both inside and outside our borders.
It is quite obvious that this should and is a priority for many in the country. Sadly, the government has waited a significant period of time before introducing the legislation, although there was an outcry from around the country, particularly within the policing sector, asking that something be done to assist them and to give them the tools to address this growing problem.
We all know that this is but part of a larger problem. That larger problem obviously being organized crime, again here in Canada.
To reflect upon the government's addressing of that, it took a motion from the Bloc Quebecois to bring this matter to the forefront, based on the fact that one of their own members was under threat of violence as a result of his addressing the issue.
This particular legislation focuses the efforts of the law enforcement community and the entire system on addressing the problem. The money that is often shifted between countries and financial institutions, investments of that sort without a paper trace, is something that opens the door to a significant ability to launder money, which is highly criminal and obviously highly attractive to criminal organizations.
We have to be more aggressive and more vigilant in addressing this problem. I commend the solicitor general for the legislation at this time because it does empower law enforcement agents to address this. This centre I do hope will become a focal point and will receive the funding necessary to do that good work.
Giving law enforcement agents the tools is the belief of the Progressive Conservative Party. I know the member for St. John's East, as do all members of our party, do support the idea that law enforcement agencies throughout the country, sadly, have not been given the resources and the support from the government to achieve the very important task that they have before them. This legislation does move in the right direction in that regard.
Canada has been under heavy criticism in recent years with respect to the fact that the United States is feeling more vulnerable as a result of our lax internal security measures.
When I am talking about trafficking, it is not only in money that we see this occurring. It is often very much the illicit drug trade, firearms, pornography and all those things which Canadians want to feel a significant degree of protection from and where we should be focusing our efforts to close down our borders with respect to that type of material.
Money laundering, in and of itself, poses to law enforcement personnel one of the greatest challenges in the ongoing battle of organized crime. To fight organized crime effectively, law enforcement agencies and we as legislators must address those challenges posed specifically by current trends in money laundering, and adapt strategies to respond to those challenges.