Evidence of meeting #38 for Public Safety and National Security in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was person.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:35 p.m.
A/Commr Raf Souccar
Precisely.
12:35 p.m.
Bloc
Maria Mourani Bloc Ahuntsic, QC
I'm fascinated by the idea of importing criminals from other countries. That means that conceivably, Canada may be harbouring notorious foreign criminals. They may be recognizable in their own country and their case may have made the headlines. They may be incognito here in Canada. In some respects, we are harbouring or protecting criminals from other countries. They could be terrorists, members of organized crime or war criminals. Is that correct?
12:35 p.m.
A/Commr Raf Souccar
That's correct. But, as I explained clearly, this happens very rarely. Moreover, these individuals are also subject to section 7 of the Witness Protection Program Act. We can also deny them entry into the program.
12:35 p.m.
A/Commr Raf Souccar
On the grounds that you've just listed.
12:35 p.m.
A/Commr Raf Souccar
No, war criminals are eligible, but each case must be evaluated individually to see whether or not the person should be admitted into the program under the Witness Protection Program Act.
12:35 p.m.
Counsel, RCMP Legal Services, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
If it's helpful, you may want to look at subsection 14(2) of the act, which requires that no one be admitted into the country in the witness protection program without the consent of both the Minister of Public Safety and the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. The person would have to qualify for admission under those standards, which usually limits people who have criminal backgrounds from being accepted for immigration purposes. And if people don't meet those standards, then they would not be admitted into our program.
12:35 p.m.
Bloc
Maria Mourani Bloc Ahuntsic, QC
I understand perfectly well that there must be rules and criteria.
My next question is very much down to earth. At this point in time, is Canada harbouring any war criminals, be it one, two or three, who might have come to this country from abroad under the program?
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
12:35 p.m.
A witness
We can't answer that.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
12:35 p.m.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
Just to finish on that, you can't answer that question because you don't know, or you can't answer because you can't disclose information?
12:35 p.m.
Counsel, RCMP Legal Services, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
In response to both of those questions, normally, as a matter of policy, the RCMP does not confirm or deny who it has from what countries in the witness protection program, but in this case I don't have any personal information to offer.
12:35 p.m.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
Assistant Commissioner, concerning the review of the B.C. case, do you have an estimate of when it will be completed?
12:40 p.m.
A/Commr Raf Souccar
I believe it's pretty well done, and we can be ready to go when you say.
12:40 p.m.
A/Commr Raf Souccar
I believe so, yes.
12:40 p.m.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
With regards to the admission of a person from informant to agent and into the program, is there a policy? We talked about a policy on cost, and I know there are some general outlines in the legislation, but is there a written policy as to how that decision to admit is to be made?
12:40 p.m.
C/Supt Derek R. Ogden
Yes, there is, and part of that involves an interview and an assessment by the witness protection coordinator. Only the person who is actually trained in that field will undertake the final decision.
We have a number of people who are informants and who want to come forward and volunteer to be a police agent, but a lot of those people are screened out for a number of different reasons. When we do use an agent, that situation normally involves a lot of police personnel, and it's usually one fairly high-level targeted operation. We only have the capacity to run a limited number of these operations at a time. We try to be as careful as we can with the people we bring into that agent status, because we want doing so to be to our greatest benefit.
12:40 p.m.
NDP
12:40 p.m.
C/Supt Derek R. Ogden
Yes, you could have access to it.
12:40 p.m.
NDP
Joe Comartin NDP Windsor—Tecumseh, ON
Would you provide a copy of that to the clerk of the committee, please?
Following up on Ms. Mourani's question, once a person is admitted, is there a policy as to how the RCMP is to supervise the person, limited though that supervision may be in some--and I suspect in most--cases? Is that in writing and available?
12:40 p.m.
A/Commr Raf Souccar
There is a policy surrounding witness protection. How detailed it is with respect to supervision would certainly be part of the training that the witness protection coordinator receives. In terms of a written policy with respect to supervision, we can verify that, but our witness protection policy can be made available to you.
