RCMP Watch

Janice Tibbetts, CanWest News Service

The RCMP authorized undercover agents to break the law with immunity from criminal charges 11 times in 2005-06, during investigations into drug trafficking, counterfeiting, alleged corruption of public officials and tobacco smuggling, says a new federal report.

The Mounties are required annually to disclose their law-breaking activities under a five-year-old federal law that allows them to be shielded from prosecution while acting in the line of duty, a controversial power the Canadian Civil Liberties Association has condemned as “unwarrantedly dangerous.”

The 11 cases in 2005-06 were up from seven in 2004-05 and six in 2003-04.

All of the reported cases last year were carried out by civilian agents of the police, who are typically undercover informants, rather than the police themselves.

The 2002 legislation is undergoing a mandatory review, which has been stalled since last year while the pre-occupied Commons justice committee reviews new federal crime bills introduced by the Conservative government.

During public hearings last spring, there were calls to repeal or dramatically rein in the “law enforcement justification provisions,” which protect the police and their agents from prosecution when they commit criminal offences on the job, other than sex crimes, violence causing bodily harm and obstructing justice. The bar is their conduct must be “reasonable and proportional” to the crimes being investigated.

The legislation was passed in 2002 following a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that said police did not have carte blanche to break the law in the line of duty, but left it open for Parliament to spell out some powers. “Our position is that it should never have been enacted and it should be repealed,” said Ken Swan, vice-president of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

The Canadian Bar Association and other organizations have also opposed the police powers, contained in the Criminal Code, on the grounds that they violate the bedrock legal principle that no one is above the law.

The report provides few details of the crimes committed on the job, prompting the civil liberties association to say the information given to the public is so vague it’s virtually meaningless.

There were cases of agents possessing counterfeit money, committing forgery, fraud against the government and failing to mark imported goods.

One case involved committing crimes dealing with criminal interest rates in an investigation into a murder conspiracy. There was also a case of forgery in a drug trafficking probe.

In four cases, crimes were committed during investigations into counterfeit credit cards.

There were no reports of crimes committed by police themselves, but that does not mean they did not happen. The law only requires them to report activity that would likely result in loss or serious damage to property.

A mandatory review of the law, which was supposed to begin two years ago but did not start until last spring, is still not complete. In a report last fall, the Commons justice committee concluded further study is needed before making any recommendations.

Joe Comartin, an NDP member of the committee, said the review “is just sitting in limbo.”

Despite concerns voiced at public hearings last year, there was no evidence the police power was being abused, Comartin said.

Swan said the lack of action by the committee is an indication the law is here to stay.

At the very least, Swan said, police should be required to report all illegal activity for public scrutiny.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day tabled the annual report, covering Feb. 1, 2005 to Jan. 31, 2006, in the House of Commons this week.