Home Newsroom 2004 Speeches (archive) McLellan: 2004-11-24

Speaking Notes to the Standing Committee on Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness- Main estimates

Speaking notes for
The Honourable Anne McLellan

Ottawa, Canada
November 24, 2004

As delivered

Introduction

It is again my pleasure to be meeting with the Committee. As you know, I was here only a few weeks ago to participate in your review of Bill C-6, which is of course the legislation that creates the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. I thank all of you for your comments and I certainly look forward to another positive and productive discussion this afternoon.

The purpose of today’s meeting is to review the portfolio’s spending plans for the final three months of fiscal year 2004-2005. I would like to quickly introduce officials who have accompanied me today.

Obviously many of your know my Deputy Minister, Margaret Bloodworth. I can't imagine that there are any of you who don't know the Commissioner, Commissioner Zaccardelli, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; and Alain Jolicoeur, who is President of the Canada Border Services Agency – and that legislation, which creates that new agency, will probably be before this Committee very soon for your consideration – Bill Baker, who is the Commissioner of the Canada Firearms Centre; Don Head, who is the Acting Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada; and Ian Glen, who is Chairperson of the National Parole Board. And while Mr. Neufeld, Mr. Chair, is a very humble man, I do want to especially acknowledge today the presence of Dale Neufeld, who has done an outstanding job as Acting Director of CSIS over these past few months. Thank you, Dale.

The Threat Environment

The Estimates documents we are reviewing today will finalize a total appropriation of $4.9 billion in funding for the Department and various agencies that make up the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness portfolio. How we spend this money is of the utmost importance to Canadians – not only from an accountability perspective, but also because of the work we do. At it's most basic level this work saves lives and protects the very socio-economic fabric of the country.

I do not make that statement lightly. We live in an uncertain world – a world that is more dangerous than at any time in our collective memory. Canada is engaged with our allies in the fight against terrorism.

Canada will always face a certain level of risk. After all, before 9/11, the Air India bombing had claimed more lives – many of them Canadian – than any other single terrorist attack in history. But there is no disputing that the threat environment has worsened in the past three or four years. Current threats to public safety are far more global, far more unpredictable and far more difficult to detect than anything we have experienced in the past.

Canadians are aware of this. Although they perceive their personal risk to be low, they know we are not immune from a terrorist attack.

While Canada may not be a primary target for a terrorist strike, we are a named target. The terrorist bombings in Bali, Madrid and Beslan are tragic reminders that terrorists can strike anywhere, anytime. Their brutality knows no bounds.

But the risks to our safety and security are not limited to terrorism. They extend to personal safety, as well. There are emerging forms of crime, such as human trafficking, identity theft, child sexual exploitation and cyber crime. Furthermore, firearms-related crimes, such as gun smuggling and gun violence, present us with particular challenges at our borders and in our communities. Organized crime is also becoming more globalized and poses a growing threat to safety and security.

Our responses to these threats must also evolve, to deter and reduce crime, as well as preserve the peaceful and open nature of Canadian society.

In a country as large and as geographically diverse as Canada, natural disasters are also an ever-present threat. Floods, forest fires, hurricanes, ice storms and other severe weather events can hit us at any time, causing social and economic disruption over large regions of the country.

In the face of this varied and harsh threat environment, Canadians expect their government to take action to protect their safety, security and economic stability. I have said this before, but it bears repeating in light of our discussions today. There is no role more fundamental for government than the job of protecting its citizens. All other rights and freedoms – all other benefits of citizenship in a democratic society – flow from this.

Why PSEPC Was Created

It goes to the heart of why the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Portfolio was created last December. The Portfolio has been designed to address a continuum of risks to Canadians – from crime affecting the lives of individuals, to natural disasters disrupting our communities, to terrorism and other threats to our national security.

In short, it is our job to protect the lives and livelihoods of Canadians by ensuring their safety and security. It is our job to constantly evaluate information from domestic and international sources to better assess the whole range of risks we face, in order to avert threats, and respond effectively to those that cannot be avoided.

To facilitate this, the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Portfolio brings together key national agencies dedicated to public safety.

The former Department of the Solicitor General, the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness, and the National Crime Prevention Centre have been amalgamated into a new department.

This department and a range of agencies, including the new Canada Border Services Agency, the Correctional Service of Canada, the RCMP, CSIS, the Canada Firearms Centre and the National Parole Board, as well as three oversight bodies, now report to a single Minister.

