Mr. Speaker, the creation of a DNA missing persons index is long overdue, but the public safety minister is standing in the way.
The missing persons index would provide law enforcement agencies with an important tool to investigate missing persons files and bring closure to grieving families.
In order for the database to work, we need to be able to match the DNA of missing persons with the over 20,000 unidentified DNA profiles obtained from crime scenes across the country.
Yet access to information documents revealed that the government deliberately removed all reference to this discussion from its own public consultation. In its place was an internal memo from which I quote, “The question will not arise because we won't let it”. This blatant partisan inference is another example of how the government views public consultations.
Federal and provincial ministers will be meeting next week in Whitehorse. This is a chance for the minister to undo the damage she has done to the public consultation. I urge her to commit to a fair discussion on the merits of linkage so we can start finding the 7,000-plus missing people in Canada.