Home Newsroom 2004 Speeches (archive) Bloodworth: 2004-10-21

Canada-U.S. cross-border crime forum

Speaking notes for
Margaret Bloodworth

Ottawa, Ontario
October 21, 2004

As delivered

Good afternoon everyone.

It is my turn to welcome all of you -- Canadian colleagues and American friends -- to this eighth annual Cross-Border Crime Forum.

For the past 10 months, I've had the pleasure -- and the challenge -- of working as Deputy Minister for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, or PSEPC. I am, however, no stranger to public safety, or to the importance to both Canada and the U.S. of maintaining and strengthening our relationship. I have previously been Deputy Minister of Transport, and Defence, and Deputy Clerk for Security and Intelligence at the Privy Council Office. And in each area links with US have been important to meeting the objectives of both our countries.

This afternoon, I would like to speak to you about the importance of our active agendas within our bilateral fora, and in particular, the Cross-Border Crime Forum. But first, let me bring you up-to-date on the significant re-organization of the security and law enforcement sector within the Government of Canada, and also describe for you our new National Security Policy, which serves as a framework for action on many levels.

Creation of PSEPC

Last December, Prime Minister Martin created Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada to establish a clear centre of responsibility and accountability for public safety and security. While not a carbon copy of the Department of Homeland Security, there are important similarities between the two departments.

The PSEPC department and portfolio bring together in one place the core functions of security and intelligence, policing, corrections and crime prevention, border services and border integrity, immigration enforcement, emergency management and critical infrastructure protection.

This new structure allows us to meet vital emergency preparedness, border integrity and key national security responsibilities under the leadership of a single, senior cabinet minister.

The portfolio of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness includes the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canada Firearms Centre, the Correctional Service of Canada, the National Parole Board and the newly created Canada Border Services Agency, which itself brings in customs officials, food inspection agents, and immigration enforcement agents, who were in three different organizations prior to the creation of the Agency.

As you can see, it houses most of the agencies responsible for Canada's domestic security, with a large emergency preparedness component, which is similar to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's role in DHS.

We also share common interests and operational mandates in a number of key responsibility areas, including cybersecurity; border services and enforcement; counter-terrorism; critical infrastructure protection; emergency preparedness training and funding; and national emergency response plans.

But there are also important differences between PSEPC and DHS. First, PSEPC does not handle immigration policy, only those policies and programs related to immigration enforcement and intelligence. Second, PSEPC encompasses law enforcement and intelligence functions. It is the combination of intelligence plus federal policing conducted by the RCMP that prompts our strong interface with the U.S. Department of Justice.

By putting these functions under one roof in Canada, we are now able to harness, exploit and build on the natural synergies among these different agencies. We can be more effective in identifying and closing security gaps, communicating with one another, and operating more strategically to protect Canadians.

I would like to add that in a relatively short amount of time we have made significant progress in integrating functions and in developing a new corporate culture.

But our work is not finished. For example we are still putting the finishing touches on our enabling legislation for both the Department, which is now before Parliament, and our new Canada Border Services Agency, which is expected to be tabled next month.

National Security Policy

Given our new structure, and the synergies it creates, it is understandable that the new Department and our Portfolio agencies will be among the major driving forces for the implementation of the National Security Policy, which our Deputy Prime Minister unveiled this past April.

This is a major step forward in strengthening Canada's security environment. Broadly speaking, it sets out three core national security interests that Canada needs to advance:

• First, we must protect Canada and Canadians at home and abroad.
• Second, we must ensure that Canada is not a base for threats to our allies.
• And third, we must contribute to international security.

A key element of the National Security Policy is that it is designed to engage all our partners in a collective effort to keep Canada safe. From the municipal police officers, firefighters and ambulance personnel who are our first line of defence in an emergency, all the way up to the Minister with key safety responsibilities and the Prime Minister, the National Security Policy -- or NSP -- recognizes that everyone has a vital role to play.

In fact, the NSP elevates the concept of collaboration from theory into practice, by including numerous mechanisms to foster meaningful and effective joint efforts. These include the creation of:

• a permanent federal/provincial/territorial forum on emergencies at the ministerial and deputy ministerial level;
• a Government Operations Centre, located within the Department, with links to provincial, territorial and municipal emergency personnel, as well as other federal departments and DHS; and
• an Integrated Threat Assessment Centre at CSIS.

This final measure, the Integrated Threat Assessment Centre, is part of the Intelligence component of the NSP, which also outlines plans for increased capabilities for intelligence collection and assessment, and commits us to an enhanced focus on security intelligence.

To address Transportation Security, we have a clear 6-Point Plan for Marine Security and some new initiatives in Air Security.

Finally, the Border Security component of the NSP includes our new Biometric passport, a real-time RCMP electronic fingerprint system, a streamlined refugee determination process with strengthened enforcement provisions, the completion of the remaining action items of the existing smart borders agenda, further development of a "next generation" smart Borders agenda with the U.S. and Mexico and the application of smart borders principles internationally.

