- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs
- Liberal
- Beauséjour
- New Brunswick
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $117,680.95
- Government Page
- Jun/4/24 7:00:03 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, our colleague, the Minister of Innovation, rightly raised an important issue. In his parliamentary or ministerial work, my colleague is someone who is very focused on the type of critical question he just asked.
I think that the very fact that the commission will regularly release reports will reassure Canadians as to the importance of this aspect of civilian review, which will apply to the CBSA for the first time and which will be strengthened in the case of the RCMP.
I completely agree with the Minister of Innovation as to the importance of reassuring Canadians that we have put in place appropriate measures to guarantee not only their safety but also the accountability of our national security agencies.
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- Jun/4/24 6:58:18 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, our colleague from Beauport—Limoilou has raised another important issue. I completely share her concern regarding complaints that could land in her constituency office from people who did not really have appropriate recourse or a robust independent voice for the review and handling of those complaints.
I hope that this bill and the independent commission that it creates and that will apply for the first time both to the CBSA and to our friends in the RCMP will provide exactly the recourse that our colleague from Beauport—Limoilou has identified as missing in the past.
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- Jun/4/24 6:52:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank our colleague from La Pointe-de-l'Île. What a beautiful name for a riding. I am a little envious of the name of his constituency.
Our colleague raises an issue that should be of concern to everyone. I, too, am concerned. I fully share our colleague's concerns about the importance of having border services officers who can serve people in both official languages, whether at the Montreal airport or anywhere else in Canada.
In every conversation I have, I obviously encourage other CBSA senior officials to ensure that the kind of situation described by my colleague does not happen. I would also like to thank the Bloc Québécois members for their very constructive support in moving this bill forward. I would be happy to make sure we resolve this kind of issue correctly.
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- Jun/4/24 6:43:42 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, our colleague from Abitibi—Témiscamingue raises an important issue, namely the internal governance of the Canada Border Services Agency.
The CBSA has gone through some difficult times, what with the Auditor General's report and the internal reviews of ArriveCAN.
I have a great deal of trust in the current president of the CBSA, Erin O'Gorman. I got to know her when she was a senior official at the Treasury Board. She has a lot of experience, specifically in matters of governance.
My discussions with her and the executive vice-president of the CBSA reassured me tremendously about their commitment to improving the governance of that organization. The idea of having a civilian-run independent commission to address this and deal with complaints is an important addition to the discussion.
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- Apr/29/24 2:58:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, obviously, my Quebec Liberal caucus colleagues and I share the member's concern about the importance of the Port of Valleyfield. I intend to raise these important questions with the CBSA. We understand how important the port is for residents and for the region's economy.
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- Apr/18/24 2:46:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as my hon. friend knows, there are internal audits being conducted by the CBSA. The RCMP is looking into this matter. The Auditor General has done a report, and we have accepted the recommendations; my colleague from public services and procurement has changed many of the rules around these types of contracts.
We have also said from the beginning that anybody who abused taxpayers' money will face the consequences, and the government will always seek to recover taxpayers' money that was spent inappropriately.
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- Apr/16/24 2:59:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows full well that we always want to work with the parliamentary committees. I had a discussion with the president of the CBSA yesterday about the issue raised by my colleague. I am sure that the CBSA is aware of the facts of this application. I am sure that it will be managed properly.
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- Feb/27/24 3:07:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, our government has said from the beginning that those who misused taxpayers' money will be held to account. Once the investigations that the CBSA, for example, ordered internally and the RCMP report is completed, if money was misappropriated, of course the government will take all the steps to recoup that money.
We have said from the beginning that anybody who mishandles taxpayers' money will face the consequences, and that is exactly what this government is doing.
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- Feb/27/24 2:22:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have been saying for several weeks that the RCMP is looking into ArriveCAN. This is largely because senior CBSA officials sent documents to the RCMP and asked the RCMP to look into the matter.
There are several investigations under way. We will continue to be available and to give these authorities all the documents and information they need.
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- Feb/6/24 11:03:56 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I was not aware of that comment by our former colleague in this place.
I can tell the member that my interactions with frontline CBSA officers have been extraordinarily positive. I have had an opportunity, with senior officials in Ottawa, to visit a number of CBSA facilities in the short time I have been Minister of Public Safety, including at the Port of Montreal as recently as a few weeks ago.
They are men and women who dedicate themselves to doing difficult work to keep Canadians safe, and intercept the importation of drugs and guns that have done so much damage in our cities and right across the country. Obviously, they are turning their attention to the export of stolen vehicles because one of the best ways we can work with local and regional police is to also bring a choke point at the end, as 60% of the vehicles stolen are, in fact, exported from Canada.
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- Jan/29/24 3:07:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, senior officials of the Canada Border Services Agency who are responsible for ensuring that all the appropriate contracting practices are followed have appeared before the committee. My conversation in early January with the president of CBSA was to the effect that we should share with the committee looking into this information obtained by the internal audit.
CBSA is doing its important work to ensure that everyone is responsible for following the rules. It has called in the police where necessary, has done internal audits and will continue to do all of this to ensure taxpayer value.
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