Debates of Sept. 24th, 2012

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Pierre Lemieux, Conservative, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, let me just make a few comments about the labelling issue. Currently, industry must pre-register labels on meat products and certain processed products, but this is not true for all other food products. We are working to streamline our food safety regime and to bring it into the 21st century. The regulatory requirements for food labelling will not change.

The development of an online self-assessment labelling tool will enhance the range of guidance material available on the agency's website to industry and consumers. The new online labelling tool will reduce the amount of time agency staff currently spend dealing with industry to explain and clarify labelling rules. It will allow them to spend more time on core food safety verification and enforcement activity.

That is what we want. That is what Canadians want. They want the CFIA to focus on key food safety initiatives.

We have more budget implementation acts coming forward. I ask the member, for the good of our country, when there is increased spending in these implementation acts, will he please vote in favour of food safety for Canadians.

Public Safety

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise on a border question that I had on April 24. I have often asked many border questions. This is in relation to the fact that the Minister of Public Safety is cutting $143 million from the Canada Border Services Agency and our front-line officers are going to be directly impacted.

It costs jobs and Canadian trade when there are slowdowns and reductions in the services at the border. A recent study shows that our border delays are costing us between $15 billion and $30 billion in trade per year with the United States because of the lack of services and support and the new thickening that has taken place on both the Canadian and American side. These were critical cuts because they involved a lot of things, including public safety.

Every intelligence officer in Canada received an affected letter. These officers are important because they analyze and develop the information that helps front-line officers target high risk travellers. That allows goods and services and trade to get over the border rather quickly, and it isolates the high risk people who are detained and processed separately, so they do not bog up the rest of the border. That is critical. Every single one of these officers received a letter of notification. Their roles are absolutely critical to front-line security and they were the hardest hit.

Three hundred and thirty-one border service officer jobs are being cut. This is a fact and is not debatable. How can the minister brag about increasing the staff by 26% while at the same time in one vicious swipe he has reduced that quite significantly and put us backwards from where the Americans want us to go? We have just signed the beyond the borders prosperity act, wherein the United States wants more investment in the border, not less.

In my question I also asked about the dog handlers and the detector dogs that are being cut. They are important as well because they eliminate some of the drugs, contraband and other substances that either exit or enter this country. Organized crime is definitely going to benefit from these cuts. We are going to see more drugs, more pornography, more types of bad material on the streets of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, where it is very heavy. There is no doubt about it, because the border service officers and the intelligence officers who have been cut are very much tied to this process.

When I was on Windsor City Council we brought in the canine program, which is very effective and important for the safety of the general public. Right now, the detector dog program is being sunset. The government is moving some of those dogs to prisons to look for drugs instead of keeping the drugs out of Canada. That is unfortunate because the program should be the front line of our defence.

The Minister of Public Safety and the government are taking reprehensible actions that are going to cost Canadian jobs and money and put more drugs and crime on the streets of Canada.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed that my hon. colleague would perpetuate such fear-mongering and inaccuracies. He certainly has the right to ask a question and I am pleased to answer it, but to make inaccurate statements that more drugs and child pornography will be on the street is very disappointing.

I will begin by stating the facts. It is pretty clear and self-explanatory that we are the government that has increased front-line officers at the border by 26%. The cuts we are making will reduce duplication within CBSA and not affect front-line officers in any way, shape or form. It is very important to be clear on that and I am very happy to repeat that for my hon. colleague, if need be. We are reducing unnecessary spending and duplication of work. We are not reducing front-line positions at the border. At all times, the highest level of security is maintained at Canada's border. Our government is committed to cracking down on the trafficking of illegal guns by criminal gangs.

Here are some more facts. Since 2006, CBSA has seized almost 30,000 prohibited weapons, including firearms and other weapons, at the border. The national weapons enforcement support team seized over 35,000 imported illegal guns between 2006 and 2010. Our government has added 1,030 border guards over the past six years. There has been no reduction in the number of those border guards.

In 2006, we announced an MOU with the United States that aided criminal investigations involving firearms on both sides of the border. We are spending taxpayers' dollars wisely to actually stop guns, illegal substances and pornography at the border. We are reducing duplication. We realize the unions and their members are upset about this. It appears that the opposition has taken its argument and made it a fact. The actual fact is that the unions are upset because we cut a $1 million slush fund of taxpayers' dollars they were using. We do not think that is a good use of taxpayers' dollars. We want to use that money on the projects that we just announced.

We introduced initiatives such as the shiprider and integrated border enforcement teams. In addition, we have introduced new travel exemptions that are allowing CBSA to focus its resources on preventing the importation of illegal handguns and other prohibited items. Again, we are using taxpayers' dollars wisely, not giving these dollars to unions but investing in programs, projects and investigations that actually stop drugs, child pornography, weapons and illegal substances at the border.

I hope my hon. colleague has heard my answer loudly and clearly. For Canadians listening, it makes good sense and good use of their dollars.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if we take the parliamentary secretary and the government's case here at face value, they created this duplication that they have to get rid of. It is an absurd argument on the surface and it certainly does not stand up when examined.

Do not take it from me but from the government itself when it sent out a memorandum dated June 28, 2012. In this memorandum, it stated:

Given the significant role the CBSA plays in the GC export community and the limited number of resources available for export examinations; other commodities, including outbound smuggling of narcotics, unless there is an intelligence lookout, should not be undertaken.

The government has cut the lookout officers. They are being reduced by 331 and we are losing their expertise. In the government's own memorandum, the officers are being directed not to look for exported drugs. That is important because the exported drugs going to the United States come back to Canada as more child pornography, more guns, more drugs or more money for organized crime.

I can say that as the vice-chair of the Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group in touch with many American politicians, they are not happy about what Canada is doing.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the last thing we want is the NDP in touch with American politicians and denigrating our jobs in Canada.

Again, the facts speak for themselves. We are investing. Thankfully, the good work done by the CBSA and RCMP in stopping drugs at the border is done through the intelligence part of it. We have invested in that and continue to work with our allies and partners in the U.S.

We have reduced duplication, but maybe the NDP does not understand that when running an organization, one constantly has make things more efficient. Good businesses and organizations constantly check their efficiency, and that is what happened with the CBSA. It is going to be more efficient, with taxpayers' dollars being used wisely, protecting Canadians and making sure that illegal substances do not come across our border while keeping our border open to legitimate trade and travel.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 6:54 p.m.)