Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: Still on the topic of organized crime taking advantage of gaps in the legislation, some Canadians are persistently trying to smuggle cannabis across the American border, so cannabis seizures have skyrocketed and seem to be out of control. The office of the Quebec Minister of Public Security said that it has informed your department of the situation several times, but it is still waiting for your response. Would I be wrong to think that, as with the handgun issue, your government is trying to shirk all responsibility by shifting it elsewhere, rather than engaging in a serious fight against organized crime?

Hon. David Lametti, P.C., M.P., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada: You are fortunate to be able to ask a second question. That is the responsibility of my colleague, Mr. Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety. I know that he is working with his Quebec counterpart, Minister Guilbault. We have invested heavily on that file and we are working very closely with Quebec, whether on border issues, strengthening the capacity of police forces with anti-gang programs or other matters.

So there is both cooperation and investment in this file, with most of the investment coming from the federal and Quebec governments. Often we do not take credit in Quebec’s public space for the federal government’s investments, but we are making those investments and we do clearly see the problem. As I was telling Senator Housakos, I am from Montreal. I am a Montrealer, and I am aware of the challenge. We will continue to work with Quebec to protect our citizens.

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