PACP Committee News Release
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Standing Committee on Public Accounts |
HOUSE OF COMMONS CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES OTTAWA, CANADA K1A 0A6 |
Comité permanent des comptes publics |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
Forensic Laboratory Services: Strengthening definitions for greater accountability
Ottawa, March 05, 2008 -
The Public Accounts Committee has issued a report calling on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to clarify its definition of backlog so as to avoid potentially misleading Parliament in the future.
The Auditor General of Canada was asked to audit the RCMP’s Forensic Laboratory Services (FLS) by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness after it had heard conflicting testimony about the status of the FLS’s backlog.
The Committee believes that through the strengthening of its definitions, the RCMP will be in a better position to accurately report on the FLS backlog. The importance of forensic services as a tool in today’s criminal justice system cannot be understated. For this reason, the Committee was distressed to learn that it has taken three audits from the Office of the Auditor General for the FLS to take the Office’s recommendations seriously. However, the FLS has committed to real change and the Committee is encouraged by the strength of the RCMP’s response to the audit.
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