Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee as you consider division 18 of Bill C-59. I am Deputy Commissioner Peter Henschel, and I am responsible for the RCMP's Specialized Policing Services, which includes the Canadian Firearms Program.
I am here today with Ms. Rennie Marcoux, Chief Strategic Policy and Planning Officer and responsible for the RCMP's Access to Information and Privacy Branch.
The Information Commissioner's investigation into an access to information request for the long-gun registry has been the subject of considerable contention. We would like to take this opportunity to clarify misconceptions of how the RCMP handled this request, as well as the destruction of the non-restricted firearms registration records, otherwise known as the long-gun registry.
In particular, we would like to emphasize that the RCMP takes our obligations under the Access to Information Act seriously. As we will outline, the RCMP worked with the Information Commissioner to respond to the complaint in question while also fulfilling our obligations under the Ending the Long-Gun Registry Act.
To begin I should highlight that what was referred to as the “registry” was not a document stand-alone system, or simple electronic record, but rather a compilation of certain information contained in the Canadian firearms information system. This database is constantly being updated. On a monthly basis there are an estimated 50,000 new or amended records added to the database. A copy of the registry could not be printed, copied, or deleted with the push of a single button. The Firearms Act and associated regulations define the type of information required for the registration of a firearm, such as the make, model, manufacturer, registration date, province, and postal code. In total 27 fields in the Canadian firearms information system relate to the registration of the firearms, or the registry, of which 15 include personal information such as a person's name and address.
Since 2006 the RCMP has responded to over two dozen access to information requests for the long-gun registry. These requests were met by providing the 12 relevant and releasable fields of data. Aside from the request under investigation, the RCMP has never received a complaint on the content of our responses.
I would like to now focus on the destruction of the registration records. Contrary to what has been reported, the RCMP did not—and I will repeat—did not destroy any registration data before the coming into force of the Ending the Long-Gun Registry Act on April 5, 2012. Consistent with the government-approved implementation plan, the RCMP destroyed the records between October 26, 2012, and October 31, 2012, with the exception of the Quebec records, which were maintained pending the outcome of a Supreme Court decision.
When that decision was rendered on March 27, 2015, the RCMP deleted the remaining Quebec records from the Canadian firearms information system between April 10 to April 12, 2015, again consistent with the government-approved implementation plan. I should note here that the destruction process was subject to an audit that was externally verified for the October 2012 destruction. The same process is under way to verify the destruction of the Quebec data. So with these clarifications, I will just turn to my colleague to address the findings of the Information Commissioner.