Kim Bolan (CanWest News Service) – The body that investigates complaints against the RCMP has no power to prevent someone from being kicked out of the witness protection program or to review whether they were unfairly denied entry into it, the Air India inquiry heard Wednesday.
Paul Kennedy, chairman of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, said even if the person fears for their safety, his agency would not necessarily find out there is a conflict between the individual and the RCMP.
And he told inquiry lawyer Michel Dorval he would not have the power “to stop the clock and force the RCMP to maintain protection” until a review is conducted.
“If you look at the legislation and if you look certainly at the operational policies that are in place, it is an RCMP-run program, the commissioner has the powers to decide … who is in the program, who is out of the program,” Kennedy said. “But certainly there is no legislative authority to say the clock stops, leave the person in.”
He said people in witness protection are so isolated they may not realize they can contact his commission for assistance. Most enter the life-altering program without any assistance from a lawyer, Kennedy told inquiry commissioner John Major.
Kennedy has proposed legislation that would enable an independent auditor to review the witness protection program.
“I think in a program like this, that out of necessity it is very covert and secret, someone has to look at it to make sure it has all the right bells and whistles and that there is accountability because people know that they are being looked at,” he said.
He said people in the program should be made aware they have a place to turn if there are problems.
“You have to have an awareness by people that someone is going to look at this program and hold people accountable,” said Kennedy, a lawyer and 21-year-public servant.
Earlier in the day, former RCMP member and private consultant Geoff Frisby said many of the problems people encounter in the witness protection program come from their inability to follow the necessary rules.
They contact relatives or boast to new friends about “having a secret,” he testified.
He said people from religious or visible minorities can experience even more problems because they likely would be told not to connect with others from their group once resettled in witness protection.
That could mean a choice between being able to worship and maintaining their safety, he said, forcing some to choose their faith.
The inquiry into the June 23, 1985 terrorist attack moved into a new phase this week by exploring the issue of witness intimidation and protection, including the federal program.
Several Crown witnesses in the Air India case that ended in 2005 reported repeated threats and attacks on their homes. Two entered the Witness Protection Program, though one later returned home on his own, saying he could not tolerate living that way.
Well the rules are not there to protect the Poor sweety just the rich.
Have you ever heard of a rich kid being belly sticked, punched, kicked, peper sprayed or zapped like a bug, not me??? Why?
Are we a police society that looks at the appearence of a man or woman before we run hollering CAN I ZAP HIM, Please, Please, Please
Do you Like or Dislike the above comment:
0 
0
Methinks the outfit has suffered the vagaries of the Federal Government with respect to lowering of standards to keep the RCMP in line with the “cultural mosaic” of Canada, read: minority targets. As well, the hiring of small people to a physically demanding job. I can remember a time where friends were not able to join the Mounties because they were too small. Also I think on the other hand everybody whines when someone gets pepper sprayed or hit with the batons. Law and order are top priorities except when it becomes messy and then we tend to go ooooh. I think the police officers have a dirty job cleaning up after us and in some cases we refuse to think in that direction. they are also hobbled by increasingly strict rules for actually getting the bad guys.
Do you Like or Dislike the above comment:
0 
0
What is going on here?
What has happened to our police force anyways?
Who can be trusted today when the ones we are suppose to trust no longer can be.
After reading some of these articles is there even a way to redeem this force?
What’s going on this stuff is horible and why all of a sudden is it that they were like this all along and no one paid attention?
I will come back later
Do you Like or Dislike the above comment:
0 
0