Mr. Speaker, Canada has ratified the United Nations Basel convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous waste, and we take it seriously.
The new Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, which came into force on April 1 last year, provides my department's enforcement officers, who incidentally have been substantially increased in numbers, with new tools to combat the illegal disposition of hazardous waste, such as new regulations to control certain waste, requirements for disposal plans by exporters and new criteria for permits.