CIMM Committee Report

        Canada is a land of immigrants. Canada was built by immigrants. PC-DR Coalition supports and believes that our future prosperity lies in an open and secure immigration system. Attracting the best and brightest from other countries will ensure that our standard of living will be sustained in the future. At the same time our system of immigration must not compromise the security of Canada. Our immigration system must screen out all those who would come here to do or our American neighbours harm.

        As the former vice-chair of this committee and the current PC-DR Coalition critic, I have over this past year raised many security concerns in the House and in the committee pre-Sept.11th. I have called on the Minister to implement front-end screening using the latest technology but she insisted that it was not necessary as she was keeping the front door open while closing that back door. I have called on the Minister to put a stop to the asylum seekers, economic refugees and undocumented arrivals who take advantage of our liberal refugee system while legitimate immigrants and refugees wait for years for the paper work to be completed.

        Knowing that there are over 27,000 federal deportation warrants written by our federal agencies and not knowing the whereabouts of many of these individuals certainly makes one feel less secure. Canadians expect our laws to be carried out. In a post Sept. 11th world, it would be reasonable to implement a national identity card with limits on information data as well as when one could be asked for identity. This would certainly sort out the legal citizens, permanent residents and refugees from those who are here temporarily or illegally.

        To say that Canada is a haven for terrorists is not accurate. To say that there are terrorist cells in Canada is closer to the truth. Let us not forget that terrorist activity in Canada is not new. Remember the FLQ crisis in 1970 and the Air India tragedy spawned in British Columbia. The Liberal cutback of 1994 in National Defence, Customs and Immigration, as well as the crisis in the RCMP certainly made this country less secure. Added to this a very liberal refugee system placed even more demands on an immigration system that was already overstressed. The use of a third safe country or direct backs must be implemented by Canada.

        PC-DR Coalition believes that intelligence is key to security. We support overseas interdiction programs and overseas intelligence gathering including well-trained personnel on the front lines. We have been told that all the technology in the world cannot substitute good people. We agree that there is not substitute for experienced, well-trained personnel on the front line.

        PC-DR Coalition promotes the free flow of goods and people across our US-Canada border. Trade is the lifeblood of Canada. 86% of everything we produce in Canada moves into the United States. Slowing down this movement of goods and people would have detrimental effects on our economy. We support pre-clearance programs like Nexus, Inpass and Canpass/Portpass. We support streaming of traffic corridors at all our land ports.

        The Committee has consistently heard the need for more human resources, technical resources and physical resources. PC-DR Coalition supports the call for more staffing and more training. We support an integrated approach at all levels of administration and information sharing. All agencies on both sides of the border need to work together at all levels.

        The PC-DR Coalition supports providing our front line customs officials and immigration enforcement officials with the necessary tools to not only do the job, but to do it in a safe environment. These tools would include side arms. It is unfortunate that in a high-risk environment, firearms are not immediately present on the Canadian side of the border. The RCMP is available on an on-call basis, most times 30 minutes to 2 hours away from the border post. The American border officials who are armed have made it quite clear that they cannot come to the rescue of their Canadian counterparts in the event of a crisis because of our firearm legislation and their liability coverage.

        One of the recommendations of this report calls for the seizure of all vehicles used in the commission of a crime applicable to human trafficking and smuggling found in the second anti-terrorist bill, C-42. Ironically, during Bill C-11 clause by clause stage in the Spring of 2001, the Member for Dauphin-Swan River moved an amendment stating that "all vehicles (ships, aircrafts, automobiles and the like) used in the illegal transportation of human cargo shall immediately be seized and impounded for at least one year". This amendment was defeated by the government at committee level. Unfortunately, Bill C-11 is not the magic bullet which we have said to the Minister many times.

         In conclusion, Sept. 11th has made Canadians more aware of the new threat to all humanity in the form of international terrorism. Canadians are not so naïve to think that it cannot happen here at home. PC-DR Coalition supports the recommendations found in this report. The Coalition extends our gratitude to all our men and women in customs, immigration, RCMP, National Defence and other enforcement agencies for their dedication to keeping Canada safe and secure and free from terror.

Inky Mark, MP