Public Safety committee  Those are the processes as they exist. Obviously things could change, but that's how they exist.

Public Safety committee  Learn of what?

Public Safety committee  The difficulty I'm having with your question is that what I know to date is what I read in the newspapers. I am not privy to anything other than what's in the newspapers, and I don't know the exact date it started in the newspapers. That's what I know.

Public Safety committee  Let me say, first of all, that if there's any reason to do any criminal investigation or any security investigation, that would not involve me—and in fact, it would be inappropriate to involve me in that. I don't control any of that, nor should I. The purpose of background checks is to provide advice to a Prime Minister when a Prime Minister is making decisions about his or her cabinet.

Public Safety committee  That's not quite what I said. If I could correct that, I said I would expect that if the RCMP had significant security concerns relating to a minister of the cabinet, they would let me know.

Public Safety committee  It's the RCMP's responsibility to conduct criminal investigations.

Public Safety committee  No, but that's a different issue. I would expect that if there was a significant security concern relating to a minister, the RCMP would inform me, but not in order to do something about it. They would inform me so the Prime Minister could do something about the cabinet minister.

Public Safety committee  I would expect that if there was a significant security concern involving a minister of the cabinet that the RCMP was aware of, they would tell me or, in my absence, Mr. Lynch.

Public Safety committee  It's certainly possible, but I said that in the case before the committee he didn't. I know that because I've discussed it with him, and he doesn't. But it's not impossible—in fact, it's quite probable—in some cases that Mr. Lynch could have information I don't have.

Public Safety committee  If it's criminal, yes. It's not impossible that if it were a national security concern of some kind, it might have been CSIS. It depends on the nature of the concern.

Public Safety committee  Background checks have been in place for a number of years. There have been amendments made over the years to the way in which background checks are done. For example, they did not involve a tax compliance check at the very beginning, and they now do. I'm not sure if there was always a check about bankruptcy; that has been added.

Public Safety committee  If you're asking me in theory if that could represent a danger, yes, it could. I'm not commenting on this case because I don't know enough of the facts to comment.

Public Safety committee  After every incident we would do that, yes.

Public Safety committee  Again, I don't do investigations, and it is always possible to change the procedures for background checks. Governments, from time to time, have in the past.

Public Safety committee  They're bar-coded.