Mr. Speaker, I rise today to provide you with an overview of the government's response, working in close collaboration with its provincial, territorial and law enforcement partners, to the problem of organized crime in Canada.
I support the motion before us because we need more tools against organized crime. Organized crime is a diverse and persistent problem. It extends into every community in Canada, whether it is violent turf wars among rival gangs on our streets, marijuana grow operations in our residential neighbourhoods, or telemarketing schemes that prey upon our senior citizens.
We know that organized crime is increasingly profitable and increasingly costly for hard-working Canadians who face higher taxes and insurance premiums as a result of these activities. As someone who has been a registered insurance broker for the past 25 years, I know well the impact of claims on Canadians, on individuals, business people, and indeed, even on not for profit community organizations.
In response to this diverse and pervasive problem, Canada has established a strong record of concerted and vigorous action. In the year 2000, federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for justice endorsed the national agenda to combat organized crime. The national agenda recognizes that the fight against organized crime is a national priority that requires governments and the law enforcement community to work together.
The national agenda sets out a blueprint for action to combat organized crime in four key areas: through improved national and regional coordination; through stronger legislative and regulatory tools; through additional research and analysis; and through more effective communications and public education efforts.
I would like to take the time today to highlight just a few of the many steps federal, provincial and territorial governments have taken under the national agenda to combat organized crime.
Efforts under the national agenda are coordinated through a national coordinating committee on organized crime, a group composed of federal, provincial and territorial officials, prosecutors and law enforcement representatives, which is supported by five regional coordinating committees.
When ministers endorsed the national agenda in 2000, they also endorsed a list of shared priority issues that need to be addressed by governments and enforcement partners alike: illicit drugs, outlaw motorcycle gangs, economic crime, high tech crime, money laundering, trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling, corruption, and street gangs.
Today I would like to highlight some of our collective efforts to address these priority issues.
Illicit drug trade tops the list. The government has made substantial investments to reduce the supply of and demand for drugs. In 2003, when the Canada strategy was renewed, an additional $245 million over five years was committed to bolster our efforts in the areas of prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement. As well, under the renewed strategy, the RCMP is receiving new resources to combat the production and trafficking of marijuana and synthetic drugs in Canada.
Efforts to combat outlaw motorcycle gangs, another top priority, were bolstered by Criminal Code amendments that came into force in 2002. These included new offences and tough sentences targeting involvement with criminal organizations. Strong partnerships among law enforcement agencies are vital to dismantling these organized crime groups and the RCMP plays a very active and necessary role in mitigating this criminal threat. In the last two years, collaborative police efforts have led to the arrest of hundreds of outlaw motorcycle gang members and associates.
Efforts to combat economic crime, whether it is identity theft, credit card fraud, telemarketing fraud, fraudulent solicitations, security and stock market fraud or counterfeiting, represent another top priority in the fight against organized crime. Economic crime victimizes Canadians of all ages and occupations. It also has a negative impact on the strength and competitiveness of our economy.
National efforts to combat economic crime were strengthened in 2003 when the RCMP launched RECOL, reporting economic crime online, an Internet based fraud reporting system. RECOL provides Canadians with a single port of entry for complaints regarding suspected fraudulent activity.
RECOL also allows for improved communications among law enforcement jurisdictions across Canada and internationally.
This is a dynamic area. The federal government is open to considering both potential reforms and new innovations to strengthen the tools available to fight organized crime, for instance, in the areas of proceeds of crime megatrials and disclosure.
Research and analysis is another key component under the national agenda. When ministers endorsed the national agenda to combat organized crime, they identified the need for sound data to measure more effectively the scope of organized crime in Canada. Government officials, working in close conjunction with police, are implementing a multi-year work plan under which meaningful national data collection will begin this calendar year.
Strengthening our communications and public education efforts on organized crime is the last of the four components of the national agenda. It is also of vital importance. We need to tell Canadians that organized crime activity, from identity theft to illicit drugs to street gangs, affects all communities. It is not someone else's problem. We have been working with the provinces and territories and the law enforcement community to get this message out.
To this end, fact sheets on several of our national organized crime priorities, such as outlaw motorcycle gangs, illegal drugs, money laundering, fraud, trafficking in human beings, and economic crime, have been posted to the website of the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness of Canada.
Fulfilling the mandate made in the fall 2003 meeting of the FPT ministers responsible for justice, the first FPT public report on organized crime, entitled “Working Together to Combat Organized Crime”, was released to the public in May 2004. The report details how governments and the law enforcement community have come together in partnership in recent years to find solutions to the pervasive problem of organized crime.
I have highlighted today a number of aggressive steps the government has taken, along with its partners, to combat organized crime. I can assure the House and all Canadians that we remain committed to working with our provincial, territorial and law enforcement partners to address this problem. Strengthening our ability to follow the proceeds of crime, to ensure that crime does not pay, will be a key element of our work.