ARCHIVED - Speech for the International Airport Investigators Training Symposium

Toronto, Ontario
September 27, 2012

Check against delivery

Thank you for that very warm welcome.

It's a great pleasure to be here at this important symposium – which is the very first of its kind in Canada and hopefully the first of many more successful events to come.

The organizers have done a wonderful job in bringing you all together to discuss ways to further improve our domestic and international security.

I want to especially acknowledge the YYZ Intelligence Unit as well as the Criminal Intelligence Service of Ontario (CISO) and indeed all the partners in the Joint Forces Operation at Pearson International for the very good work they do every day as well as for their diligence in putting together a very impressive array of speakers and workshops over the last few days.

I trust that you have all had a very useful and productive conference and I certainly look forward to hearing about your discussions.

On behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Government of Canada, I want to extend my heartfelt appreciation to those of you who worked so hard to host this event and to everyone for taking the time to attend so that you could share your views and perspectives and learn from each other.

Strengthening domestic and international security requires close cooperation with our partners both here in North America and around the world.

Your participation this week is a testament to the shared commitment to work together to keep our citizens safe from terrorist threats while also cracking down on the movement of illegal drugs and other contraband goods across our borders – acts that  fuel organized crime in Canada and internationally

The challenges all of you face are certainly daunting.

At Pearson International Airport here in Toronto, for example, more than 440,000 metric tonnes of cargo is processed each year.

In 2011, the Greater Toronto Airport Authority dealt with 32 million passengers and more than 400,000 aircraft movements.

Those are staggering numbers.

They remind us how essential our air transportation networks are for legitimate trade and travel.

They challenge us to keep the system moving while guarding our borders against domestic and international threats and illegal smuggling and trafficking operations.

That is one reason why this symposium has been so important and one reason why I am so glad to see so many of you here.

Many of you know that our government has been committed to cracking down on crime and to supporting the global fight against terrorist threats since we were first elected in 2006.

Today, I would like to speak with you about some of the ways we are and will be working to accomplish that in close cooperation with many of you here as well as with our other domestic and international partners.

Canada is not immune to terrorism.

Indeed, several hundred Canadians have been killed or injured in terrorist incidents over the past few decades.

This includes the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182, which was planned and executed on our soil  and killed 280 innocent Canadians.

Of course, it also includes the terrorist attacks of nine/eleven in which 24 Canadians lost their lives.

More recently we witnessed the case of a Nigerian extremist who tried to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253, en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan.

When that man tried to ignite his explosives on his way to Detroit he was actually within Canadian airspace over Southern Ontario.

Ladies and gentlemen, - the threats to our country are real.

CSIS continues to pursue threats to our national security, conducting approximately 250 investigations in 2011 both at home and abroad.

Not all of those investigated pose an imminent danger, but they do demonstrate that terrorism-related activity continues to pose a real threat to Canada and our allies. ¹

All of us therefore need to remain vigilant – and that's especially true for airline carriers and airports which are often targeted for attack.

Our government is taking a multi-faceted approach to working with our partners to guard against domestic and international terrorist threats.

In 2007, our government implemented the Passenger Protect Program which identifies individuals who may pose a threat to aviation security and disrupts their ability to cause harm or threaten aviation by preventing them from boarding an aircraft.

We're providing on-going training, funding, equipment and technical and legal assistance to our partners overseas through the Counter-Terrorism Capacity Building Program in order to help them prevent and respond to terrorist activities.

Earlier this year, our government launched the first public Counter-Terrorism Strategy for Canada which sets out Canada's approach to tackling this global and domestic threat.

As well, Prime Minister Harper and President Obama have signed the Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness which, over the long-term, will fundamentally transform how we manage our border

Together, we will be working to minimize threats to our citizens and the economy—by identifying and addressing potential threats before they reach North America.

I'm talking about the concept of pushing out the border—securing the perimeter.

Securing the perimeter will do more than enhance North American security.

It will also play an important part in accelerating legitimate trade and travel between Canada and the United States.

Our government is committed to working with our international partners in the global fight against terrorism.

But terrorism is not the only threat we face at our borders and ports of entry.

Organized criminal groups and transnational criminal organizations often target our points of entry, such as airports, to act as conduits to ship their illegal drugs and other contraband goods across Canada and to other destinations around the world.

Such activities threaten the travelling public.

They threaten our children, our families and our communities.

