Witness Protection Program Act - Annual report: 2014-2015

Background

This is the nineteenth Annual Report on the Witness Protection Program (WPP) as required by section 16 of the Witness Protection Program Act.

The WPP continues to be an effective tool for law enforcement to combat terrorism and organized crime. In the last year, in partnership with its many stakeholders, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has continued to work at implementing a number of significant enhancements in order for the Program to become more accountable, effective and protectee focused. The Program remains available to not only the RCMP, but to all law enforcement agencies in Canada and to foreign agencies. In addition, with the coming into force of Bill C-51 on November 1st, 2014, the Program is now available to any federal department, agency or service that has a mandate relating to national security, national defence or public safety matters.

The statistics included in this report are based on the services provided by the RCMP between April 1, 2014 and March 31, 2015. Protectees include individuals from RCMP cases, protectees referred by other Canadian police services and foreign protectees under subsection 14(2) of the Act. Protection given under subsection 14(2) is on a cost-recovery basis, including the related expenses of RCMP personnel.

In order to not jeopardize the integrity of the Program, or the safety of any individual within the Program, statistics have been provided on the most relevant areas of the Program, without details concerning individual cases.

Services provided

The following is a breakdown of services provided to the law enforcement community (Appendix “A”):

Admission

During this period, the RCMP considered a total number of eighty one cases for admission purposes. Twenty-three protectees were admitted to the Program, all of whom were granted a secure name change.

A total of eleven protectees accepted in the Program resulted from RCMP cases.

The RCMP provided assistance to other Canadian law enforcement agencies during the last year, as provided for under paragraph 6(1)(a) of the Act. The RCMP admitted eight protectees into the Program on behalf of other Canadian law enforcement agencies. The assistance provided by the RCMP in these instances is mostly related to securing federal documentation. The responsibility for protective measures for these protectees rests with the requesting agencies. Four international protectees were also admitted.

Twenty cases were provided with alternative methods of protection. Alternative methods of protection are provided in cases where individuals refuse to be admitted into the WPP or fail to meet the criteria for admission into the Program. Some of the reasons stated for the refusals include the conditions imposed and an unwillingness to relocate.

Fluctuations related to admissions from year to year are largely due to: law enforcement activities during the fiscal year; single protectees, rather than those with dependents, being admitted to the Program; and variables outside the administration of the Program.

Termination

There were seventeen cases of termination from the Program this year, twelve cases of voluntary termination and five cases of involuntary termination under section 9 of the Act.

General

There were three cases of civil litigation filed against the RCMP during the reporting period.

Cost of the Program

The RCMP is providing Parliament with a list of the costs to administer the WPP, which is reflected in Appendix “B”. Amounts provided are for those incurred by the RCMP only. These do not take into considerations expenses incurred by other law enforcement agencies.

The total cost of the administration of the Program for the reporting year was $9.665 M. As detailed in Appendix “B”, this amount includes wages for personnel, expenses, travel costs, administrative and protectee relocation expenses.

Appendix A

Appendix B

Date modified:

2016-01-21