Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree introduced the Bill, the Strong Borders Act to strengthen applicable laws and keep Canadians safe.
According to a press release from the federal government the bill aims to give law enforcement agencies the powers they need to keep the border secure.
“The bill will keep Canadians safe by ensuring law enforcement has the right tools to keep our borders secure, combat transnational organized crime, stop the flow of illegal fentanyl, and crack down on money laundering,” it said.
“It will bolster our response to increasingly sophisticated criminal networks, and enhance the integrity and fairness of our immigration system while protecting Canadians’ privacy and Charter rights.”
The following are the measures planned for the bill:
- Amend the Customs Act to secure our borders against illicit drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, and auto theft:
- obligating owners and operators at certain ports of entry/exit to provide, equip, and maintain facilities for any purpose related to the administration and enforcement of CBSA’s mandate which includes the examination and detention of goods destined for export;
- allowing the CBSA access to premises under the control of transporters and warehouse operators to perform examinations in places where goods destined for export are reported, loaded, unloaded, or stored.
- Amend the Oceans Act to add security-related activities to coast guard services, which will enable the Canadian Coast Guard to conduct security patrols and collect, analyse and disseminate information and intelligence for security purposes;
- Enhance the ability of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to share information collected on registered sex offenders with domestic and international law enforcement partners;
- Protect the asylum system against sudden increases in claims by introducing new ineligibility rules.
- Improve how asylum claims are received, processed, and decided;
- Strengthen authorities to cancel, suspend or change immigration documents, and to cancel, suspend or stop accepting new applications; and
- Improve how Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) shares client information with federal, provincial and territorial partners.
Minister of Fisheries Joanne Thompson says she believes that adding security to the mandate of the Canadian Coast Guard will help protect Canada’s waters.
“Expanding the Canadian Coast Guard’s services to include security activities will help ensure the protection and sovereignty of our vast coasts and waterways,” Thompson said.
“With our extensive fleet and experience on the water, we are well positioned to make a significant contribution to Canada’s national security, making the country stronger, more adaptable, and more responsive.”
“Our government made a commitment to keep our communities safe and work with our American partners to strengthen our border,” said Anandasangaree. “The Strong Borders Act will help us tackle organized crime, and further equip our border and law enforcement agencies with the authorities and resources they need to keep our border secure – for both American and Canadian communities.”
The Bill also outlines several measures to combat transnational organized crime and illegal fentanyl.
- Create a new accelerated scheduling pathway that allows precursor chemicals that can be used to produce illicit drugs to be rapidly controlled by the Minister of Health. This will allow law and border enforcement agencies to take swift action to prevent their illegal importation and use and to ensure strict federal oversight over any legitimate use of these chemicals;
- Amend the Criminal Code and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act to facilitate law enforcement’s access to basic information and data, and amend the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Act to ensure CSIS’s investigative tools also keep pace;
- Introduce the Supporting Authorized Access to Information Act (SAAIA) to ensure that electronic service providers have the capabilities to support law enforcement agencies and the CSIS in criminal and intelligence investigations by compelling them to fulfill legally authorized requests to access or intercept information and communications;
- Amend the Canada Post Corporation Act to remove barriers that prevent police from searching the mail, where authorized to do so in accordance with an Act of Parliament, to advance a criminal investigation; and
- Expand Canada Post’s inspection authority to open mail.
Minister of Health Marjorie Michael says the bill will help limit fentanyl and improve the health and safety of all Canadians.
“This legislation will give Canada stronger tools in the fight against fentanyl so together with all levels of government, Indigenous communities, and public health and law enforcement partners, we can save lives and keep our communities safe,” she said.
The government also hopes the bill will help disrupt illicit financial transactions, says Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne
“Canada is stepping up in the fight against transnational financial crime,” he said.
“This bill will strengthen supervision and enforcement to combat money laundering and terrorist financing – reinforcing our government’s commitment to stop illicit financial flows.”
There are several measures within the bill the government hopes will meet those ends.
- Strengthen Canada’s anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime, including through stronger anti-money laundering penalties;
- Address some of the most prevalent types of money laundering, including through new restrictions on large cash transactions and ‘third party deposits’;
- Enhance supervisory collaboration and support high standards of regulatory compliance by adding the Director of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) to the Financial Institutions Supervisory Committee (FISC) and enabling FINTRAC to exchange supervisory information on federally regulated financial institutions with FISC; and
- Clarify public to private information sharing provisions to help better detect and deter money laundering and support the recently created Integrated Money Laundering Intelligence Partnership (IMLIP) between banks and law enforcement.
The government says they hope this act is a big part of how they make Canada safer. “The Strong Borders Act is a key component of our plan to build a safer and more secure Canada. Further action will be announced over the coming months to keep our communities safe, get guns off our streets, and make bail harder to get for repeat offenders charged with car theft, home invasions, human trafficking and drug smuggling.”
