Public Safety and National Security

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security met to study the management of the U.S.-Canada border, hearing from Kenneth Bieger, Chief Executive Officer of the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission; Thomas Boyle, Chief Executive Officer of the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority; and Christian Leuprecht, a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada.

Kenneth Bieger testified that border security and border efficiency are complementary, not mutually exclusive, and that hiring 1,000 additional CBSA officers is a positive step. He recommended improving the Nexus trusted traveller program, modernizing CBSA technology and accelerating procurement and implementation processes, and stressed that obtaining advanced information before vehicles reach primary inspection lanes would enhance both security and efficiency. Bieger opposed proposed changes to section 6 of the Customs Act in Bills C-2 and C-12, arguing that placing the financial burden for infrastructure upgrades solely on owner-operators is inappropriate because border security is a national responsibility, and noted that the current act dates from 1986, before 9/11 fundamentally changed security requirements.

Thomas Boyle described the Peace Bridge's innovative pre-arrival readiness evaluation program, which uses multi-energy portal scanning technology on the Canadian side to scan 100% of commercial vehicles entering the U.S. while they cross the bridge, allowing U.S. customs to adjudicate scans before trucks arrive at inspection booths. He noted that the project was funded by a $5-million Canadian government contribution matched by the Peace Bridge, with the U.S. supplying the scanning equipment, and that the facility is awaiting Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission permits to become operational in early 2026. Boyle argued that Bill C-12's proposed revisions to section 6 of the Customs Act would unfairly require border operators like the Peace Bridge to bear the costs of outbound inspection facilities, contrasting this with the U.S. model of centralized government funding and noting that some other Canadian border crossings receive government subsidies while the Peace Bridge and Niagara Falls Bridge Commission do not.

Christian Leuprecht testified that Canada is among the few Western countries with no exit controls on cargo or people, contributing to problems like car theft and drug exports that harm Canada's credibility with allies. He argued that the current territorial approach to border management is ill-suited to transnational threat vectors and that simply hiring more officers will not fix the problem without structural reforms, such as creating a dedicated expert border agency and a systematic professional development program for national security personnel. Leuprecht recommended depoliticizing border management through a NORAD-like binational professional structure, and emphasized that the government must set clear strategic priorities and hold institutions accountable for delivering measurable outcomes.

During questioning, Bieger and Boyle both noted staffing shortages at primary inspection lanes, with Boyle expressing concern that when the Gordie Howe bridge opens, temporary officers currently training there will be reassigned, leaving Niagara-area bridges understaffed. Bieger recommended emulating the U.S. model by allowing CBSA officers to intervene in incidents outside their immediate port of entry, rather than requiring them to call local law enforcement. Leuprecht disagreed with the notion that the government has prioritized public safety, arguing that many border vulnerabilities stem from sins of omission rather than commission, and that political will is needed to restructure national security institutions.

The committee also received a notice of motion from Jacques Ramsay calling on Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre to apologize for remarks about the RCMP, but no further debate or vote occurred on this motion during the meeting.