Public Safety committee  Yes, there is. For example, in the Yukon right now, if there is a serious incident, there is an arrangement—it's still evolving, but it actually is in operation—whereby ASIRT, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, which is a civilian criminal investigative review body in th

Public Safety committee  It depends. I would have to look specifically into it. This is an evolving area. For example, the one in B.C. just became operational last month. There are processes in place to build these bodies where it makes sense. For example, in Nova Scotia, I know there have been discuss

Public Safety committee  That's correct.

Public Safety committee  Thank you very much. In terms of the composition of the commission itself, Bill C-42 allows for the appointment of a chairperson, as well as up to four additional members of the commission. These are Governor in Council appointments by the government, and these are the individua

Public Safety committee  Thank you very much. You will have a great opportunity when you hear from the commission itself, the current CPC, I believe later this week or soon, about some of their statistics on complaints. This regime builds on the existing regime, and under both regimes, in the first i

Public Safety committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think the member's question gets at some of the fundamental principles that underlie this legislation. Arguably, one of the most important and fundamental roles of government is to provide public safety, and in that context having a policing service that

Public Safety committee  That's only under rare circumstances, where the review gets into some kind of a criminal investigation and impinges upon, let's say, either an ongoing or a potential criminal investigation and could hinder that criminal investigation. As mentioned in my opening remarks, criminal

Public Safety committee  The three-step hierarchy refers to all RCMP conduct, whether it's under the federal policing mandate or provincial contract responsibilities.

Public Safety committee  If a criminal incident was alleged related to the conduct of an RCMP member, and given the constitutional responsibility of the provinces to administer justice, yes, the provincial body would investigate the criminal matter.

Public Safety committee  The short answer is we have an extraordinarily robust regime in this legislation for access to privileged information that balances the sensitivity of that information and the need to protect that information to the greatest extent possible. It recognizes that when it is relevant

Public Safety committee  I have been working on this file for five years. We have gone to extraordinary lengths to consult with the provinces and territories, given the nature of that contract relationship through which, in effect, the RCMP is acting as the provincial police service in many jurisdictions

Public Safety committee  That's an important question, because this is a new element, and it responds to a number of key recommendations, including from Justice O'Connor in his report a few years ago. It takes the level of review of the RCMP to a whole new level. Essentially what it does is give pretty

Public Safety committee  Yes, the commission, the chair, and the new commission have the legal mandate to proceed completely independently in these matters.

Public Safety committee  Thank you very much. As you rightly note, there is an important consideration here of ensuring that you have a high-quality, credible investigation of the police. That requires a certain level of skill and experience by the individuals conducting that investigation. You want to

Public Safety committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. It's a pleasure to be here again. You've already introduced the five of us at the table. I'd just like to say that we and others have been heavily involved in developing this legislation, and we very much appreciate the opportunity to meet before