Public Safety committee  I'll clarify. When I answered the question earlier, it was on a random basis or targeted basis at the entrance of the port. I'm not aware of many verifications by customs or the CBSA. They do, however, inspect containers when they've been declared, when they've been spotted or when whatever system they use guides them to inspect a container.

Public Safety committee  No, they are inspected once they're targeted.

Public Safety committee  Basically, it's a system that's called Tag, but it's not related to the AirTag system of iPhones. It's a technology company that puts devices in the cars and can monitor their movement across the country everywhere. We had them install their own antenna in the port to assess whether there are reported stolen cars in the port so that they can direct the police to come and investigate.

Public Safety committee  Off the bat, it's kind of tough to answer the question precisely. As I said earlier, it's important to revise either the regs or the act to add some form of accountability, be it the driver of the truck, be it the freight forwarder, whoever it may be. Somebody has to be signing off on what is in the container.

Public Safety committee  Part of where the process goes haywire is that there is no accountability on who stocked the container. The paperwork, once they sign off and it is sent to CBSA, is the end of it, but there is nobody who signs off by saying what is in the container for real. It's all what's being seen on paper.

Public Safety committee  It says, “Frigidaires” instead of cars. They say it's refrigerators, but there are cars instead. As I said, there is no accountability on who shuts the doors and puts the seal on.

Public Safety committee  I would add to that the safety aspect of the location of the equipment. Usually, we are talking about radiation-emitting equipment to scan—to X-ray—the containers. That maybe would involve the safety of the trucker, the operator or the workers around it. We need to better assess what the implication is of putting in that technology.

Public Safety committee  We haven't travelled to those countries that use the technology. I know it exists. We are not close to the use of those solutions, but it needs to be studied as to the impacts. Just to give you an analogy, with the equipment that CBSA already uses to scan the import containers, it takes between four and five minutes to scan each container.

Public Safety committee  We manage the containers, but not their content. We have no access to what is inside. Terminals do not have access either. The only people who do have access to that information besides the exporter are the customs officers and the vessel operators. The terminals and the port never see this information.

Public Safety committee  We are willing to consider all possible solutions. If that is part of the solution, we are open to considering and implementing it, as long as powers and authority are properly delegated and the required funding is provided. It would require equipment and manpower, but we are open to the suggestion.

Public Safety committee  That would be a good potential solution, but that does not fall within the Port of Montreal's jurisdiction. We do not have access to the detailed documents. Customs officers, on the other hand, do.

Public Safety committee  We could, if they asked for access, but they couldn't open a container by themselves. The CBSA or the RCMP needs to be there, because they are the only two that can open a container under the Customs Act.

Public Safety committee  We're not the best people to answer that question. You'd have to ask the different police of jurisdiction, because there's jurisdiction in all aspects of it, which we can't control. For us, at the port of Montreal, the only people allowed to open a container for inspection, either for import or export, are from the CBSA.

Public Safety committee  Yes, they have 24-hour access.

Public Safety committee  It's granted by the Montreal Port Authority, and it cascades down to the terminals.