House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2025, with 64% of the vote.
Business of Supply June 5th, 2025
Madam Chair, Correctional Service Canada works to ensure that all offenders, including gender-diverse offenders, are in an environment that contributes to their safety, safe rehabilitation and reintegration. CSC may place or transfer a gender-diverse offender to an institution that better aligns with their gender unless there are overriding health or safety concerns that cannot be resolved.
Business of Supply June 5th, 2025
Madam Chair, I completely agree with my colleague opposite. The recruitment of officers solely in English is unacceptable. We are a bilingual country, and the RCMP is a bilingual organization. We believe in official bilingualism, and we will ensure that the RCMP improves its methods and ensures that there are bilingual processes for recruitment.
Business of Supply June 5th, 2025
Madam Chair, the best way to support Canadians is deterrence. One of the things Bill C-2 incorporates is deterrence of those who may be crossing through irregular ports of entry. We believe that other measures contained in the bill would support deterrence of those who are crossing the border irregularly.
Business of Supply June 5th, 2025
Madam Chair, we are investing $1.3 billion to strengthen our border. That includes armed personnel who will be deployed. We also are now using Black Hawk helicopters. There are three of them deployed across Canada. I have had a chance to visit the border in a Black Hawk helicopter to see the impact they are having on border crossings.
Business of Supply June 5th, 2025
Madam Chair, we have committed to hiring, training and deploying 1,000 new RCMP officers. The plan has not been fully fleshed out yet. I look forward to sharing that plan, once it is available, with my colleague opposite.
Business of Supply June 5th, 2025
Madam Chair, that will be an ongoing process. The RCMP officers will be hired, trained and able to support the protection of our border.
Business of Supply June 5th, 2025
Madam Chair, I had a chance to meet with the CBSA union. I had a really good conversation with its members. There are about 10,000 frontline officers who currently secure our border, including the RCMP and the CBSA. Our commitment is to add 1,000 RCMP and 1,000 CBSA officers so that our border could be strengthened with those resources.
Business of Supply June 5th, 2025
Madam Chair, whether it is with respect to people retiring or people going into other careers, we often do replenish them within the CBSA. A thousand additional officers will be hired and trained. I do not have a specific plan right now, but I look forward to presenting that to the member.
Business of Supply June 5th, 2025
Madam Chair, the number of border service officer graduates from the Canada Border Services Agency has continuously increased over the years since 2016, with the exception of 2020 due to COVID. We look forward to hiring and training the 1,000 CBSA officers over the next couple of years.
Business of Supply June 5th, 2025
Madam Chair, day in and day out, approximately 8,600 Canada Border Services Agency frontline personnel play a crucial role protecting communities. We committed in the campaign, which I have reiterated a number of times, to hiring 1,000 new CBSA officers. I had a chance to meet some of them, and they do a phenomenal job in protecting our borders.