Jennifer O'Connell

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, November 28th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it seems the Conservatives are a little nervous about me responding, probably because I am going to point out the fact that they cut over 1,000 jobs from CBSA. They were warned that their cuts would lead to more guns, more human trafficking and more drugs at our border.

What did we do on this side of the House? We reversed those cuts. We invested in our police services. As a result, we have seen an increase of 600% in misrepresentation investigations and a 50% decrease in migrants entering the border from the south. That is because investments work.

[Public Safety, November 22nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I withdraw.

[Public Safety, November 22nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, what is truly disgusting in this place is this: Number one, that policy and that program have been in place since 2001; however, Conservatives feel the need to bring it forward now as some sort of political weapon and bring up victims.

The mother-child program is done with a rigorous protocol ensuring the protection of children at all costs. In addition, within facilities, there are strict measures to ensure that only those who have been approved for this program would ever come near that facility.

[Public Safety, November 22nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, we have made significant investments, including investments at CBSA, investments in technology and investments with our police forces. The public safety committee also did incredible work to look at ways that we can help support Canadians, just as the member opposite was trying to reiterate. However, what happens in committee is that we do the work to put forward proposals to help support Canadians, which they speak of, and Conservatives block that work. They would rather criticize than actually produce results that have impacts for Canadians.

[Public Safety, November 22nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we have been working with all orders of government and making investments specifically dealing with auto thefts, whether that is more technology, such as scanners, or investments at CBSA.

What I find ironic is that the Conservatives actually asked that question. We have been working at the public safety committee on an auto theft report with very real recommendations, which the Conservatives are actually blocking. If the Conservatives are serious about dealing with auto theft, perhaps they will want to let us deal with that report.

[Committees of the House, November 21st, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague spoke about the Conservative record when it comes to crime in this country and the cuts that they made.

I am curious to know whether the member also shares my concerns about the Conservatives being disingenuous with this concurrence motion. This report is from 2022. Why did they wait two years? Is it the fact that they are not having any success at committee and would like the House to reprogram the schedule at committee? They do not want to talk about foreign interference with India, or the fact that their leader refuses to get a security clearance. They do not want the mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown, who may answer questions about the Conservative leadership race, summoned.

Why did the Conservatives wait two years to bring forward this concurrence debate?

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 8th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the Correctional Service of Canada, CSC, undertook an extensive preliminary search in order to determine the amount of information that would fall within the scope of the question and the amount of time that would be required to prepare a comprehensive response. It was concluded that producing and validating a comprehensive response in the time allotted is not possible and could lead to the disclosure of incomplete and misleading information.

CSC adheres to the Treasury Board Secretariat, TBS, directive on the management of procurement and the government’s contracts regulations for all its awarded contracts.

Information pertaining to contracts over $10,000 is publicly available on the Open Canada website at https://search.open.canada.ca/en/ct/.

[Committees of the House, November 7th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I think all women in the chamber now need to have the approval of the NDP. I want to determine if my attire is in order.

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 4th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a)(i), the Canada Border Services Agency, CBSA, has been analyzing changes to hours of service. With regard to part (a)(ii), the CBSA has no intention to close ports of entry.

With regard to part (b), the CBSA must assess the allocation of its resources against its operations. Recent analysis has focused on the number of cars per hour and locations where the United States Customs and Border Protection, CBP, hours of service differ from CBSA’s. No closures are being planned.

With regard to part (c), there has been no public consultation to date on this. The CBSA works closely with the CBP on matters that affect both sides of the border. The CBSA is committed to proactively notifying the public ahead of any adjustments to services and operations.

With regard to part (d), there is no linkage to new technology. Any new technologies that will be introduced as part of traveller modernization will complement and assist border services officers in doing their work.

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 4th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), the Canada Border Services Agency, CBSA, assessment and revenue management, CARM, cutover period will extend from October 4, 2024, at 4 p.m. ET, to October 21, 2024, at 3 a.m. ET.

With regard to part (b), during this period, the submission of electronic accounting documents, B3s, must be held by trade chain partners until CARM functionality and the commercial accounting declaration, CAD, is available on October 21, 2024. However, paper accounting documents will continue to be accepted and processed at CBSA commercial offices. The ability to release commercial goods at the border and maintain border fluidity is not impacted during the CARM cutover period. The CBSA’s system to process commercial releases, known as the accelerated commercial release operations support system, ACROSS, is not impacted by cutover activities and remains available with the exception of a maintenance window that will extend from the evening of Saturday, October 5, 2024, to the morning of Sunday, October 6, 2024.

With regard to part (c), the CBSA has developed transition measures to ensure continued border fluidity and timely submission of accounting and payment of duties after CARM implementation on October 21, 2024. A full account and description of the CARM transitional measures can be found at https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/cn-ad/cn24-27-eng.html.

With regard to part (d), regulatory changes will come into force on October 21, 2024. These regulations will introduce a 180-day transition period following CARM implementation, from October 21, 2024, to April 19, 2025, to allow time for importers to obtain financial security. This will give importers and their service providers time to adapt to the new financial security model and avoid border disruptions.

With regard to part (e), the government is not projecting that any business will be subjected to financial harm during the transition period. During the cutover period and for a period of 90 calendar days following the October 21, 2024, implementation, the CBSA will not be issuing late accounting penalties, late payment penalties or late payment interest. The CBSA may adjust this to further mitigate the transition to CARM system if it is deemed necessary.