Thank you.
I agree with Mr. Bulmer. The police, particularly the RCMP, are not running this country; this country is run by Parliament. The RCMP answers to Parliament. I find it disgusting that the RCMP could hide under a veil.
The legislation as it is is okay, but I think it should not be the commissioner who is deciding what is in the public interest. Here is the exception to the disclosure: “if the disclosure is essential in the public interest”, and then it goes on. I don't think the commissioner should be deciding what's in the public interest; I think it should be elected members of Parliament or ministers in the cabinet. The commissioner will not necessarily decide what is in the public interest; he will decide what is in the police interest, because he has to be true to himself.
As Mr. Bulmer said, if there were an independent board that made some of these decisions, then we wouldn't have the police against the protectee; we would have the police and the protectee on an even keel. If someone else, some tribunal, is making those decisions, the innocent protectees wouldn't think of themselves as criminals and have the police against them. It's very nice for the police to get the help from informants and get the convictions, but they can't throw out the protectees afterwards.
In some cases where they were terminated, the court said, you shouldn't have done that; you should have used fairness. Hopefully the RCMP will get the message. If they don't, then I think Parliament has to take it out of the RCMP's hands. The police are not above the law. They can't decide the law. Parliament will.