Organized crime dwarfs RCMP budget, chief says
Terrorist groups increasingly involved, Senate committee told
James Gordon, Ottawa Citizen; CanWest News Service
Published: Tuesday, May 09, 2006
OTTAWA - The RCMP can't afford to fight the majority of organized crime activity in Canada, Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli admitted Monday.
"At this point in time, our best guess is that we're able to tackle maybe a third of what we know is out there, in terms of serious organized crime," he said, adding that is probably a generous estimate. "And remember, when I say one-third, that's of what we know."
Although the Mounties' budget has doubled over the past seven years, Zaccardelli told the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence he still has "serious issues to deal with, in terms of resources."
Foes of the force include outlaw motorcycle groups and Italian, Russian and Asian organized crime organizations, many with a well-established presence at Canada's vulnerable land, sea and airport entries.
Committee chair Colin Kenny pressed the commissioner to explain why Canada only has about 100 Mounties to cover 89 airports across the country, and just 30 officers patrolling its 19 marine entry points.
Zaccardelli said the force has adopted intelligence-led policing tactics to identify and target the most dangerous organizations, but, "given the resources we have, and our limitations, we know there are groups that we can't go after."
That terrorist groups appear to be increasingly involved in organized crime activities makes the issue all the more troubling, he suggested.
"There clearly is more and more indication that some terrorist groups are clearly getting some of their finances by either directly supporting some criminal activity, or indirectly being fed resources that are the product of illegal activities," Zaccardelli explained.
"That is a trend that we're watching and monitoring and has the potential to cause serious problems."
Yet, despite his complaints about lack of resources, Zaccardelli told the committee he is "very pleased" with the federal budget last week.
The Tories pledged $37 million to expand the RCMP's training facilities in Regina and $161 million for more police officers and federal prosecutors. According to budget documents, the funding "will enable the RCMP to fill 1,000 vacancies by 2010."
But, testimony Monday revealed that is an optimistic target.
Department of Justice officials are expected to snag about $25 million for new lawyers, leaving $136 million for police.
"We're looking at about $192,000 for a fully operational police officer at the federal level," Zaccardelli said, "so when you start doing the math...."
The math says 1,000 new officers would cost $192 million, $56 million more than has been committed. Zaccardelli said he was under the impression the initial pledge was "to start getting us up there."
While the commissioner's testimony raised many questions, he brushed by reporters after the hearing without answering them.
In an interview, Kenny said the fact the RCMP can only touch on one-third of known organized crime in the country is a "big-time" concern.
"What about the other two-thirds?" he asked.
"We've come out with reports on ports and airports and on the border, and time and time again we come back to the question of we don't have enough cops -- bottom line."
He also expressed concern regarding terrorist involvement in organized crime.
"(Narco-terrorists) come and they distribute drugs through Canada and get a hell of a lot of dough for it," he said.
"We have an incredible distribution network that would put UPS to shame in terms of how drugs are distributed across the country."
Zaccardelli was spared questions regarding the recent decision to arm Canada's border guards, a move he strongly opposed in the past.
He told a Senate committee last spring that while the border is a dangerous place, "having a customs officer run out of his hut and shoot after" criminals was the wrong move.
The comment enraged border union officials, who have long been lobbying for more protection.
Kenny said the plan will be very costly to implement, however, noting his first choice would have been to boost RCMP presence at Canada's frontiers.
"To do it is going to be very complicated," he said. "At the end of the day, you're going to have a more expensive border guard as well."
