Public Safety committee  Very much so. Absolutely, there are competing interests, but as I said, there's a realization that the collateral activities are probably more costly than whatever economic activity is generated within the community.

Public Safety committee  As I mentioned earlier, it's price driven. The market is there. Some of the organizations might put a focus on trying to please the customers, but the reality is that the discrepancy in prices is driving the market.

Public Safety committee  If you look at the chart contained in the book, yes, it clearly.... If you look at the taxation levels over the years, you can actually follow the curve. Taxation is clearly one issue, but I would suggest it's not the only issue.

Public Safety committee  It's actually quite realistic. Again, going back to my earlier comment about the impact this phenomenon is having on the native communities, there's a willingness by these communities to collaborate and participate in some of our enforcement efforts. I can't speak specifically t

Public Safety committee  I absolutely agree with my colleague.

Public Safety committee  Madam, it's an excellent observation. The market is price driven, there's no doubt. This is what's attracting people to acquire this kind of tobacco. There's absolutely no doubt there. This is why we believe that enforcement alone is not the answer. There has to be a very signifi

Public Safety committee  This is a question that is much broader than I would be able to answer, because there are health and societal aspects to it, but you're absolutely right.

Public Safety committee  If I may build on what my colleague just said, the partnerships are also not strictly with CBSA. They are also with the policing jurisdictions and the police forces that operate within the aboriginal communities.

Public Safety committee  That is a very good question, but it's also a very difficult question to answer. If you look at the agencies represented here at the table, each has, I would say, with the exception of CBSA and the RCMP, a different mandate and different responsibilities. I hate doing this, but

Public Safety committee  Is this open to anybody?

Public Safety committee  Being from a border area, you realize that the relationship between CBSA and the RCMP has been long-standing; it actually precedes the creation of CBSA by a long time. That relationship is probably better now than it's ever been. As my colleague here mentioned, we are both involv

Public Safety committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Bouchard. Currently, to deal with the problem, several tools make up the arsenal that is at the disposal of agencies responsible for law enforcement That being said, I would not go as far as to say that we have all of the tools necessary to crack down on

Public Safety committee  Let's just say that I'm not appearing before this committee today to state that we have control over the situation and that there is no problem. Yet, I would not say that we have lost control of this particular situation. There is some distance between the two extremes. The probl

Public Safety committee  Absolutely, sir. What you've just explained is exactly what we've been observing over the past several years. It's important to understand that a lot of the organizations, the heads of the organizations who are actually driving these ventures, are not located on native territor

Public Safety committee  It was a pilot. A number of pilots were implemented, culminating in August 2007 with a two-month pilot project that was held in the Cornwall area and on the west coast.