PACP Committee News Release
If you have any questions or comments regarding the accessibility of this publication, please contact us at accessible@parl.gc.ca.
|
Standing Committee on Public Accounts |
|
Comité permanent des comptes publics |
For immediate release
NEWS RELEASE
TO BETTER COMBAT TRANSNATIONAL CRIME, AN ASSESSMENT OF THE LIAISON OFFICER PROGRAM AND IMPROVEMENTS TO INFORMATION SHARING-PROCESSES RELATED TO CANADIANS IMPRISONED ABROAD ARE NEEDED
Ottawa, February 23, 2015 -
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) needs to assess the performance of its Liaison Officer Program, to assess the costs and benefits of Canada’s greater participation in Europol and to work with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) to improve their information-sharing processes related to Canadians imprisoned abroad, according to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts’ report presented today in the House of Commons by Committee Chair David Christopherson.
The federal government is responsible for enforcing legislation that is meant to protect Canadians from crimes and criminals that cross its borders. In order to advance investigations involving transnational crime, Canada’s law enforcement agencies rely on a network of RCMP liaison officers, who are located in various countries and interact with foreign law enforcement agencies.
In its Fall 2014 Report, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) released a performance audit that examined whether the RCMP established priorities for serious and organized crime and aligned its international programming with those priorities, and whether the RCMP had access to the information on Canadians imprisoned abroad that DFATD receives from foreign countries. The audit also examined whether the RCMP and Justice Canada had in place the systems and practices for mutual legal assistance and extradition requests necessary to address their international requirements.
The OAG found that the RCMP established priorities for serious and organized crimes and aligned its international programming with those priorities. However, the RCMP had not assessed the overall performance of its Liaison Officer Program or assessed the costs and benefits of Canada’s greater participation in Europol. The OAG also found that in general the RCMP could not access the information that DFATD had on Canadians imprisoned abroad. Finally, the OAG found that Justice Canada had processed requests for mutual legal assistance and extraditions appropriately, but had not assessed the reasons for significant delays in processing these requests, most of which are due to the processing time of Justice Canada’s domestic and foreign partners.
In its report, the Committee notes that the RCMP, DFATD and Justice Canada have identified specific measures in their respective action plans to respond to the OAG’s recommendations. The Committee recommends that each organization provide it with an update on their progress in implementing these measures.
- 30 -
|