As you can see, the changes that have taken place in Canada over the past 10 months -- specifically, the creation of PSEPC, and the new National Security Policy -- are ensuring that Canada is better organized to address the multifaceted challenges of public safety.

And the fact remains that, both here in Canada and in the U.S., the public looks to the federal government for leadership on public safety. Our respective citizens and international partners expect us to create systems and strategies that will protect them against threats. When things go wrong, they expect their governments to take the lead on dealing with the fallout, whether it's related to a terrorist threat, national disaster or criminal activity.

Front-line enforcement officers and first responders at the state, provincial and local level are all vital partners in our efforts. The non-governmental community and the private sector also play important roles.

CBCF

Our respective citizens also expect our two countries to work together. Some of our approaches may be different, but I think we can agree that Canada and the U.S. are equally committed to the security and integrity of our nations, the well-being of our citizens and our interdependent trading relationship.

Maintaining these many aspects of our relationship, and continuing to build on our long history of friendship, is what the Cross-Border Crime Forum is all about. It is also a longstanding testament to how our countries can work together.

Many of you will recall that the Forum originally focused on telemarketing fraud and on anti-smuggling efforts along the border, both in terms of tobacco diversion and narcotics. The focus has now expanded to include organized crime, child pornography and exploitation, firearms trafficking, interoperability and anti-terrorism.

This has required an expanded membership, with expertise from all points of the justice and law enforcement continuum.

And now more than ever, the work of the CBCF can assist and be assisted by agendas of other bilateral fora.

I'm thinking, first of all, of the Shared Border Accord. Police forces and customs officials have to work closely together. Police forces count on their colleagues at ports of entry to combat child pornography and human trafficking, and watch for counterfeit goods, for example, both to protect the public and to cut off funds that support organized crime and terrorism.

As many of you know, Admiral Loy, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, brought a delegation to Ottawa last month. It was the latest step towards a joint Action Plan between our departments that will deepen Canada-U.S. cooperation in the areas of critical infrastructure protection, cross-border incident management, information-sharing, coordination of national alerts and warnings, as well as border security. I am pleased with the progress we are making on this front with our U.S. counterparts in these areas.

Also, just last week, the Minister hosted U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge at another very productive meeting that moved us forward on the Smart Border Action Plan as well as strengthening our bilateral cooperation on securing our border crossings while facilitating the flow of goods and people.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the participation of experts from the transport sector, who can help us strengthen linkages between the Cross Border Crime Forum and air and marine security issues, particularly on improving the intelligence base and the sharing of information to assist in the front-end screening of people and goods entering our air and marine ports.

CBCF Challenges

Ladies and gentlemen, before I conclude my remarks today, I would like to encourage all of us in this room to challenge ourselves to find new ways to collaborate more closely to pursue our common objectives. Together, we can leverage the extensive expertise represented here today to build synergies that can help all of us in our work. That is my expectation of this year's Forum.

As we move forward on this agenda, I would like to leave you with two specific challenges.

First, we need to take information sharing to the next level. When the Cross-Border Crime Forum started, we discussed common issues or irritants and offered training on each other's laws and practices. Then we moved to sharing information, intelligence and beyond to conducting joint threat assessments.

We must position ourselves to use this intelligence in a pro-active manner to better target our efforts on the ground. This will give us the critical outcomes we are seeking. Last year, for example, since tabling a joint threat assessment, the firearms trafficking group has been working on a 10-point action plan.

This year, after developing a joint assessment, the Drugs and Organized Crime subgroup chose a common target for a joint operation. Taking concrete actions flowing from threat and risk assessments is no simple task. It requires critical thinking and resources. But we must ensure that these strategic investments are made if we are to enhance our effectiveness in combating crime and terrorism.

Second, we need to be more sophisticated in identifying emerging trends and recognizing their impact on the work that we do. I was pleased to hear that for the second year at this Forum, we have included presentations on emerging trends. As I have learned from work in emergency management and transportation security, we cannot anticipate every threat, nor can we prevent every crisis or emergency.

What we can do -- and here a lesson can be learned from the practice of risk management -- is ensure that when unforeseen challenges do occur, we have a well-understood and practiced approach to decision-making, response and recovery in place. The same should apply to law enforcement and security.

Conclusion

I would like to end my remarks by thanking everyone for participating so actively in the workgroups and presentations at this Forum. This work is critical to keeping a strong, relevant, forward-looking agenda for the years to come.

With a new Parliament in session, labour disputes in the public service, and a minority government, I know Canadian officials have their hands full. With a presidential election in less than two weeks, our American colleagues are equally busy. I appreciate that you have all made this Forum a continuing priority.

Our commitment to this Forum -- our ability to make time for it among all of our competing priorities -- shows that we recognize the importance of cross-border cooperation in the pursuit of public safety and security. I urge all of us to make the most of our time together.

Thank you.