Public Safety committee  There may very well be, sir. This is based on--

Public Safety committee  This is based on the intelligence that we have.

Public Safety committee  Yes, sir. Actually, a number of steps have been taken, one of which.... And I realize you might find today's release of the tobacco strategy questionable. The timing of the release of this strategy was not really--

Public Safety committee  It was released today. The strategy, though, is something we've been working at for quite some time. This strategy has been in development for well over a year. There has been extensive consultation. So this is more on the preventative side; this is sort of the way forward. What we've been doing, aside from developing a strategy and doing the consultation, is basically analyzing the intelligence that we have and trying to identify the criminal organizations that are actually operating these facilities that are located within the different native communities.

Public Safety committee  Thank you very much. As director general of the RCMP border integrity program, I'd like thank the committee for this opportunity to meet and discuss the illicit tobacco trade. Briefly, and by way of background, a large portion of the RCMP's border integrity mandate is to enforce laws within Canada and along the uncontrolled border, and to govern thereby the international movement of dutiable, taxable, controlled, or prohibited goods; and the manufacture, distribution, and possession of contraband products, including tobacco and spirits.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  At this time, sir, we have no one assigned specifically to investigating immigration consultants. As I explained, we launch investigations at the request of partner departments. The focus of these investigations may be organized crime, corruption or human trafficking.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I am sorry, but obviously, I did not make myself clear. We have investigators who are part of the immigration program.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No. What I am saying is that investigators are assigned to specific investigations targeting criminal organizations. Investigators do not target consultants as such. For example, they may be investigating organized crime or human trafficking and in the process, they focus on an offence committed by a group involved in human trafficking.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Certainly. Again, our investigators are not assigned to investigate specific offences, but rather activities linked to organized crime. Consequently, if a criminal organization is involved in the sale of passports, whether forged passports or otherwise, then officers are assigned to investigate these incidents.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Getting back to the comment I made earlier about the RCMP's role in enforcing the act's provisions, the complexity, to our way of thinking, stems from the fact that evidence must be gathering and introduced to the courts. The legislative tools to meet the RCMP's needs are already in place.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Again, sir, that's a good question. From our perspective, looking at the narrow mandate of the RCMP with respect to the enforcement of IRPA, the legislative tools that we require in order to do our work are already in place as far as we're concerned. In terms of operationalizing the issue, it's not necessarily about the legislative framework that's in existence; it's more of an evidentiary issue for us in trying to bring these cases to court.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No, sir. As I explained, the majority of complaints investigated by the RCMP have to do with corruption or allegations of corruption in connection with the process. When an investigation into allegations of corruption is conducted, the fact that a consultant was involved in the transactions comes to light.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Without being specific, I would advise that they range from issues of corruption to fraud, as well as offences of counselling misrepresentation under IRPA. Again, sir, you have to realize that the mandate in relation to the enforcement of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act does not fall within our department.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We do have a connection with the various departments that have a role in the enforcement of IRPA. Again, if you focus on investigations abroad, it brings a whole range of different issues. We don't have enforcement jurisdiction abroad. We have to work with the authorities from those jurisdictions and provide them with whatever assistance is required.