But senior officers defend decision to spend $11.4 million to combat illegal immigration
The RCMP is defending its decision to invest $11.4 million dollars to step up efforts to combat human smuggling after almost 500 Sri Lankan asylum seekers aboard the MV Sun Sea cargo ship landed on Canadian shores last years, Postmedia News reports. Private emails obtained through a freedom of information request, though, reveal that some senior RCMP officers were concerned about how the program would be paid for, given that other units were already starved for funds. The initiative involved appointing a new special advisor on human smuggling and illegal immigration and deploying special services to Southeast Asia. Costs had to be absorbed from within, meaning resources were shifted from other areas, including criminal intelligence. Immigration officer Jason Kenney, however, said that the task force was successful in stopping at least three smuggling operations in Thailand.