SECU Committee Report

RECOMMENDATION 1:

The Committee recommends that the Witness Protection Program Act (WPPA) be amended to entrust the administration of the Witness Protection Program to an independent Office within the Department of Justice. A multidisciplinary team from the Office, which could consist of police officers, Crown attorneys and psychologists and/or criminologists with appropriate security clearance, should be responsible for making decisions about witness admission and for monitoring of protection agreements. Police forces should be responsible for threat assessments, determining the level of security and implementing the protective measures.

RECOMMENDATION 2:

The Committee recommends that the Witness Protection Program Act be amended so that a psychological assessment of candidates over the age of 18, including family members, be automatically carried out before any candidate is admitted to the Program, particularly when a change of identity is being considered as a protective measure.

RECOMMENDATION 3:

The Committee recommends that the Witness Protection Program Act be amended so that potential candidates are automatically offered the aid of legal counsel with an appropriate security clearance during the negotiation of the candidate’s admission to the Witness Protection Program and the signing of the protection contract. The fees of such counsel should be paid by the independent Office responsible for witness protection at the Department of Justice.

RECOMMENDATION 4:

The Committee recommends that the Witness Protection Program Act be amended to make the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP responsible for handling complaints from candidates for, and protectees of, the Witness Protection Program. The Commission should have access to all documents it considers necessary for carrying out its review effectively, with the exception of Cabinet confidences subject to the appropriate safeguards. The Committee considers that candidates and protectees should be systematically informed of this recourse during negotiations for their admission to the Program.

RECOMMENDATION 5:

The Committee recommends that the federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for Justice and Public Safety develop a funding agreement for participation in the Witness Protection Program that would recognize governments’ shared responsibility for justice. The agreement should be designed to make the Witness Protection Program accessible to all Canadian police forces.

RECOMMENDATION 6:

The Committee recommends that the Witness Protection Program Act be amended so that the RCMP or the independent Department of Justice Office responsible for witness protection can enter into agreements directly with provincial and territorial governments, in order to accelerate the processing of witness protection files. Until such time as memoranda of agreement are drafted, the RCMP should continue to enter into agreements with police forces.

RecommEndation 7:

The Committee recommends that the federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for Justice and Public Safety elaborate minimum Canadian standards to ensure uniformity in the treatment of all witnesses admitted to witness protection programs.  This would include, wherever possible, an expansion of the options available as set out in section 486 of the Criminal Code and any provincial, territorial or municipal equivalents, in order to facilitate testimony by witnesses to crimes who do not wish to enter a formal witness protection program.

RECOMMENDATION 8:

The Committee recommends that the independent Department of Justice witness protection Office (once it has been established) encourage and permit independent research into witness protection (for example, assessments of the Program's effectiveness and efficiency based on analysis of prosecutions; analyses of protectee feedback, involvement in crime and success at relocating). The Office should also systematically compile data about the Witness Protection Program, while respecting the confidentiality of protectees.

RECOMMENDATION 9:

The Committee recommends that the information contained in the annual report on the Witness Protection Program be enhanced so as to give a clearer picture of the Program, the reason for its existence and protectees’ obligations.