Federal Enforcement Branch

Federal Enforcement Program MOUs

Mandate:

The Federal Enforcement Branch is the policy centre for more than 250 federal statutes in a variety of areas. In most cases, the statutes involve regulatory compliance and are not criminal in nature and the branch is not involved in their enforcement. The branch has 18 Memoranda of Understanding with other government departments and agencies which define the roles of the RCMP in the enforcement of some of these statutes.

Role:

There are five sections within the branch each responsible for several statutes and MOUs and for providing policy direction to and monitoring of several Divisions. The sections are Environmental Crime and Wildlife, Airport/Marine Federal Enforcement Services, Consumer Protection, Public Safety and Financial Loss to the Government.

• Environmental Crime and Wildlife

Under an MOU with Environment Canada, the RCMP takes the lead in any environmental crime investigation involving organized crime and/or which require the use of sophisticated investigative techniques. This section is also responsible for the MOU with Parks Canada governing the enforcement in Canada’s national parks of the Criminal Code.

• Airport/Marine Federal Enforcement Services

The Airport Federal Enforcement Program involves the enforcing of federal statutes at major Canadian international airports in the fight against organized crime.

With regard to marine security, under the National Ports Strategy, integrated marine enforcement teams have been created to conduct national security investigations of organized crime in the ports of Halifax, Montreal and Vancouver. This section is responsible for the national coordination of marine national security incidents.

• Consumer Protection

Among the statutes for which this section is responsible are the Radiocommunications Act; Copyright Act; Weights and Measures Act; Canadian Human Rights Act and Section 489(2) of the Criminal Code of Canada which concerns the seizure and reporting of counterfeit and stolen goods, drug paraphernalia, illegal satellite equipment, etc.

The section’s priorities focus on investigating organized crime involvement in counterfeit goods at the manufacturing, importation and commercial wholesale levels. They also focus on the theft of telecommunications services.

• Public Safety

There is a wide range of statutes that fall under the responsibility of this section including the Canada Shipping Act, Quarantine Act, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Act and Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act. The section maintains several MOUs with a number of government departments and agencies all of which involve protecting public safety. For example, there is an MOU with Health Canada concerning the Quarantine Act. Under this MOU, if warranted, the RCMP is required to detain individuals who are quarantined, for example, aboard an aircraft or ship.

This section also coordinates, with the Solicitor General and “C” Division, the provision of policing services at Kannestake and negotiates with the National Capital Commission, the provision of traffic enforcement services under the National Capital Commission Act.

• Financial Loss to the Federal Government

Through an MOU with HRDC, the RCMP conducts fraud investigations involving the Canada Student Loans Act, Canada Pension Act and Old Age Security Act. There are also MOUs with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans regarding the Fisheries Act and with the Department of Justice and the Passport Office regarding Family Orders/Assistance Act.

This section is developing an MOU with PWGSC to become involved in the Controlled Goods Program under the Defence Production Act. The RCMP provides CPIC checks to PWGSC. PWGSC provides information to the RCMP regarding potential organized crime or terrorist groups. The RCMP will provide criminal investigative assistance to PWGSC when required. An MOU will eventually be developed to clarify respective departmental responsibilities.