Mr. Speaker, at the public safety committee this morning, I was asking questions of officials of the border bridges. They were telling me about the shortfall of CBSA officers across the board. The shortage is well more than 1,000 people a year. There is just no capacity to train these people.
When the Gordie Howe International Bridge opens up shortly, the draw of existing officers to that new facility is going to be an enormous burden on our resources and our personnel. The Liberals can talk the big talk and make big announcements, but 1,000 new people is a drop in the bucket of what the CBSA needs.
I urge the government to move forward with 1,000 hires annually.