Public Safety committee  No, our investigations show that is not the case. We also need to boost the CBSA's ability to check containers.

Public Safety committee  Since 2018, we have been working with our partners at the port of Montreal, including the Sûreté du Québec and the RCMP, and we notice every week that much more attention is given to what is imported than what is exported, naturally, to protect the country. That prevents us from doing more, and the volume is lower.

Public Safety committee  Not only are they aware, but they film themselves inside the vehicles while being followed by the police to make fun of the situation. As Mr. Patenaude said earlier, we need to focus on educating those young people, while also focusing on enforcement. Both are important.

Public Safety committee  To add to what Mr. Patenaude said, I think it would be extremely important to establish a period of time before the container can enter the port so we can examine the goods. For example, a period of 72 hours could be set to make sure the information gets to the police services or the CBSA to allow for more checks.

Public Safety committee  As to the intelligence relating to firearms, and with regard to homicides as well, we see clearly that there are people directly linked to vehicle thefts. When we conduct searches to seize equipment used in vehicle thefts, we seize firearms on a regular basis. So there is really a direct link between vehicle thefts and access to firearms and money.

Public Safety committee  Yes, there certainly is a link. Even in some cases of arson—

Public Safety committee  Yes, there are victims. It is not just vehicles being stolen and people losing money.

Public Safety committee  No, I think each case is unique. We need to properly assess the risk of those young people reoffending. We would not automatically detain every one of those people, but if we had more powers, like a police force, that would of course make things easier for us.

Public Safety committee  That concerns us of course, because people between the ages of 15 and 25 are being recruited. We have even seen cases of young people travelling from Montreal to Toronto to steal vehicles, where they were tortured if they did not want to steal them. We do need to focus on those young people, but we also need to cut off the flow of money going into organized crime, which is why teamwork is important.

Public Safety committee  We certainly have excellent relationships with the various prosecutors, whether young people or adults are involved. In many cases, however, the young people we arrest on the street have no criminal record. In those cases, we have to use the tools at our disposal, which means releasing them.

Public Safety committee  Much has been said, but I would add that, on our side too, intelligence is very important. Between police agencies, I do not necessarily see a problem. On the other hand, with partners such as the Canada Border Services Agency, we sometimes have to fill out certain documents to obtain this information, which can slow down certain investigations where we should be acting quickly.

Public Safety committee  The various police services do their work, with legal authorization. There is no problem with that: We state what the ongoing investigation is and open the containers together. On the other hand, if the police officers working at the port—whether they are from the Sûreté du Québec, Montreal city police, or other police services—were to have additional powers to open containers, that would certainly facilitate matters.

Public Safety committee  Bait cars are indeed a good investigation technique. On the other hand, our focus is the organized rings. When bait cars are used, no particular group is targeted. So we lose some time with that kind of investigation. That said, it is also an excellent solution. For my part, I would focus more on targeting the theft and export rings.

Public Safety committee  As Mr. Patenaude said, and we agree, technology can always be circumvented. However, the main obstacle thieves now have to overcome is to get inside the vehicles, not to connect to the OBD system. It is easier to steal a vehicle today than it was 10 years ago.

Public Safety committee  Obviously, this situation is of concern to us. On the other hand, as Mr. Patenaude said, the work we must do has many facets. Manufacturers are partly responsible, but the responsibility must be shared by all partners.