Following a lacklustre QP in the Other Place, the Minister of Looking Tough on Stuff, Bill Blair, headed for the Senate to take more questions related to his portfolio. Senator Larry Smith led off, asking about the financial pressure put on shelters in cities and provinces related accommodating irregular border crossers. Blair noted that he has been working with Ontario Minister Lisa MacLeod on the file, and noted that for the Toronto shelter system, the referred numbers are self-identified as refugees, which they arranged temporary housing for, and of the more than 400 that were referred to is now down to 35. Smith then laid out a number of facts related to irregular border crossers including the fact that the IRB wait time is around two years, and Blair gave a fairly broad statement about the increase in migration around the world, and that Canada saw similar spikes in irregular claimants in the past, and then veered off into talks about Conservative cuts to CBSB and the IRB that they have been forced to reinvest in, and from there went into the removals of failed claimants, before the temporary speaker cut him off for talking too long.
Senator Carignan asked about the production licences for cannabis and companies who have ties to organised crime or tax havens, to which Blair noted that the regulations they passed required significant financial transparency and rigorous background checks, but noted that he has yet to see any evidence of criminal infiltration of a licensed producer.
Senator Day asked about the delay in tabling legislation for pardons for those convicted of simple pot possession. Blair noted that he was in favour of not criminalising another generation, and that it would be tabled before the end of this calendar year, particularly as there was some complexity around the records as they are not in a single national database.
Senator Lankin asked about the criteria for which the Commissioner of Firearms could deny a licence, and changes being proposed in the legislation particularly around monitoring those who make threats. Blair agreed that it was a challenge, and the need for timely action and intelligence, but said that the Internet and social media has become a significant intelligence resource for police when it comes to tracking threats and gathering evidence.
Senator Boniface asked about his mandate around reducing organised crime. Blair noted that many of the resources for police have been constrained because of national security threats and while the RCMP bolstered other police forces, when they were reduced, everyone was. He stated that he is looking at how to best restore their capacity, and that they were looking at tools like FINTRAC, and that they planned to work with provincial and territorial governments around things like money laundering.
Senator McIntyre worried about New Brunswick not having roadside testing devices for cannabis, and that the province may not be able to compete with the black market. Blair reminded him that all cannabis sales used to be from the black market, that drugged driving has been a crime since the 1920s, and that their cannabis legislation has nearly doubled capacity to law enforcement for drug detection, and take-up of new technology was proceeding apace.
Senator Dagenais asked whether the government was too hasty in legalising cannabis without enough capacity to test at the road. Blair assured him that police stated that they had the resources they needed.
Senator Joyal returned to the issue of organised crime infiltrating licensed cannabis producers, and Blair’s inadequate assurances. Blair first noted that the elimination of organised crime wouldn’t happen overnight, and that the easy money for organised crime was no longer available because of legalisation, and that the government was giving more resources to police to investigate their activities.
Senator Omidvar first said that she was reassured by what she saw at the Roxham Road irregular border crossing, before moving onto the issue of the lower threshold of “serious criminality” that would affect immigrants and refugee claimants. Blair stated that they didn’t want to diminish the severity sentencing for impaired driving, which is why the threshold remained so low.
Overall, there was a bit of adjustment for Blair as the lack of a clock for questions and answers, unlike the Other Place, let him think that he could ramble on forever. His second response as so long and rambling, going from one topic to another, went on so long that the senators were starting to get restless and finally the temporary Speaker (who was not the usual Speaker Pro Tempore either, it should be noted) had to cut him off and remind him that the longer he talked, the fewer questions he would take – though I’m not sure that’s proper dissuasion. Nevertheless, responses did get shorter afterward, and toward the end, we were getting to a decent clip. Blair does know his stuff, and didn’t resort to reading any scripted responses unlike some of his Cabinet colleagues, but sometimes he tended to answer in more roundabout ways than was probably necessary.
Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Senator Jean-Guy Dagenais for a dark grey three-piece suit with a light blue shirt and a red tie, and to Senator Diane Bellemare for a black dress with long quasi-translucent sleeves. Style citations go out to Senator Mary Coyle for a navy dress with large florals, and to Senator Larry Smith for a taupe suit with a pink shirt and light blue and grey striped tie. Dishonourable mention goes out to Senator Wanda Bernard for a bright yellow jacket with a black top and a yellow and grey scarf.