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February 14, 2008 As if we needed another reminder that the RCMP is ill-equipped to handle national security investigations, Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart released the results of an audit yesterday that slammed the police force’s exempt databases, which are bursting with information on the unlikeliest of people. The exempt databanks, which are used by government agencies to deny the existence of security files on certain individuals, “have been crowded with tens of thousands of files that should not have been there,” said Stoddart yesterday. “Government transparency and accountability are fundamental concepts in democratic countries like Canada. Being named in a national security exempt bank file could have a harmful impact, particularly in a post 9-11 environment. For example, it could potentially affect someone trying to obtain an employment security clearance, or impede an individual’s ability to cross the border.” Stoddart isn’t denying the usefulness of holding some secret files, but “more than half of the national security files and over 60 per cent of criminal operational intelligence files did not warrant exempt bank status,” she said. “These files did not meet the threshold for inclusion in an exempt bank as set out in the Privacy Act and/or the RCMP’s own policy.” The existence of these files is particularly worrying in the post-Smart Border/Security and Prosperity Partnership environment of cross-border information flows and joint policing. The implications don’t stop at limited mobility and job opportunities. Being a person-of-interest to the RCMP got Maher Arar deported to Syria where he was tortured. The Privacy Commissioner has made several recommendations, which she says the RCMP is taking seriously. The force released the following statement yesterday: “We will be implementing every one of this report’s recommendations. Actions we will be taking include training initiatives, a re-examination of the files and documents retained in the RCMP’s exempt banks, a centralized check of decisions to put information into these banks, and guidelines for annual and two-year reviews of the banks.” If only the RCMP and the Department of Public Safety would take the recommendations from the Arar Commission more seriously too. Entire systems categorizing who is a threat and who should be allowed to buy a trusted traveller enhanced driver’s license for enhanced mobility across the U.S. border are being based on RCMP intelligence that might be completely useless. As Justice O’Connor said, such information must be shared with other government agencies extremely cautiously and in writing only. As the Arar case shows, Canada will have no control over how foreign governments use that information and how many lives it destroys in the process.
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