Ralph Goodale

[Public Safety, February 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to tell the House that this past week dozens of leading experts, including those from the front line, met at the University of Regina to discuss a national strategy on post-traumatic stress injuries. My parliamentary secretary and I participated.

First responders, those we ask to stand in harm's way to keep Canadians safe, rightfully deserve the highest level of care and support. The Minister of Health and I are mandated to ensure that this is in fact the case. We are grateful for all the national support and enthusiasm for that effort.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, February 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the short answer is that we are accountable in this House and not in the U.S. Senate. That is how Canadian accountability works.

However, Ambassador Doer was in touch with the Senate to confirm what the U.S. government has been told in repeated briefings right from day one. That is, Canada has layers of security-screening work in place that are working very effectively under the guidance of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency, CSIS, and the RCMP. The system is strong and there will be no compromise on safety.

[Canada Border Services Agency, February 2nd, 2016]

Yes, Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we intend to do.

CBSA performs very important functions for all Canadians, as well as our international customers. We intend that this should be a first-class organization. We follow the advice of the Auditor General. There is an action plan being implemented that will implement the vast majority of the recommendations before the end of this year.

[Public Safety, January 28th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the issue arising most recently with respect to James is a parole matter, not a pardon. I would indicate to the House that the pardon previously granted to this offender was a decision of the previous government.

[Public Safety, January 28th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, public safety is always the consideration. We will look at the changes that were made by the previous government in terms of the waiting times and the fees that were charged to see if they were effective in the administering of public policy or whether they were intended for some other purpose. We will base our decisions on evidence, not on ideology and not on bias.

[Public Safety, January 28th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, security screening is part of the process. That is in the law, and the Government of Canada follows the law.

[Public Safety, January 28th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, very early in the going, as we were putting together the Syrian refugee initiative, we were communicating in a steady way with the American administration. They submitted a number of enquiries, which we were able to answer satisfactorily, and the line of communications remains open to this day. If the Americans have a concern, they are perfectly entitled to raise it, and we will make sure that the issues are properly addressed, as they are.

[Security Intelligence Review Committee, January 28th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table today, in both official languages, the 2014-15 annual report of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, as required under section 53 of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act.

[RCMP's Use of the Law Enforcement Justification Provisions, January 28th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table today, in both official languages, the 2014 annual report of the RCMP's use of the law enforcement justification provisions. This report addresses the RCMP's use of specified provisions within the law enforcement justification regime, which is set out in sections 25.1 to 25.4 of the Criminal Code. This report also documents the nature of the investigations in which these provisions were used.

[Public Safety, January 27th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, there is absolutely nothing to hide because we have completely briefed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. ambassador to Canada, and there is a very open line of communication directly to the White House. They understand exactly the layers of security screening that are put in place, from the activity with the UNHCR through the personal interviews that are done to the collection of biometrics to the checking against international databases, to ensure this project is done safely and successfully, which is a very strong humanitarian credit to Canada.