Canada's minister of border security and organized crime reduction visited Surrey Thursday morning for a tour of the RCMP's new Forensic National Laboratory.
The national lab is one of three across the country that will offer forensics services in biology, firearms, toxicology and trace evidence for police across Canada.
Bill Blair said the lab will also play a crucial role in answering some of the lingering questions that remain in the ongoing triple-homicide investigation in northern B.C. – including how and why the "terrible, heinous crimes" took place.
"Much of those answers will come from this facility. It will come from the extraordinary work of the scientists who work here, who will get that physical evidence and then apply their incredible expertise and knowledge," the minister told reporters.
Blair would not comment on the ongoing case directly, but did take a moment to praise the work of police who were on high alert for weeks as they tried to solve the homicides and locate the suspected killers.
"The pursuit of those individuals believed to be responsible for those crimes was an enormous undertaking by the RCMP," he said. "And they never quit, they never slowed down, they never lost a pace, they just stayed right at it until they god the job done and we're very proud of that."
In light of several recent public shootings in Surrey, the minister was also asked how the government is working to curb the city's ongoing crime problem.
Blair said "a tremendous amount" is being done to combat gun violence and gang activity, pointing to a $7.5 million program that was announced earlier this year that's designed to help at-risk teenagers keep on the straight and narrow.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Penny Daflos and Alyse Kotyk
