Health committee  I don't think it's an issue of the technology. I think there are programs and I think there are other more complicating factors that make it difficult to adopt that. Privacy with regard to the sharing of information is one factor. There are jurisdictional issues in terms of who i

Health committee  I'll say a few words, and then I'll turn it to my colleague, Ms. Goguen. Back in 2011 I think what we recognized—and some of my colleagues have spoken about this—is we have tried not to take just a supply side and a total law enforcement perspective on this. What we tried to do

Health committee  That's probably best posed to my colleagues at the RCMP on the operations side.

Health committee  Those are all good ideas. I don't think anybody on this panel can really speak to them with any authority, though. Again, Mr. Chair, I think this is largely in the neighbourhood of Health Canada,

Health committee  My only comment would be that there's a lot of collaboration. There are jurisdictional issues. My understanding is that the provinces have a large role in regulating controlled substances. I agree that we have a role. To the extent that we have a role putting in place systems, I

Health committee  One of the things we're looking at.... I agree, Mr. Chair, that there are probably a number of ways we can go at it with respect to, I would say, almost awareness, at a number of different levels. The problem we're seeing on the law enforcement side is that this ranges from som

Health committee  Mr. Chair, thank you. First of all, in my reference to the increasing trends we're seeing in pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs, a lot of that is just what we see in terms of investigations. In new cases coming before public prosecutions, etc., we see an increase. Those are the

Health committee  I would like to thank the chair and committee members for inviting me to speak to you on prescription drug abuse and its impact on public safety. My department is responsible for the Enforcement Action Plan, which is a part of Canada's National Anti-Drug Strategy. This responsib

Public Safety committee  I would have to agree with the observations of my colleague at the RCMP. This is an ongoing and iterative sort of process. I think the bill before us allows the flexibility for the RCMP, which is managing the program, to adapt to that. Assistant Commissioner Shean has mentioned

Public Safety committee  Thank you for the opportunity. I would just say that we think Bill C-51 is going to make the program more effective and secure, and in that way we're very supportive of the bill itself.

Public Safety committee  I think primarily the independence of the function itself has been well-suited in the RCMP for over 25 years. I think that at the end of the day, when we looked at whether or not an independent body was required, we didn't think that was necessary. Given the changes that have be

Public Safety committee  Yes, you are correct. In terms of the provinces that had a program, their programs were working well. I don't think it made a lot of sense to force a national program onto the provinces. Having said all of that, at the end of the day we've come up with a good solution in terms of

Public Safety committee  Actually, the RCMP has been doing that for all cases. They currently do that, and they will do that moving forward.

Public Safety committee  I'm not sure Bill C-51 will protect us against the particular cases you mentioned, but I think the efficiencies are primarily driven in the bill around what Assistant Commissioner Shean has said. The efficiencies lie in the integration of the provincial programs into the federal

Public Safety committee  Yes. When we went out it was for fairly extensive discussions, and the department went out, obviously, with our colleagues at the RCMP. We did that over a period of time. The genesis of Bill C-51 is the product of the better part of a number of years of going out and consulting w