Radiation Detection Equipment

Notes for Remarks by
The Honourable Stockwell Day
Minister of Public Safety

May 7, 2007
Montreal, Quebec
As Delivered

Thank you and welcome. I want to acknowledge my colleague Minister Fortier and Mr. Taddeo who are here with me today.

I want to especially acknowledge our officers from the Canada Border Services Agency who are on the job 24/7 protecting our borders and protecting this port. Many of them are right here today and I wonder if we could just give them a sign of acknowledgement for the hard work that they do day in and day out.

I'm pleased to announce today an added layer of protection for our citizens everywhere with the installation and opening of special equipment to detect radiation in containers that arrive here at this port. All containers coming into the port, 100 percent, will pass through this radiation equipment.

Ladies and gentlemen, Canadians will enjoy an even greater degree of security with the installation of Radiation Detection Equipment here at the Port of Montreal.

Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, it is a priority of our government to help ensure the safety and security of our citizens. This is an ongoing process of strengthening our borders and making sure that they are secure. But we also need to make sure that prosperity will also continue at our borders.

And so, we've started arming border officers and we announced, in Budget 2007, $2.1 billion for the next five years to enhance border infrastructure.

Three months ago, I also announced $430 million in funding for three initiatives: for e-Manifest, for business resumption in the event of an emergency on our borders and for Partners in Protection – a program to ensure faster and more secure borders.

But we also need to ensure that trade can happen quickly across the border. This is because risk-free travel and risk-free commerce have to continue to take place if we are to prosper.

I want to congratulate those who were involved in getting the systems in place to allow the Port of Montreal to receive these new pieces of equipment to screen for and detect radiation in all containers coming into the port. This goes along with the many technologies that we have in place already to make sure that we have the safest, most secure and also the most prosperous borders that we can possibly have.

Thank you all once again for your hard work and dedication.