Through this reorganization and consolidation, we are better able to link front-end measures, such as emergency preparedness, crime prevention, community policing and border management, with back-end interventions, such as law enforcement, emergency response, corrections and parole.

The changes introduced by the Prime Minister last December, as well as new investments in security have made Canada a safer, more secure country than it was on September 11, 2001.

The Importance of “Getting It Right”

It's important to understand that we are not alone in strengthening our safety and security focus. Most of our allies have taken similar steps to reorganize and rationalize their approaches. And everyone is committed to doing more.

It makes sense for them and for us to be ever vigilant. The safety and security of Canadians are at stake. The stability of our relationship with the United States, our closest friend and largest trading partner, is at stake. As is our place in the world.

If we don't get safety and security right – if we don't show that we are serious about the threats we face, and that we are ready and able to respond to those threats – it will affect our borders, our trade, our economy and our mobility.

This is why we feel the funding our government is seeking through these Estimates is critical. It will have an impact in every community across this country. Whether through the policing services provided by the RCMP or by protecting public safety through the corrections and parole systems. Whether through gun control or our investments in crime prevention in more than 4300 projects in more than 850 communities across our country. Whether by fighting organized crime or by ensuring that our borders remain open to legitimate trade and travel but closed to criminal and terrorist entities.

Examples of Portfolio Coherence

I am proud of the progress we've made over the past year in bringing issues and agencies together to keep Canadians safe.

For example, as part of the commitments made when I launched our first ever National Security Policy last April, we have created a new Integrated Threat Assessment Centre, (ITAC), staffed by representatives from across the security and intelligence community to support and strengthen Canada's intelligence gathering capabilities.

We are also bolstering national security by dealing with threats before they have a chance to get close to Canada and Canadians. The Canada Border Services Agency, CSIS and the RCMP are all engaged with each other and with international partners in identifying and intercepting persons who pose security risks as early as possible, before they get to Canada.

On the emergency management front, a new Government Operations Centre has been established within the Department to provide stable, around-the-clock coordination and support across government and to key national players in the event of national emergencies.

No matter what the source, the Centre monitors situations that could escalate into emergencies. And it helps ensure that the right capabilities are in the right place, at the right time. This is an important step forward in emergency management in Canada. We need to sustain and broaden the Centre’s work in the months ahead to ensure it fully develops into what the Government envisioned in our first ever integrated National Security Policy. This also includes meeting the commitment to co-locate where practical, federal, provincial, territorial and municipal emergency operation centres across Canada.

We also continue to make progress in strengthening our vital security and trade relationship with the United States. This involves many elements of the portfolio – from border services and emergency management, to policing and security intelligence.

For example, we have expanded the use of Integrated Border Enforcement Teams, or IBETs, to help ensure the free flow of legitimate goods and people across the Canada-U.S. border while closing the border to criminal or terrorist elements.

IBETs as many of you know, include many partners – the RCMP, the Canada Border Services Agency, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Branch, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Coast Guard to name but a few of the key players.

Federal, state, provincial, and municipal law enforcement agencies are also integrated into these teams, which ensure joint coordination of enforcement and intelligence activities at the Canada-U.S. border.

As an example of further progress on this front, we recently announced a 15th IBET location in the Sault Ste. Marie region and concluded an agreement to co-locate four IBET intelligence centres, in which Canadian and American intelligence staff will work shoulder-to-shoulder to deal with everything from anti-terrorism to trafficking in humans, drugs and firearms.

Conclusion

In conclusion, let me just remind the Committee that these are still early days for the new Portfolio, and it's important that we stay the course. We must continue to implement key elements of our National Security Policy. We must continue to work with our allies, particularly the United States, to ensure that our borders remain open and efficient.

We must continue to fight organized crime, and to deliver correctional services that meet the needs of the Canadian public and of inmates.

Mr. Chair, and members of the Committee, the work this portfolio does is absolutely crucial to the welfare of Canadians and our economy. This is not a time to be scaling back investments in national safety security and emergency preparedness. It's a time for bolstering our efforts – just as our allies are doing around the world.

We must always be looking for ways to improve our prevention strategies and emergency response capabilities. And we must do this in a way that reflects Canadian values, safeguards our liberties, and respects our laws, our Constitution, and our sovereignty.

I hope we can count on the Committee's support for this work.

Mr. Chair, I would now be pleased to receive members’ questions, comments, suggestions, whatever they might have in store. Thank you.