Again, this is a particularly relevant question from my colleague, Madam Chair, and I am proud to say that this government has a strong record of investing in environmental enforcement and achieving results. Our government has made significant investments in enforcement. The government permanently increased resources to enforcement by $21 million annually to ensure we have the officers, the equipment, the forensic science and the tools to do the job.
Today there are 50% more enforcement officers than there were just five years ago. They are stationed in offices across the country. They are working in the field to detect and take action against those who violate our environmental legislation.
Every day, these dedicated men and women gather intelligence, they conduct inspections and they build investigations against polluters, poachers and smugglers. The goal of officers is to stop environmental crime and, where possible, to bring offenders back into compliance. They have a range of tools to help them do so.