Mr. Speaker, I certainly respect the hon. member for Windsor—Tecumseh. I did not mean to misstate the current state of law. What I meant to say, if I did not say it, is that police services will routinely destroy fingerprints and photographs at the accused's request when charges do not result in a conviction. I will concede that there is no statutory obligation for them to do so.
What I am suggesting is that many, if not most, police forces in Canada do destroy the fingerprints and photographs at the accused's request when charges do not result in a conviction. Because the member is a learned lawyer, he will know that courts, including appellate courts, have stated that it is not unreasonable for the police to retain the prints when no requests are made for their destruction or return upon the charges being dropped. The courts have authorized the retention of those records, including appellate courts in this country. I do not think that there is any gap or anything missing in the legislation with respect to this.
With respect to the expedition of processing of individuals, I answered that question previously for my friend from New Brunswick. This does expedite the process and allows individuals, who might otherwise be detained until the police can make a decision on whether or not a charge will be laid, to be released. If they have provided the evidence, fingerprints and photographs that have been requested, they can be released and, all other things being equal, can await the determination of whether there exists evidence to lay a charge.