SECU meeting 6 · 2025-10-09 — Committee Evidence — LegisWatch

Summary

The committee was studying border security, public safety, and related legislation, with appearances by Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree, Canada Border Services Agency President Erin O'Gorman, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Michael Duheme, and Public Safety Senior Assistant Deputy Minister Talal Dakalbab.

Erin O'Gorman stated that CBSA can train approximately 250 armed recruits in the first two years and 300 in the third year at its Rigaud facility, with a current pool of 300 qualified candidates ready for training in six weeks. She noted that 80% of the 1,000 new CBSA employees will be armed officers and 20% will be operational staff, and she expressed no concerns about meeting hiring targets. O'Gorman disagreed with the suggestion that CBSA officers should patrol between ports of entry, arguing that the current system with RCMP response is working well and that expanding the mandate would require additional training and resources.

Michael Duheme explained that the RCMP has appointed a senior officer to oversee training of 1,000 new personnel, including 750 police officers and 250 specialized public servants, and is overhauling the curriculum at Depot Division to allow more online training and accommodate more troops. He emphasized that the RCMP is investing heavily in aerial surveillance and technology for border enforcement, with rapid response teams, rather than relying on physical presence along the entire border. Duheme noted that many experienced officers are joining the RCMP, with 150 to 176 in the past two years, and that the force is assessing whether a second training centre is needed.

Talal Dakalbab reported that the Cape Breton pilot project for the firearms buyback program is progressing well after one week, with people signing up and submissions completed, and that a public report will be published after the pilot concludes. He confirmed that the next steps involve scheduling appointments to collect firearms, making compensation payments, and destroying the firearms.

The committee debated and adopted a motion to study Bill C-8, dedicating three meetings to witness hearings, including one with the minister, with a deadline for amendments of November 13, 2025, and clause-by-clause consideration beginning November 18, 2025. Some members expressed concerns about the limited number of meetings for a technical bill and the need to make up 45 minutes of minister testimony from the current meeting.

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Witnesses · 3

Erin O'Gorman

President, Canada Border Services Agency

Opening remarks

Thank you. CBSA will carry out whatever mandate is given to them. On the notion of CBSA officers seeing people sneak into the country and not being able to get them, I'm not sure that's happening on a regular basis. It was raised here that it's happening in rural areas. Those aren't necessarily near ports of entry. Certainly, the constraints of apprehending somebody who is close by are not quite as rigid as is maybe being communicated. Our border officers at our ports of entry are quite busy. If the mandate were to expand, we need them to also continue. It would be a resourcing issue that we would have to deal with, as well as training. Our officers are extremely well trained. They're armed. They understand the law. However, patrolling between the ports of entry and applying different laws would require more training of some kind. I'll just say, finally, that the responsiveness of the RCMP—police of jurisdiction in particular, and specifically the RCMP—is extremely high. It was mentioned that it takes hours to respond if somebody is seen crossing between ports of entry. That hasn't been my experience. Those are not the briefings that my colleague and I get as we talk regularly…

Full testimony ↗

Michael Duheme

Commissioner, Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Opening remarks

Thank you, Minister. As stated in the opening remarks, there was $1.3 billion given for border enforcement, of which the RCMP received $666 million, which we're heavily investing into aerial surveillance and other technology that we can deploy across the border. We really want to focus our whole approach on technology and have these rapid response teams that can respond. To your specific question, when we're talking about public safety, it's a whole community approach. If people in the community see something, they should be reporting it to the police of jurisdiction so they can respond. I think it's unrealistic to think that you can have a physical body on every hundred feet of the border to intercept everything, so we're relying a lot on technology. We're encouraging people, if they see something, to report it to the local police.

Public Safety and National Security

Summary

Witnesses · 3

Bills mentioned