In terms of the information, Justice O'Connor had a two-phase inquiry. One was to look at the treatment of Mr. Arar, and the second was to make policy recommendations vis-à-vis new legislation for oversight of the RCMP, in his case with national security. He made very specific recommendations as to access, and said it should have access to everything except cabinet confidences and solicitor-client privilege. Otherwise, he said, there had to be access.
One of the precipitating factors in having to call the Arar inquiry, which cost about $20 million, was the fact that the commission at the time had no ability to ask the RCMP for the information, and the RCMP didn't produce it. What he recommended was to give the commission that power, the identical power that SIRC has, that the CSE commissioner has vis-à-vis this kind of information. He said that.
In this model, the commissioner can say that he has decided, with this privileged class, that they are not going to show it to you and they'll give it to some third party. Justice O'Connor specifically said you should be able to follow it, the body itself should determine what is relevant, that you don't need protracted litigation to throw it off. That has to be the way it is done.
That is not the case here. This is ignoring the recommendations entirely.