Justice committee  Yes, the figures are the figures. That's the best we have. Clearly the largest part of the compensation is for the people who do the actual protection. As you can imagine, it's a very laborious job.

Justice committee  Well, it depends. I guess I'll have to generalize. The costs of protection have increased. Some of the cases we've been challenged with over the last several years have been considerable, and as a result protection costs go up. With the amount of attention to detail, for instance

Justice committee  I don't have that specific data. If you wish, I could probably get that for you.

Justice committee  Thank you very much. Being able to obtain federal documentation for provincial witness protection initiatives without having to enter people from the provincial initiatives into the federal program is a long-standing issue. Currently, the RCMP is working very closely with Public

Justice committee  No. To enter a protected person from a provincial into the federal program is generally regarded by a number of the provinces as an infringement on their ability to run their own effective programs; however, it's something we've done since 1996. There are two elements to it. One

Justice committee  We have approximately 800 people currently in the federal program. The $7 million breakdown is, as you suggested, not just for the 15 who came in. It's also for the maintenance of the existing people in the program.

Justice committee  When protectees come into the program and a determination is made to change their identity, sir, that is a legal name change. The role of the RCMP is to work with our federal partners and provincial partners to ensure that those name changes are done in a secure fashion. That w

Justice committee  No, but through the processes that we use when the new name is identified as a legal name, they're entitled to all the benefits they would have had if they'd stayed in their previous identity.

Justice committee  Yes.