ovarieasy
Based Member
The Bill will strengthen our laws and 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 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 Strong Borders Act - Government of Canada strengthens border security - Canada.ca
The Bill will strengthen our laws and 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.
Securing the border
The Bill proposes to:Amend the Oceans Act to:
- Expand the Canadian Coast Guard’s services to include security activities that will strengthen sovereignty and maritime domain awareness, particularly in remote Arctic waters;
- This will enable the Canadian Coast Guard to conduct security patrols and collect, analyze and share information and intelligence for security purposes.
- Enhance the ability of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to share information collected under the Act on registered sex offenders with domestic and international partners, including those located in the United States.
- Authorize Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to share client information, such as identity, status and immigration documentation with federal, provincial and territorial partners through signed information-sharing agreements;
- Make it easier for IRCC to share client information between different IRCC programs (e.g. using permanent residence application data to process citizenship applications);
- Allow for regulations to be developed to share client information across federal departments for the purpose of cooperation.
- Cancel, suspend or change groups of immigration documents immediately;
- Pause the acceptance of new applications;
- Pause or cancel the processing of applications already in the inventory.
- Simplify the online application process and make the process the same whether someone claims asylum at a port of entry or at an in-land IRCC office;
- Refer complete claims to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) to speed up decisions;
- Ensure that claims are only decided by the IRB while the claimant is physically present in Canada;
- Remove inactive cases from the system;
- Speed up voluntary departures by making removal orders effective the same day a claim is withdrawn;
- Help vulnerable claimants, like minors or those who don’t understand the process, by assigning representatives to support them during IRCC and CBSA proceedings.
- Asylum claims made by people more than one year after first arriving in Canada after June 24, 2020, would not be referred to the IRB. This would apply to anyone, including students and temporary residents, regardless of whether they left the country and returned;
- Asylum claims from people who enter Canada from the United States along the land border between ports of entry and make a claim after 14 days would not be referred to the IRB;
- People who are affected by these ineligibility provisions may still apply for a pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA) to make sure they are not sent back to a country where they could face harm.
Combatting transnational organized crime and illegal fentanyl
The Bill proposes to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and the Cannabis Act to:- 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, the Customs Act, the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Act to:
- Facilitate law enforcement’s ability to lawfully access basic information and data that is necessary in the early stages of criminal investigations and ensure that CSIS’ investigative tools keep pace;
- Update existing law enforcement tools to keep pace with modern digital challenges, including to explicitly deal with the search of computer systems and data stored on or accessible from those systems;
- Clarify the ability of law enforcement to exercise specific powers and seize specific information without a warrant in urgent, time-sensitive circumstances (e.g., live abuse of a child);
- Obligate transporters and warehouse operators to provide access to their premises to allow for export inspections by CBSA officers and require owners and operators of certain ports of entry/exit to provide facilities for export inspections, as is already required for imported goods.
- Ensure that electronic services providers (ESPs) have the capabilities in place to support law enforcement agencies and CSIS in criminal and intelligence investigations by requiring them to fulfil lawfully authorized requests to access or intercept information and communications.
- Remove barriers that prevent police from searching mail, where authorized to do so in accordance with an Act of Parliament, to carry out a criminal investigation.
- Expand Canada Post inspection authority to open mail.
Disrupting illicit financing
The Bill also proposes to amend the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) to:- Strengthen anti-money laundering supervision, compliance, and enforcement, including through increased civil and criminal penalties;
- Address some of the most prevalent types of money laundering, including through new restrictions on large cash transactions and third party cash deposits;
- Require businesses regulated for anti-money laundering purposes, that are not already registered, to enroll with Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC); and
- Permit disclosures from the FINTRAC to the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections.
The Bill proposes to amend the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Act to make the Director of FINTRAC a member of the Financial Institutions Supervisory Committee (FISC), as well as to amend the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act to enable the Director to exchange information with the other members of FISC.
Sorry, but because of all the chinks, spics and ragheads we let run wild, we now have to give ourselves more power to use against you as we see fit, as there are actually no provisions that require us to limit use to the stated purpose.
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