Thank you, sir.
On behalf of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, I would like to take this opportunity to thank members of the committee for allowing us to come before you today. We realize the important role you play, and we are very pleased you have allowed us to contribute.
Before I go too far, I'd like to identify exactly who we are. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police is a non-profit organization. We were founded in 1905 and are dedicated to the support and promotion of efficient law enforcement and the protection and security of the people of Canada.
The association is national in character. Its interests and concerns have relevance to police at all levels, including municipal, regional, provincial, and federal. The board of directors includes chiefs, commissioners, and directors of police services representative of the widespread regions of Canada.
Through its member police chiefs and other senior executives, the CACP represents in excess of 90% of the police community in Canada.
Understanding who we are hopefully will underscore why we are here. We represent policing in a broad sense, from the very small police forces in many of our provinces to the largest organizations in our major cities. One of my main goals this morning will be to talk frankly about our country's witness protection abilities and how many municipal, regional, and provincial agencies deal with witness protection issues.
I would like to premise my comments with an acknowledgement that the operation of the national witness protection program in its current form is good, and it is appropriate that the existing national program is being run and coordinated by the RCMP.
My comments of concern will focus on cost and process. There is no question that the cost of altering someone's life, in some cases the lives of entire families, is tremendously high. While acknowledging the cost, we need to find a way to enable local police agencies to access the program.
Organized crime activity in Canada is continuing to rise, and with that comes the responsibility, when necessary, of protecting prosecution witnesses. The witness protection program has afforded witnesses the confidence to provide information with the knowledge that they will be safe from all forms of reprisal.
Witness protection is an extremely important tool for law enforcement, allowing us to gain insight and assistance in dealing with the most dangerous of criminals. In furtherance of that protection, police agencies are being required to utilize various forms of witness protection. One of those, the federal program--the national witness protection program, created under the Witness Protection Program Act--has a mandate or purpose referred to under section 3:
...to promote law enforcement by facilitating the protection of persons who are involved directly or indirectly in providing assistance in law enforcement matters in relation to
--and continuing in paragraph 3(b)--
activities conducted by any law enforcement agency...in respect of which an agreement or arrangement has been entered into under section 14.
Section 14, in essence, is the cost-recovery section, which I'll be talking about in a few minutes.
When police agencies first look at the national program for help with witness relocation and witness protection, they find substantial difficulties that have to be overcome, not the least of which is cost. The cost of placing an individual into the national program can be substantial and can be beyond the means of most Canadian police agencies.
The national Witness Protection Program Act has been interpreted to direct that only police agencies can submit applications to the RCMP to have a witness accepted into the national program. This is under paragraph 6(1)(a), for reference purposes, where it says that a witness or a spouse shall not be admitted to the program unless a recommendation for the admission has been made by a law enforcement agency.
Section 14 then talks specifically about the agreements. Logistically, section 6 and section 14 do cause us some difficulties, because the agreement to fund the witness protection must be made with another police agency. In most cases, police agencies can't afford it, and before they enter into such an agreement, they have to enter into a supplemental agreement with the specific province they're from to pay the costs of the witness being entered into the program.
The Witness Protection Program Act does not allow for a province to contract directly with the RCMP specifically for witness costs.
After agreements are in place, the RCMP facilitate, approve, and control the program's operation. They subsequently bill that cost back to the requesting agency. I can't emphasize that point enough, as it's one of the main problems with the federal act. It's simply unaffordable.
In some provinces like Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia--where I understand there has been some recent movement--there are provincial protocols that may assist or at least provide alternatives to the national program. These were created out of necessity to fill the void left from the accessibility and cost implications of the national program.
In other provinces there is nothing, leaving it to the local police agencies to make at times difficult decisions in determining the direction of certain investigations. Some of their choices could include protecting a witness and paying the national program bills out of their operational budget, asking for outside agency assistance by turning over all or part of the investigation, or discontinuing or altering the investigation to exclude a situation where witness protection issues may arise. That could mean not pursuing an investigation as vigorously as they otherwise might.
Even in the provinces that have some provincial assistance, there may still be a void when an accused is charged solely with a federal offence like drug trafficking. Provincial programs will generally not help if there is a witness in need of protection in this case, leaving the federal witness program as the only alternative. As I mentioned and will continue to mention, it is unaffordable. The costs to all involved in putting someone in the national program are substantial and cannot possibly be sustained without some form of assistance from the federal government.
Over the past number of years we have seen the number of witness protection applications rise, and there's no indication that this trend is going to stop. This issue has been on the national agenda for some time now across the country. In 2005, both the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the Manitoba Association of Chiefs of Police put forward resolutions to provincial and federal ministers of justice looking for a national witness protection funding regime that was in keeping with an integrated response to organized and serious crime and the desire to provide equal access to the processes of witness protection to all levels of police in Canada.
A report was also filed with the Solicitor General in 2005 after a substantive study was completed by the Province of Quebec. Witness protection regimes around the world were studied. This again suggested there be a more inclusive program with sustainable funding. I'm also aware that this issue was brought up at an FPT meeting in 2004. A working group was formed out of the national coordinating committee on organized crime to examine this specific issue. I know some work has been done, but I'm not aware that any substantive solution has come from that process yet.
The message from the CACP is that we need a restructured, more inclusive witness protection program with federal funding, from which all police agencies in this country, big or small, can draw.
Organized crime, serious crime, does not discriminate relative to geographic boundaries. It can be found in every province, city, and town throughout Canada. Failure to attack these groups in small communities creates safe havens; therefore, programs such as witness protection must be made available if we are to stay one step ahead of criminal organizations and those who commit serious crimes against the people of Canada.
Thank you.