Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, good afternoon. I'd like to thank the committee for inviting me to appear today.
I am pleased to have this opportunity to meet with you concerning my appointment as chair of the Military Police Complaints Commission.
I am truly honoured to have been appointed the chair of the MPCC by the Governor in Council on May 14, 2010, and to have been a commission member since September 2007. Immediately prior to my May 2010 appointment as chair of the commission, I had served as acting chair, since December 11, 2009.
I understand that you have all been provided a copy of my CV. I intend to identify the role and function of the MPCC chair as well as the commission as a whole and to provide you with an overview of my background and experience.
The chair and other members of the commission are appointed pursuant to section 250.1 of the National Defence Act on either a full-time or part-time basis. Typically, the chair is a full-time position, and the other appointed members serve on a part-time basis. Currently, the commission has three members, including me. In addition to handling the complaints files personally, I decide on the delegation and assignment of work among the other members. As chair, I am also the commission's chief executive officer and responsible for the supervision and direction of its work and staff.
The MPCC is mandated by Parliament to provide an independent civilian oversight to Canadian military policing through the review and investigations of complaints related either to the conduct of military police members or to alleged interference in military police investigations. The MPCC provides the civilian oversight component of Canadian military policing through its role in the handling of military police conduct and interference complaints.
Most conduct complaints are first transferred for investigation and disposition to the head of the Canadian Forces Military Police, the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal. The MPCC monitors the provost marshal's treatment of complaints and subsequently conducts its own review or investigation at the request of a dissatisfied complainant. In the case of interference complaints, the MPCC has exclusive jurisdiction to investigate.
Exceptionally, the chair may deem it to be in the public interest to initiate an investigation, with or without hearings, into a complaint, effectively bypassing or suspending the investigative obligations of the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal.
The MPCC is now conducting a public interest hearing into a complaint about an alleged failure by certain military police members to investigate the transfer of detainees in Afghanistan to Afghan security forces in the face of an alleged risk of torture. As I am a panel member seized of this complaint, you will understand that it would not be appropriate for me to discuss the case outside the context of the hearing itself.
As both soldiers and law enforcement professionals, the military police fill an important and challenging role within the Canadian Forces. I am honoured to be involved in the important work of military police oversight.
Although we deal with allegations of misconduct, the MPCC is not a disciplinary body. Others in the Canadian Forces system have these responsibilities.
In my view, the complaints process established under part IV of the National Defence Act, in providing an external perspective on the resolution of complaints, is a means of encouraging continual improvement in the professionalism, integrity, and independence of military policing, and for ensuring confidence in our military police. After all, as I know from my own career experience, the success of the police ultimately depends on the confidence of the community it serves.
As to whether I qualify for the position of chair of the MPCC, that is for you honourable members and others to judge. In addition to my tenure as chair and commission member in recent years, I have had an extensive background in civilian policing at all levels. I have 37 years' experience with the Windsor Police Service in Ontario, with the last 9 years as chief of police, from 1999 to 2008. During my years in policing, I served in all ranks and divisions of our service. As you'll see from my CV, I have taken numerous advanced police training courses in a variety of fields in both Canada and the United States. I have two Bachelor of Arts degrees, in sociology and criminology, from the University of Windsor.
I have always sought to be active in my community, and in addition to being involved in a variety of charitable foundations and service organizations, I have been a member of associations of chiefs of police at the international, national, and provincial levels, and previously served as president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police.
I have maintained memberships and relationships with the federal and provincial chiefs' associations. I am also presently on the board of directors of the Canadian Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, CACOLE.
In recognition of my police work, I have been named an officer of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces and was also awarded the Queen's Jubilee award. Although I do not have legal training, I do have previous experience in the conduct of tribunal hearings, having served as a prosecutor and hearings officer at police disciplinary tribunals under the Ontario Police Services Act. In addition, I have had extensive experience with the criminal justice system, both as an investigator and as the officer in charge at all levels of the criminal investigative services.
I have ready access to professional legal advice from our MPCC legal counsel. Moreover, as I mentioned earlier, the MPCC has had only two public interest hearings to date. The vast majority of its cases are handled through investigations and reports without a hearing. The MPCC's findings and recommendations are not binding.
The commission is inquisitorial and investigative rather than adjudicative and adversarial in nature. We are, moreover, charged by Parliament, under the National Defence Act, section 250.14, to address our complaints as informally and expeditiously as possible.
I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have for me.