A watchdog organization has acquired new details on why the RCMP responded incorrectly to an information request regarding its investigation of the Liberal Cabinet regarding SNC-Lavalin.Democracy Watch (DWatch) released records disclosed by the RCMP that explain how its Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Branch sent a misleading letter dated May 25 2023 to DWatch in response to the organization's July 2022 Access to Information Act request.The letter incorrectly said the allegation that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Liberal Cabinet members obstructed justice by pressuring then-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to stop the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin in 2018 “is currently under investigation”.In statements issued to the media June 19 and 21 2023, the RCMP said that the investigation ended in January 2023, and that the incorrect information in the May 25 letter was sent by its ATIP Branch to Democracy Watch “using information available at the time.”The RCMP’s internal communications records, recently disclosed in response to DWatch’s request under the Access to Information Act, show that while one division of the RCMP had closed the investigation, an administrative system still registered the investigation as ongoing.“The RCMP’s records show its internal communications system did not make it clear to all divisions and branches of the RCMP when an investigation has been completed and that it was committing to correct that problem that caused it to mislead DWatch in May 2023 about the status of the investigation into the Trudeau Cabinet SNC-Lavalin obstruction of justice scandal,” said Duff Conacher, DWatch co-founder.The RCMP’s June 21 2023 statement said: “The RCMP will undertake a new review of the records and, following necessary consultations, will provide a new release package to the requester within 90 days.” However, the RCMP only disclosed about 1,800 pages of documents in September and said about 2,200 pages of records were still being reviewed.According to DWatch, the disclosed records showed the RCMP’s investigation was very superficial and incomplete, didn’t challenge the Trudeau Cabinet’s withholding of key evidence.,Additionally, it characterized all statements by everyone in the cabinet who was alleged to have obstructed justice in a favourable way whenever possible and always argued in favour of doubts concerning the success of a prosecution.DWatch added it incorrectly claimed the RCMP required proof of “a corrupt intent to interfere” before a prosecution for obstruction could be pursued, and that the RCMP’s national command tried to bury the investigation by delaying a key decision from March 2021 to January 2023.In an email dated September 29 2023, on page 123 of the recently disclosed records, Rita Lattanzi-Thomas, senior consultant in the RCMP’s ATIP Branch writes the documents are being reviewed to ensure they “will not reveal any investigation techniques etc.” and that the documents contain “the investigator’s notes (emails and notebook entries), witness interviews etc." and that she is “hoping to have the remainder of the documents released on or before October 13 2023.”Conacher says he is still waiting for the remaining documents to arrive.“Given Democracy Watch requested the investigation records in July 2022, and the investigation ended in January 2023, it is completely unjustifiable and a clear violation of the federal open government law that the RCMP continues to fail to disclose all the investigation records,” said Conacher.Conacher said the RCMP should have appointed a special independent prosecutor in 2019. On December 11 2023, the House Ethics Committee was supposed to hold a hearing to ask key questions of the RCMP commissioner and lead investigating officer about the RCMP’s investigation, but the meeting was cancelled at the last minute by Committee Chair John Brassard and never re-scheduled.“All of the RCMP’s conflicting actions and statements and the problems they have caused in this situation are due to their systemic culture of excessive secrecy and the lack of timely, effective enforcement of the federal access to information law, including penalties for disclosure delays and other violations. As a result, the public’s right to know has been violated, but no one will be held accountable, let alone penalized,” said Conacher.“This shows the importance of the Liberal government acting quickly to make the changes to strengthen the Access to Information Act and enforcement and to establish penalties for violations, as recommended by a house committee in its June 2023 report.”
A watchdog organization has acquired new details on why the RCMP responded incorrectly to an information request regarding its investigation of the Liberal Cabinet regarding SNC-Lavalin.Democracy Watch (DWatch) released records disclosed by the RCMP that explain how its Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Branch sent a misleading letter dated May 25 2023 to DWatch in response to the organization's July 2022 Access to Information Act request.The letter incorrectly said the allegation that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Liberal Cabinet members obstructed justice by pressuring then-Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to stop the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin in 2018 “is currently under investigation”.In statements issued to the media June 19 and 21 2023, the RCMP said that the investigation ended in January 2023, and that the incorrect information in the May 25 letter was sent by its ATIP Branch to Democracy Watch “using information available at the time.”The RCMP’s internal communications records, recently disclosed in response to DWatch’s request under the Access to Information Act, show that while one division of the RCMP had closed the investigation, an administrative system still registered the investigation as ongoing.“The RCMP’s records show its internal communications system did not make it clear to all divisions and branches of the RCMP when an investigation has been completed and that it was committing to correct that problem that caused it to mislead DWatch in May 2023 about the status of the investigation into the Trudeau Cabinet SNC-Lavalin obstruction of justice scandal,” said Duff Conacher, DWatch co-founder.The RCMP’s June 21 2023 statement said: “The RCMP will undertake a new review of the records and, following necessary consultations, will provide a new release package to the requester within 90 days.” However, the RCMP only disclosed about 1,800 pages of documents in September and said about 2,200 pages of records were still being reviewed.According to DWatch, the disclosed records showed the RCMP’s investigation was very superficial and incomplete, didn’t challenge the Trudeau Cabinet’s withholding of key evidence.,Additionally, it characterized all statements by everyone in the cabinet who was alleged to have obstructed justice in a favourable way whenever possible and always argued in favour of doubts concerning the success of a prosecution.DWatch added it incorrectly claimed the RCMP required proof of “a corrupt intent to interfere” before a prosecution for obstruction could be pursued, and that the RCMP’s national command tried to bury the investigation by delaying a key decision from March 2021 to January 2023.In an email dated September 29 2023, on page 123 of the recently disclosed records, Rita Lattanzi-Thomas, senior consultant in the RCMP’s ATIP Branch writes the documents are being reviewed to ensure they “will not reveal any investigation techniques etc.” and that the documents contain “the investigator’s notes (emails and notebook entries), witness interviews etc." and that she is “hoping to have the remainder of the documents released on or before October 13 2023.”Conacher says he is still waiting for the remaining documents to arrive.“Given Democracy Watch requested the investigation records in July 2022, and the investigation ended in January 2023, it is completely unjustifiable and a clear violation of the federal open government law that the RCMP continues to fail to disclose all the investigation records,” said Conacher.Conacher said the RCMP should have appointed a special independent prosecutor in 2019. On December 11 2023, the House Ethics Committee was supposed to hold a hearing to ask key questions of the RCMP commissioner and lead investigating officer about the RCMP’s investigation, but the meeting was cancelled at the last minute by Committee Chair John Brassard and never re-scheduled.“All of the RCMP’s conflicting actions and statements and the problems they have caused in this situation are due to their systemic culture of excessive secrecy and the lack of timely, effective enforcement of the federal access to information law, including penalties for disclosure delays and other violations. As a result, the public’s right to know has been violated, but no one will be held accountable, let alone penalized,” said Conacher.“This shows the importance of the Liberal government acting quickly to make the changes to strengthen the Access to Information Act and enforcement and to establish penalties for violations, as recommended by a house committee in its June 2023 report.”
