The need for more and better organized intelligence sharing was raised by police and others at last September's National Forum on Organized Crime. The Criminal Intelligence Service Canada is in the process of establishing a new computer based information sharing service that will link all police forces together. The system has been tested in the Maritimes and Newfoundland and is now being refined. The advantages of shared data bases speak for themselves, and I see the day when all regions of the country and, hopefully, all countries in the world will be computer networked against crime. No other approach is feasible.
Global problems require global solutions.
International cooperation is absolutely essential if we are to guarantee to protect our citizens from an enemy that calls no place home, has no loyalties and owes no allegiances. Effective international action, however, demands coordinated national arrangements. That process is already well under way in Canada. In 1994, for example, we initiated the National Action Plan to Combat Smuggling. The initiative includes police and customs mobile response units and marine patrols.