Cross-Cultural Roundtable on Security Meeting Summary - Marine Security

November 18 – 20, 2006, Vancouver, British Columbia

Participants: Senior officials from the Department of Public Safety and its security agencies (RCMP, CSIS, CBSA), Transport Canada, Department of National Defence, Justice Canada and Canadian Heritage participated in the dialogue with Roundtable members. Mr. Paul Kennedy, Chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, also participated in an informal discussion with members.

Issues of Discussion: The sixth meeting of the Roundtable focused on the programs and measures in place to protect Canadians from threats to marine security. These included measures in place to meet Canada's security obligations regarding Canadian waterways, coastline and ports. Following the release of the first part of the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar, the Roundtable members also held discussions regarding the report, as well as the issue of accountability and review mechanisms for the activities of agencies with national security responsibilities.

Outcomes: Members supported the commitment by the RCMP to fully implement the 23 recommendations of Justice O'Connor's report, and offered to work with all federal security agencies, as well as security review agencies in implementing Justice O'Connor's recommendations and to engage and inform communities about the work of these organizations. Members also provided feedback to the Government on issues such as the illegal cross-border traffic of firearms, dedicated police services at Canadian ports, and the impact of the MTSCP and MSCP programs on Canadians.

Date modified:

2018-02-06