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Commission of Inquiry into
the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher Arar (Arar Commission):
A New Review Mechanism for the RCMP's National Security
Activities |
The Commissioner’s mandate for the Policy Review
was to make recommendations on an independent, arm’s length review
mechanism for the activities of the RCMP with respect to national security.
This mandate included an examination of domestic and international review
models, as well as an assessment of how an oversight mechanism would interact
with existing review mechanisms.
The Policy Review resulted in the
second report of the Arar Commission: A New Review Mechanism for the
RCMP’s National Security Activities, which was tabled on December 12,
2006.
Commissioner O’Connor makes 13 detailed recommendations with
respect to the review of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP)
national security activities as well as those of other federal departments and
agencies. Commissioner O’Connor concludes that “increased information
sharing, increased police powers of coercion and increased integration among
Canadian and foreign national security actors” requires a new review
agency to review the RCMP’s national security activities, and a new review
process for five other federal departments and agencies involved in national
security.
The Commissioner recommends the creation of the Independent
Complaints and National Security Review Agency for the RCMP (ICRA) with
jurisdiction to review all of the RCMP’s activities, including those
related to national security. The Commissioner concluded that there were
significant advantages to having the RCMP’s national security activities
reviewed by the same body that has jurisdiction to review the RCMP’s other
law enforcement activities. The Commissioner recommends that ICRA have the
authority to conduct self-initiated reviews of the RCMP’s national
security activities for compliance with laws, policies, international
obligations and for standards of propriety expected in Canadian society. |
Because of
the integrated nature of the RCMP’s national security activities, the
Commissioner has examined the Canadian national security landscape generally.
The Commissioner recommends that the government extend independent review,
including complaint investigation and self-initiated review, to the national
security activities of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Citizenship
and Immigration Canada (CIC), Transport Canada, the Financial Transactions and
Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and Foreign Affairs and
International Trade (DFAIT). The Commissioner based his recommendation on the
nature of the national security activities of these five departments and
agencies, and the degree of integration of their national security activities
with those of the RCMP, CSIS and the Communications Security Establishment
(CSE).
The Commissioner also recommends the creation of INSRCC
(Integrated National Security Review Coordinating Committee) – a review
coordinating committee – to provide a unified intake mechanism for
complaints regarding national security activities of federal entities, to help
ensure that the statutory gateways are functioning as intended, and to report
to the federal government on accountability issues relating to Canada's
national security practices, including their effects on human rights and
freedoms.
Also released by the Commission of
Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Maher
Arar |
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