Madam Speaker, we do live on the border and it is impossible. It is a philosophy that kind of escapes me from a government's point of view.
In my riding there are two formal border crossings but between them lie miles and miles of woods and fields. About 10 minutes from my house there is a little ditch and a bunch of trails going across the border. One of them is called the Ho Chi Minh trail. At night the police sit and watch and try to apprehend people, when they can find them, transferring marijuana south for cocaine in return, transferring people south for money and guns in return, transferring alcohol in return for money, and on and on it goes.
About six members of the armed forces are asked to look after that whole area. Those six people work shifts. The problem is that the bad guys do not operate from nine to five. They usually operate at two, three and four in the morning.
It is impossible to watch the whole border. The traffic flows freely. I would be happy to show anyone the beaten down paths.
There is a lack of a philosophy and a lack of an overall concept of national security. Anyone who thinks this does not happen on a daily basis is kidding themselves. Drugs in, money out; marijuana down, cocaine back.