These drugs eventually find their way into the hands of dealers and result in gang confrontations and other violent criminal acts.

They threaten the integrity of our borders as well as the safety and security of communities in other countries.

Ladies and gentlemen, our government is committed to cracking down on drug king-pins and the other thugs, dealers, and gangsters who engage in these kinds of illegal activities.

We've introduced and passed a wide-range of legislative measures over the past six years to do just that.

Among other things, these laws give law enforcement the tools they need to go after these criminals and bring them to justice.

We have had success in cracking down on drug smuggling at Canada's major airports thanks in large measure to increased intelligence-sharing and investigative cooperation between and among our law enforcement agencies as well as between Canada and the United States and our other partners.

I certainly want to congratulate everyone – and especially the officers with the RCMP, Peel Regional Police and the Canada Border Services Agency – for the very good work you do.

Here at Pearson Airport, for example, thanks to the great work of the RCMP, CBSA, and other law enforcement agencies, Canada has managed to seize $170 million worth of illegal narcotics and drugs between January and August of this year alone. ²

That compares to $83 million for the same period in 2011 and $82 million for the same periods in 2010.³

Ongoing collaboration between RCMP, CBSA and the US law enforcement community has prevented significant amounts of methamphetamine and MDMA from entering the North American illicit drug market.

Again, Canada is also working with our international partners through the Anti-Crime Capacity Building Program to help address domestic and transnational crimes.

Launched by the Prime Minister in 2009, this initiative provides up to $15 million a year to enhance the capacity of government agencies, international organizations and non-governmental entities to prevent and respond to threats posed by transnational criminal activity throughout the Americas.

Our government is also taking action to strengthen efforts to identify and apprehend international fugitives in this country

Many of you will know that last July our government significantly enhanced the ability of law enforcement officials to apprehend suspected war criminals thought to be living in Canada by announcing an initiative to publish their information and pictures online so that ordinary Canadians could be given the chance to provide tips on their whereabouts.

The resulting web page, Wanted by the CBSA, is operated by the Canada Border Services Agency and has generated some very impressive results.

Following the initial launch, our government expanded the list and published the profiles of individuals inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for grounds of security, serious criminality, and organized criminality.

A total of 110 individuals have so far been profiled on the Wanted by the CBSA web page.

To date, the site has generated close to 260 tip calls from the public and resulted in 28 apprehensions leading to 20 removals from Canada, as well as confirming the location of 5 individuals abroad.

Canada's national police force, the RCMP also publishes the profiles of Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are wanted for serious criminal acts on a web page and their site has generated as equally impressive results in terms of helping law enforcement officials apprehend wanted fugitives.

Airports and all ports of entry, of course, can also become targets for many other types of criminal activities.

One of the vilest of these is human trafficking -- which is described by many as a form of modern day slavery.

Our government has taken strong action on this matter, such as helping to implement mandatory minimum sentences for those convicted of child trafficking, engaging in public awareness, training police officers, and providing assistance to victims.

Earlier this year, we introduced Canada's National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking which consolidates our ongoing efforts to combat human trafficking and introduces aggressive new initiatives to prevent human trafficking, identify victims, protect the most vulnerable, prosecute perpetrators, and build on our partnerships both in Canada and abroad.

Honoured guests, conference leaders, ladies and gentlemen: I know that many of you have taken the time over the last few days to talk about some of the topics I have addressed this afternoon.

Many of you have also taken part in the “Rapid Fire Tool Box Sessions” or listened to experts talk about airport security in general, as well as baggage and passenger screening, the Air India tragedy and internal security threats.

Keeping our citizens safe is one of the most important jobs for any government anywhere.

But governments cannot act alone.

We need strong partnerships.

We need your expertise and cooperation.

That is why this symposium is so important and that is why I want to thank each and every one of you for coming here.

I wish each of you all the best in your ongoing efforts to protect the safety and security of law abiding citizens here in Canada and in countries around the world. 

Thank you.

¹ Richard Fadden, Director of CSIS. Testimony to the Special Senate Committee on Anti-Terrorism – April 23, 2012. (Bill S-7).

² “CBSA SEIZURES ~ SELECT COMMODITIES ~ TORONTO PEARSON ~ JANUARY 2010 – AUGUST 2012. Document compiled by Eileen Landry, CBSA Intelligence Analyst, Greater Toronto Area.

³ IBID

Date modified:

2015-11-26