Controlled Drugs And Substances Act  Speaker, I thank the House for the opportunity to table my private member's bill, an act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The bill would provide greater protection for our youth against the illegal drug trade which is undermining our society. My bill proposes to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to impose a minimum prison term of one year for the first offence and two years for further offences in cases where a person is convicted of trafficking in a controlled or restricted drug or narcotic within five hundred metres of an elementary school or a high school.

Ports  It is now imperative that the government announce to Canadians and the world that measures will immediately be put in place to establish a high class, high tech port security that has the power to say no to the international drug trade and provide Canadians with the peace of mind they so richly deserve.

International Organizations  Consider the recent Air India hijacking, the kidnapping last year of eight Albertan oil workers in Ecuador, the insidious influence of the illicit drug trade on young Canadians, the impact on Canada of the global traffic in human cargo, and the spectre of terrorist activity in our country. These are all human security threats happening today in Canada or to Canadians.

National Security  It has come to the point where my colleague who represents Vancouver East has had to stand in the House to talk about the way the drug trade in heroin is wide open like an old fashioned farmers market in the city of Vancouver. Although the government recognized the problem a year ago, not a single thing has been done. Let us look at what else was in the report from last year.

Minimum Sentences  People smuggling now, according to some estimates, involves $10 billion a year. It is so serious that it is adding to the current organized crime activity in the drug trade. They are moving their efforts to organized crime because very little happens to them if they get caught. In other countries the sentences involved are a lot more serious. For example, the United States has a minimum sentence and, depending on the level of involvement, those who are found guilty of people smuggling can be sentenced to three to five years.

Supply  This is a lot. Oil and gas represent an extremely important part of international trade. The drug trade is said to be of an equal value. The stakes are enormous and profits from organized crime could be as high as one trillion dollars. I am not mistaken. I do not mean one thousand million in French, or one billion in English, I mean one trillion, which as far as I know is “un billion” in French.

Supply  Indeed, we all know that there are a good number of loan shark networks in poor communities and we also know that interest on such loans can go as high as 250%. I also deplore the illicit drug trade. We are well aware that often, in poor neighbourhoods where there is high unemployment, this trade is very much oriented toward a clientele for whom this can be an escape from the problems of daily life.

Supply  I encourage the hon. member to support the Minister of Finance and the government to ensure that there will be more funds to combat organized crime and the illicit drug trade.

Supply  I encourage all members to support the Minister of Finance and the Minister of National Revenue in the ongoing program to combat the illicit drug trade and to ensure that police forces across the country have the money to do their jobs properly.

Supply  Because of government cutbacks ports police have been eliminated. It is a wide open invitation to the drug trade. What is government going to do to protect that kind of coastline when it has cut out the ports police and reduced the ability of the RCMP to do its job?

Supply  I want to commend the member for Charlesbourg who sponsored a private member's bill to get rid of thousand dollar bills, which are very popular among the drug trade. As well, I again reference the member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot who stood up to real threats from drug producers in his part of the country. I commend the member for his courage. There are various elements of the criminal justice system that have to continue to work together, such as information sharing.

Supply  The new government in Manitoba is beginning to take real action against inner city crime and inner city organized crime. British Columbia, as my colleagues have highlighted, has seen a dramatic increase in drug trade. To the people who live in those communities it appears that the government is powerless to stop it because of the funding cuts to the RCMP. It is also an issue that requires international co-operation.

Supply  Unfortunately, in Vancouver we are not going to be able to stop people from dying because of drugs. It will be unstoppable until we stop the drug trade. Until we stop organized crime, until we cut off the supply, someone will die today, tomorrow and the next day. We only have to go into some of the hotels in the downtown east side to see what a terrible scene it is.

Supply  This is from RCMP sources, which are no doubt reliable. In terms of drugs, what is the value of the illegal drug trade at the moment in Canada? This is a little more difficult, because the calculation is based on drug seizures. Naturally, seizures account for only a part, and we have to extrapolate to get a total value.

Speech From The Throne  The idea that all such persons are reluctant to give such details because of refugee-based fears, or that the persons helping them enter Canada are latter-day Raoul Wallenbergs, is naive. The people-smuggling business is now as lucrative as the international drug trade. This was in a report submitted to the government, commissioned by the government and in fact has been lost on the government. It is another report that has simply been shelved or put away to gather dust for another day.