Madam Chair, as I have said a number of times this evening, I will not comment on this issue. As Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Justice, I might influence a matter before the courts. I will therefore not answer the question.
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Business of Supply May 14th, 2019
Madam Chair, as I have said a number of times this evening, I will not comment on this issue. As Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Justice, I might influence a matter before the courts. I will therefore not answer the question.
Business of Supply May 14th, 2019
Madam Chair, as I have already said this evening, as far as I am concerned, the answer is no. I can only speak for myself and my experience. That said, the RCMP is independent. As I have said many times this evening, it is capable of conducting its own investigations, and it is independent from the government.
Business of Supply May 14th, 2019
Madam Chair, the Department of Justice set up a process for us to meet our obligations to the court with respect to third party records applications. That is what we did. Many potentially relevant documents were identified, more than 144,000, in fact. We boiled that number down to 8,000, and the final decision was up to the judge. We worked to fulfill our obligations, and we were complimented for that.
Business of Supply May 14th, 2019
Look at me smiling.
Business of Supply May 14th, 2019
Madam Chair, to my knowledge, the rules do not apply in this case.
Business of Supply May 14th, 2019
Madam Chair, I answered that question earlier this evening. As I said, I was not at the meeting. Different people do things differently at these meetings.
Business of Supply May 14th, 2019
Madam Chair, the RCMP is independent from the Prime Minister's Office, independent from the government and independent from my department. The Prime Minister has repeatedly said that he was aware of that independence.
We are proud of the RCMP and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. Both institutions did their job well in this case, and we can be very proud of that.
Business of Supply May 14th, 2019
Madam Chair, as I have stated several times this evening, I was not the minister at that time.
The RCMP conducts its own investigations. It is a very independent institution that we are proud of. It conducts its investigations at arm's length from the government.
Business of Supply May 14th, 2019
Madam Chair, in a parliamentary system based on the Westminster tradition, we obviously all have obligations and duties.
Business of Supply May 14th, 2019
Madam Chair, as I have said this evening, I was neither attorney general nor minister of justice at the time, so I do not know the details. However, I do know that the RCMP is independent and operates at arm's length from the government.