Public Accounts committee  The dates for the action plan have certainly been focused and inspired by the recommendations and observations of the Auditor General. We have said, and I truly believe, that these have pointed out some weaknesses, which we are trying to remediate. What I have sought to do is to have action going on everything they have touched on, and I think we have that.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you very much. We can certainly provide the committee with more details in terms of the constituent elements of the number of removals that we do in a year--perhaps the most recent year, and perhaps as much information as we can generate in terms of where they fall across our various regions.

Public Accounts committee  In some cases we do.

Public Accounts committee  In some cases we will find them as a result of an investigation in pursuit of the warrant and they will re-enter the program or the process regularly, but they had good reason for not having presented themselves and they are not automatically removed. So a proportion of them do get what might be viewed as a second chance.

Public Accounts committee  In terms of warrants? I couldn't tell you. I can endeavour to get some information on that if you'd like it.

Public Accounts committee  I don't want to misspeak, once again, but I would hazard that the American situation with illegal immigration on their southern border would far outstrip any challenges that I'm facing.

Public Accounts committee  I think the issue is now back within our control. What had happened was that the national case management system, which is our prime data system for detentions and removals, had been brought within the ambit of something called the global case management system, which is a large infrastructure project being managed by Immigration Canada.

Public Accounts committee  Generally speaking, on the issue of the terms and conditions, as I said to Mr. Christopherson, we try terribly hard to make sure we make acute and sharp risk assessments whenever we release somebody and attach terms and conditions to them. I think for the most part people we release in this fashion abide by the terms and conditions.

Public Accounts committee  It's a slightly partisan answer, but I think we stack up fairly well. The one thing I would say about countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain is that they're islands, so their border management tends to have a different dynamic from a country like ours that shares 4,000 miles of border with the world's most powerful country--and all that goes with that.

Public Accounts committee  I don't want to mislead you, sir. There's constant and robust communication with our colleagues in the Customs and Border Protection Service about all aspects of our business, from the strategic to the tactical. Again, I didn't mean to try to duck the question. What I do know about the American regime is that generally speaking, they're more emphatic about denying these things at the first point of decision-making and then providing an avenue for appeal afterwards, whereas we tend to provide more latitude in the first decision-making point and place more emphasis on the decision of the officer.

Public Accounts committee  I think the best thing that I could do is undertake to get clarity on the issue and make sure I'm not misspeaking or providing you with an incomplete answer. I would say the hierarchy of engagement here should be at my level. I'd be happy to engage my interlocutors to see what the Americans are doing versus what we do, and see whether there's any cooperation that we could use.

Public Accounts committee  I'd be pleased to have that conversation.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for those questions. One of the things that I've made a separate priority is making sure our national programs are armed with three things primarily: clear policy based on the legislation, procedures that flow from the policy, and monitoring to make sure those policies and procedures are being applied equitably and consistently.

Public Accounts committee  It's a priority of mine, sir. I think it's extremely important, and I've asked Barbara to make it a priority of hers. I've travelled reasonably significantly since I came into this job, and I promote that idea constantly.

Public Accounts committee  I will ask my colleagues if they can comment on the situation in the United States. I'm less familiar with that. On the situation in Canada, I'm very familiar with that because I suspect I get as many overtures on this issue as you do, Chair, or perhaps more. It's an issue of great sensitivity.