Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice.
I think what we have here today is a classic case of the Conservatives trying to rewrite history. Their outrage when it comes to safety at our border is as fake as their new leader's image. Canadians will not be fooled because we have seen the record of the Conservatives when they were in charge of making sure our border was secure. It is very clear, and I have said this in the House time and again, that when the Conservatives were in power, they actually cut from the CBSA and the RCMP when it came to protecting our border.
In fact, it was confirmed by the president of the CBSA at the public safety committee that in 2014, the number of CBSA employees was 13,700, and as of today, it is now 16,300. Therefore, when Conservatives say there were more CBSA employees under their watch, the math is just not “mathing” because they are wrong. They cut over 1,000 jobs from the CBSA. Then, today, they introduced this motion to try to rewrite their abysmal record and their history. They are hoping Canadians will not remember what was said about their decisions at the time, so I am here to remind them.
In April 2012, the CBC reported:
Jean-Pierre Fortin, [then] national president of the Customs and Immigration Union, said 1,026 jobs will be eliminated within three years, and that represents a “direct attack to our national security and public safety.”
“These proposed budget cuts would have a direct and real impact on Canadians and our communities across the country: more child pornography entering the country, more weapons, illegal drugs, will pass through our borders, not to mention terrorists, and sexual predators and hardened criminals,” he said.
When we see the Conservatives here today, and even within their motion, saying, “more boots on the ground”, it is all for show, because when they had a chance to act, they cut those budgets. It also is quite comical when they boast about their record, saying they would take their record over ours on reducing the deficit. It is not quite the brag they think it is when they inherited a surplus and then tried to get their deficit down. They are bragging and looking back to rewrite their record. Canadians will not forget. The Conservatives did not seem to care about securing the border against, as was stated, more weapons, illegal drugs and child pornography, but now they want to talk tough. They have no action, no plan, other than to say they are going to do something. What is it? They have not come up with a rhyme yet, so I am not sure if this is a policy priority, but I am sure that eventually they will.
On our side, we are taking action. We do not spend our time playing Dr. Seuss and rhyming; we spend our time making investments in the things that Canadians want and that actually get results.