- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs
- Liberal
- Beauséjour
- New Brunswick
- Voting Attendance: 65%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $117,680.95
- Government Page
- Apr/30/24 2:57:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we absolutely will review the facts that my hon. colleague has presented. Obviously, I share his concern over this situation.
As I said, I will be pleased to follow up with the Canada Border Services Agency. I look forward to it.
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- Apr/30/24 2:55:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
I was not aware of the facts of a particular case. If he is asking if we are in favour of that kind of waste, I think I share his opinion. The answer, of course, is no.
I would be happy to talk to the Canada Border Services Agency to see if it is possible to find an alternative.
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- Feb/12/24 3:05:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, obviously, the government is interested in the utmost transparency in this matter. That is why the president of the Canada Border Services Agency and her officials appeared before the committee. That is why an internal investigation was ordered.
My colleague referred to a referral to the RCMP. It may surprise him, but it is not politicians who direct the operational work of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Therefore, we cannot speak to exactly what investigations are being done. We have full confidence that they will hold those to account in the case that this is merited.
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- Feb/12/24 3:03:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, our government has, at the very first opportunity when these allegations were made, taken all of the appropriate steps to ensure that taxpayer money is respected. The Canada Border Services Agency president ordered an internal investigation. Those preliminary findings were shared with the committee, with which my hon. colleague is very familiar. It is too bad that the chair of that committee chose not to share, for example, that report with the members of the committee.
Our government is being transparent, and will always be, to ensure that taxpayer money is well spent.
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- Feb/12/24 2:43:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, again, my colleague can repeat a series of things that the facts do not bear out, but what we can say is that the government takes extremely seriously the obligation of public servants to follow the contracting rules. That is exactly what the president of the Canada Border Services Agency has assured me she is doing. She has also assured me that she had taken a series of corrective measures before today's Auditor General report and will continue to do whatever is required to ensure that taxpayers' money is always handled in the appropriate way.
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- Feb/12/24 2:34:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, again, repeating the last part of my hon. friend's question does not make it true. What is true is that at the moment contracting practice irregularities were identified, the Border Services Agency took all of the steps appropriate to determine exactly what the facts were and to hold those responsible to account in case that is necessary.
The Auditor General identified a series of contracting practices that were not followed. The government does not condone that behaviour and has taken all the steps to make sure those circumstances do not repeat themselves.
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- Feb/12/24 2:31:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, just because our colleague repeats a series of allegations that are not borne out by the facts does not make them true. The facts are that the very moment that there were allegations of inappropriate contracting practices, an internal audit was begun by the president of the Canada Border Services Agency, and referrals were made to the appropriate authorities, including the RCMP.
Anybody who did not follow the contracting rules will be held to account. My friend knows that, and he should not ascribe a serious responsibility where it does not exist.
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- Feb/12/24 2:30:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we thank the NDP leader for his question. We share his concerns about the need to manage taxpayers' money wisely.
The Auditor General identified circumstances that were entirely inappropriate. That is why the Canada Border Services Agency and the Department of Public Services and Procurement have taken the necessary steps to ensure that this type of situation never happens again.
We will always remain focused on managing Canadians' money properly.
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- Feb/12/24 2:24:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am surprised that the Leader of the Opposition would mention investing in border security, when his government cut 1,000 officers who did the exact kind of work that he is now pretending he wants to invest in. It eliminated 50% of the intelligence capacity in the Border Services Agency to work with local provincial police and the RCMP. We have no lessons to take in investing in border security from somebody who gutted the Border Services Agency.
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- Feb/6/24 2:47:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what are we going to do at Thursday's discussion?
For one thing, we are going to discuss exactly what we can do to combat auto theft with the chief of the Montreal police service and other partners.
I was also at the port of Montreal two weeks ago with my colleague, the Minister of Transport. The good news is that we saw a lot more than five border services officers working on this troubling situation.
We will continue to increase the number of Canada Border Services Agency staff, which the Conservatives drastically reduced.
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- Dec/7/23 3:07:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have obviously had a number of discussions with senior RCMP officials about the importance of strengthening our position at the border. The integrity of our borders is obviously an issue that the government takes very seriously. I have discussed this with my American counterpart, Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas.
I can assure my colleague that the number of RCMP officers, for example in his province, Quebec, who are dedicated to organized crime and border security will not decrease.
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- Dec/7/23 2:40:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we obviously share the concerns of all Canadians with respect to the integrity of our borders.
My colleague is suggesting that we are going to cut RCMP staff in “C” Division in Quebec to fight organized crime and secure our borders, but that is not quite true.
Since the closure of Roxham Road and the changes to the safe third country agreement, the RCMP has reallocated its resources to priorities like organized crime and border security.
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- Nov/21/23 2:43:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I completely agree with my colleague. We will never allow cartels to take control of our borders. However, the member must be careful not to exaggerate when asking questions.
Our government is very concerned about what Radio-Canada has found. That is exactly why we are working more with our law enforcement agencies, the Canada Border Services Agency and, most importantly, our American partners to combat what my colleague was talking about. I have full confidence in the work of the RCMP and border services.
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- Nov/20/23 2:46:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said a few moments ago, as a government, we have been taking action since the first months of our term to ensure the integrity of our borders. We have spoken with our partners in the U.S. and Mexico about the importance of controlling irregular migration.
We have invested more in border security and in our intelligence services so we could do whatever it takes to keep our borders secure. Obviously, we are always open to good ideas for further enhancing this important responsibility.
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- Nov/20/23 2:45:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do not want to disagree with my colleague, but we have not lost control of our borders.
On the contrary, we are working with Canada's intelligence and security services. We share as much intelligence as possible under Canadian law so that our partners, whether American, Mexican or Canadian, including those in Quebec, can explore what more we can do to secure the border. I look forward to continuing my very positive discussions with Minister Bonnardel on this matter.
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- Nov/20/23 2:43:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we obviously share the concerns of all Canadians when it comes to the integrity of our borders.
That is precisely why we have invested additional funds in strengthening our border security posture. This is why I visited Washington a month and a half ago. I spoke with the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security about specific ways that we could collaborate more. I also had an important discussion with my colleague, Quebec's public safety minister. We are going to keep increasing personnel as required to ensure that the border remains secure.
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