The question the member has raised, Chairman, has been one of concern to me. This period gives the appearance that if a time lag of more than a year takes place when an RCMP member is being investigated for something or there has been a complaint, then due process has not been seen to have been fairly applied, and it gives the appearance that a person then is not subject to certain types of actions after a year. This has concerned me. Also, I've raised this with the commissioner.
First, I make plain that the one year that is stipulated right now does not in any way protect or absolve anybody from any kind of criminal charge, so there's no statute of limitations there.
But I'm still somewhat concerned about this one-year provision. I've talked to the commissioner about that, and we are looking at ways to address that so that it doesn't apply the way it has been and so that proper discipline can be followed past that time.
There is the balance there between not wanting to leave something hanging over somebody's head, but—