Supply  We have invested $18 million for the national DNA data bank initiative, giving police a powerful tool against serious violent criminals, an additional $78 million to the national anti-smuggling initiative, which will combat illicit drug trade and an additional $15 million annually to put more RCMP officers in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal airports to ensure that the drug trade does not come in freely through our borders.

Contraventions Act  Colombian politicians tell us that if they are to be able to deal with the epidemic of the drug trade and the corruption it brings, we must take action here. While Bill C-344 is an important step it does not go as far as it should in recognizing human, medical, criminal and health realities.

Proceeds Of Crime (Money Laundering) Act  Previous attempts to curb money laundering have been hampered at every step by budget problems. Curbing money laundering is a very effective weapon against the drug trade and frontline RCMP officers risk their lives every day in the fight against organized crime. I am not only thinking of frontline RCMP officers who risk their lives, but I am also thinking of the people who co-operate with the RCMP and funnel information to them.

Supply  Drug trafficking is still the main source of revenue for most organized crime groups. Of all the activities related to organized crime, it is the illegal drug trade that has the worst consequences for Canada, given its social and economic effects and the violence that stems from it. In studies that try to give a dollar figure for the cost of the illegal drug trade in Canada, this cost ranges from a conservative estimate of $1.4 billion a year to almost $4 billion a year for Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.

Supply  My hon. colleague from Surrey North mentioned this marijuana business and said that it is an infinitesimal part of the drug trade. It is not. It is very significant. In British Columbia, of course, we grow very high quality marijuana. In fact it is so good that a pound of marijuana goes south into the United States and there is exchanged pound for pound for cocaine.

Supply  In some quarters our society is being undermined by the sheer corruption of the organized crime that drives the illegal drug trade. If left unchecked it will undermine our society, as it has some other societies around the world. It is insidious. So far we have been lucky but we should not take our luck for granted.

Supply  Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for the question. It is something that I quite frankly had not contemplated because I do not see the drug trade as being directly related to free trade, although there are certainly implications whenever a country such as ours, which does so much trade with the United States, takes a radically different policy position.

Supply  Of course Canada does not exist in a vacuum, and In Canada alone each year the total economic costs attributed to illicit drug use is estimated at $1.4 billion, with billions more fuelling organized crime. According to the RCMP's 1999 report on drugs in Canada, the illicit drug trade is a principal source of revenue for most organized crime groups. This is a serious situation with no easy answers. In light of this, I would like to bring to members' attention a letter that called into question traditional methods of dealing with illicit drug use.

Supply  Sometimes police forces take a different attitude toward how they deal with those involved in the illicit drug trade. In defence of the Vancouver police, there are reportedly over 7,000 marijuana growing operations in Vancouver alone. There are simply not enough police or legal resources to deal with the problem.

Supply  They are rat infested, terrible, dilapidated places with used needles and condoms lying around. Does my colleague think prostitutes are criminals or victims of the drug trade?

Supply  In addition to fulfilling our international commitments, we also work closely with other nations to see if we can apply their lessons learned to our own situation. The member for Langley—Abbotsford mentioned the drug trade between British Columbia and the United States. The trade goes both ways across the border and it has to be stopped. There is a co-ordinated border approach by police and revenue and customs.

Supply  Today we are arresting prostitutes one after another, treating them like criminals rather than victims of a very harsh drug trade where the profiteers at the top are making a lot at the expense of the young kids at the bottom. One night I was on shift with a police force when we arrested four prostitutes. The oldest was 16.

Proceeds Of Crime (Money Laundering) Act  In the debate today I heard a number of members talk about different elements of organized crime and the impact they have. The member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca spoke about the drug trade and its human impact. I will spend a couple of minutes speaking about that as well because it strikes me that there is a contradiction. On the one hand, as we should, we go to great lengths to deal with a legal apparatus and the setting up of a new agency, FINTRAC, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, as it is called, and what a mouthful that is.

Criminal Code  To get their fix, the drug abuser will steal something they can sell. We have to look at a more comprehensive way of dealing with the illicit drug trade. We know if we try to block it off at source, for example Colombia in the case of cocaine and heroin, that it does not work. We have to is take a new approach to drug abuse and deal with it on the demand side.

Supply  A commitment was made by the leaders on such diverse issues as health, poverty reduction, education, human rights, the assurance of effective courts, the elimination of the drug trade and other issues. A plan of action was made with concrete steps, amendments and commitments that would ensure that these take place with proper financial resources and human resources to ensure it.