Justice committee  The RCMP has consistently reported in recent years that the principal source of income for most criminal organizations in Canada is the drug trade--that is, the drug trade fostered by prohibition, and that is the only reason. I brought some diagrams. I'm the last speaker, so I thought I'd give you pictures rather than notes.

Justice committee  In fact, one of the many unintended consequences of the Rockefeller drug laws was that it provided an incentive for people in the drug trade to actively recruit young people as runners and couriers. As a native New Yorker—I've lived in New York pretty much my whole life—I got to see the impact of the drug laws. While drug problems were endemic in poor communities from the mid-1950s, it wasn't until the Rockefeller laws passed that you had the active involvement of many young people in the drug trade, because they weren't subject to the same length of sentences as their adult counterparts.

Justice committee  Because Vancouver is a port city, and very prominent in trade routes north to south and east to west, the drug trade is very easy to get into. Every one of my friends and any one of my acquaintances knows that I'm an activist and that I stand against any criminal activity, yet I can pick up the phone right now and ask one of them to drop off a marijuana plant here at the Four Seasons Hotel and it will be here within half an hour.

Justice committee  For us to intervene, there has to be a situation taking place that needs intervening, situations such as youth violence, gang violence, the drug trade, and drug abuse, among many others. Decisions are made; life choices are accepted. These youths will find it very hard to come back, and we will find it very hard to bring them back.

Justice committee  If people are buying B.C. pot, they may as well be pulling the trigger, because without exception, the gang wars are a direct result of the lucrative drug trade in B.C. Could you please tell us more about the drug trade and the involvement of organized crime here?

Justice committee  They will partake in any criminal activity they can profit from, but without doubt, the bread and butter of the outlaw motorcycle gangs is the drug trade and the international drug trade. The death head patch provides them a criminal gold card anywhere in the world that they can take advantage of as individuals—they're recognized by any crime group as having credibility.

Criminal Code  Representatives from the Vancouver Board of Trade told us that they wanted specifically to attack the element that is contributing to the wealth of all forms of organized crime, whether the Hells Angels, the mafia, and so on. We must attack the drug trade; that is important. If we cut off those organizations' source of revenue, if we are tough on that, if we can stop the drug trade, we will prevent such groups from operating, growing and terrorizing our communities.

Justice committee  Chairman, the organized crime groups and criminal gangs are resorting to increased violence to establish their dominance over the drug trade in various metropolitan regions of this country. Innocent people are being hurt, and in some parts of the country there exists a serious degree of fear amongst citizens. This is not to say that all drug offenders are necessarily dangerous and that all forms of drug trades are violent.

Gun Registry  We made a commitment to deliver a thousand new RCMP officers and we have already delivered over 1,500. That is helping. Handguns are a big part of the drug trade. That is why we are cracking down with new legislation to combat the drug trade and organized crime. I hope the hon. member will help make that part of the comprehensive combat against crime in Canada.

National Anti-Drug Strategy  Mr. Speaker, the government's drug policy is exacerbating crime, violence, the illegal drug trade and substance abuse. The World Health Organization supports harm reduction strategies. The U.S. has even appointed a prevention focused national drug policy chair, but our government is refusing to listen to the facts and is actively blocking life-saving harm reduction strategies, like Vancouver's Insite program and the NAOMI program.

Foreign Affairs committee  Finally, in a general way, the Mexican countryside is currently facing its most serious crisis in generations. The violence surrounding the drug trade is on the rise. There's been an upswing in guerrilla activity and in the militarization of the hinterland. The number of cases of alleged corruption at the local and state level is also growing.

International Trade committee  There is no doubt that the drug trade is an important factor. However, the UN also refers to—the references are in the presentation I gave as well as in the English language reports that were handed out to you—the motivations of armed paramilitaries to profit from investments in the mining, oil and African oil palm sectors.

International Trade committee  Sir, I'm sorry; in terms of risks and benefits, are you equating the drug trade that's going on now in Colombia to Canadian companies doing business in Colombia in mining? Are you saying that they're about equal?

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  But these drugs are cut with other substances so that users will turn into addicts. The dealers' goal is to have these people become addicted to drugs. Often, the drug trade is controlled by organized crime groups such as street gangs, biker gangs and the mafia. That is the problem. These people are not selling drugs to benefit users' health, but for their own financial gain.

International Trade committee  But if we determine—and I think there's some agreement between us here—that the drug wars are responsible for a lot of the violence, displacement, and abuse of human rights in Colombia, and if we accept that we currently have no influence on those, and with labour and environment agreements that are the most robust we've ever signed between two sovereign governments, how does a rules-based system that guides legitimate trade, number one, and, secondly, the growth of legitimate trade, which offers the poor and underprivileged in Colombian communities an option to make a living outside of the drug trade, have the capacity to make things worse? I'm trying to understand. I share with you and your organization the belief that we must work to make things better, but I'm trying to understand how legitimate trade with a rules-based system could make things worse.