Public Safety committee  It's taser use.

Public Safety committee  That's correct, unless there is a special inquiry.

Public Safety committee  I don't believe there's any reason why not.

Public Safety committee  We currently have information exchanges, but what we don't have at the present time is the ability to self-initiate specified activity reviews. Those can be done on the basis of information we might receive from a provincial counterpart or if there is a request from the province, through the minister, for budgetary purposes, that we conduct such a review.

Public Safety committee  I think that's a fair comment. The more public the process is, the better.

Public Safety committee  I would say that the Commissioner of the RCMP has the right to withhold access to privileged information but that the commission can challenge that. And essentially, Bill C-42 provides a fairly straightforward dispute resolution process.

Public Safety committee  Very quickly, the commission has a suprisingly good knowledge of what information it's looking for. Many of the commission's investigators are former senior RCMP members who know what's in or should be in the files.

Public Safety committee  I'm very pleased to answer both of those questions. First of all, in terms of independence, Bill C-42, in my opinion, actually increases the independence of the commission by giving it the expanded powers that I discussed earlier, and in addition, as a practical matter, flowing from Bill C-42 will be stabilized and modestly increased funding.

Public Safety committee  That's why Ms. McCoy is here.

Public Safety committee  Very simply, I see the RCMP as the subject matter expert. The RCMP, more than anybody else, is going to be aware of whether an investigation or a review has the potential to interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation. Frankly, I think such a restriction is perfectly justified, because I think it's important to remember that the review of any civilian review or complaints body can take place after the investigation has been completed.

Public Safety committee  Exactly.

Public Safety committee  It's quite true that there is a remedy, which is judicial review. That would be a pretty extraordinary remedy. Richard, I can think of only one instance where there has been a long ongoing investigation where that was an issue.

Public Safety committee  Exactly. The commission would have that access as a right.

Public Safety committee  Very simply, I've heard those media reports as well. The fact is that the opposite is true. There have been no layoffs as a result of the government deficit reduction strategy. The employee numbers at the CPC are approximately 60. We conduct ongoing reviews in terms of trying to make our operations as efficient as possible.

Public Safety committee  The present RCMP Act gives the commission the power to compel a witness or to require the production of a document in the course of a public inquiry. But that's not something we do or would wish to do frequently. It's cumbersome and expensive. Bill C-42 will give the commission the power to compel witnesses, to require the production of documents or information as part of a regular investigation as of right.