The Senate Committee on Security says Canada needs to do more to protect its borders and ports of entry from terrorist activities and criminal gangs.
To that end, the Port of Montreal is improving its scanning technology, with a new X-ray machine for shipping containers.
Customs agent Nicolas Langlois says the equipment will be a bill help in conduction inspections.
"The X-ray gives us a clearer picture and we see different colors for different textures," said Langlois.
However even with new equipment and new canine teams, the vast majority of containers coming into the country enter unsearched. That's why two Senators Claude Nolin and Colin Kenny visited Trudeau airport and the Port of Montreal on Tuesday.
"Technology wise, it's state of the art. But we need to have more bodies on the ground," said Nolin.
In its 2007 report, the committee complained that only 24 RCMP agents patrol the country's maritime ports.
Kenny says that is nowhere near enough.
"We as a country are not providing resources to the police, and to the customs to do the job at the port," said Kenny.
The report also found that criminal gangs are active at the nation's ports.
"There are new gangs here, and we got a briefing on different organized groups that are functioning in the port," said Kenny. "That's of concern to us."
Last year at Trudeau airport, the mob managed to recruit a customs agent.
Nancy Cedeno is currently on trial for facilitating gang activities.
The senate committee hopes to file a new report on its finding this fall, but it admits that its previous findings were generally ignored by the Conservative government.
