1. Opening Remarks
Opening Remarks for the Deputy Minister of Justice
Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security
16 08 2022
Thank you for inviting us to appear before the Committee today. I am joined today by Owen Rees, who is the Acting Assistant Deputy Attorney General in the National Litigation Sector in the Department of Justice Canada.
Before I begin, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the families, loved ones and community of the victims of the April 2020 Nova Scotia shooting. I want to acknowledge their loss and the impact of this event on the community.
To begin with, I want to clarify that the Department of Justice and its counsel were not involved or consulted on whether to disclose firearms information at the April 28, 2020 press conference, nor with respect to the teleconference with the RCMP Commissioner that followed the same day. As a result, we can only speak today to the issue of document production before the Mass Casualty Commission. In these opening remarks, I will provide an overview of the role of our lawyers in the Department of Justice before the Mass Casualty Commission, as well as the document disclosure process we follow with the Mass Casualty Commission. I will also address document disclosure concerning the RCMP’s April 28, 2020 teleconference that has been a focus of this Committee’s study. Given that our time today is short, in advance of this meeting, I sent a letter to Committee members providing greater detail on these matters.
The Department of Justice Canada represents the Government of Canada in the MCC inquiry. One of the responsibilities of Justice lawyers and paralegals is to produce documents to the Commission that are relevant to the inquiry. This is a standard process in public inquiries and civil litigation.
Document production in any inquiry is a significant undertaking. The Government of Canada has disclosed over 75,000 documents to the MCC. The magnitude of that number is notable. However, the number alone does not capture the extensive work involved in gathering, reviewing, and producing these documents. It is a labour intensive, technical, and time-consuming process. I would like to acknowledge the dedication of Justice employees undertaking this important work on behalf of the Government of Canada.
In the context of this Inquiry, document production is an ongoing process. The Government of Canada began disclosing documents to the Commission in February 2021. As the Commission pursues its inquiry, new questions come up, which in turn give rise to new requests for documents. As a result, Justice lawyers and paralegals regularly receive new requests for documents from the Commission, and receive new batches of documents for review from government departments and agencies. Given the quantity of documents received on an ongoing basis, the Justice team has had to triage the review and production of documents based on the Commission’s immediate needs and priorities for upcoming hearings.
A standard feature of document production – in the MCC inquiry and in civil litigation generally – is the review of documents for legally privileged information. Privilege can apply to entire documents or portions of documents according to common law and legislation, such as, for example, the Canada Evidence Act.
To be clear, document review and production before the MCC is managed by lawyers and paralegals in the Department of Justice. The Minister of Justice and the Minister’s Office are not involved in this process.
As part of the document production process, in early 2022, Department of Justice lawyers and paralegals were reviewing the handwritten notes of four senior RCMP officers in order to produce them to the MCC. There were over 2,400 pages of notes.
As outlined in the letter that I provided to the Committee, the Justice team flagged 35 pages as containing potentially privileged content. Knowing that the senior officers’ notes were a priority for the Commission given upcoming hearings, Justice counsel authorized disclosure of the 2400 pages or so on February 11, 2022, and March 2, 2022, with the exception of the 35 pages that required further privilege review. The intent was to re-disclose the complete set of officer notes with any applicable redactions after the privilege review, but well before the hearings when these senior officers would testify.
Justice counsel did not alert the MCC to the fact that the 35 pages were still being reviewed when the rest of the notes were released. Justice counsel later acknowledged this oversight in a letter to the MCC.
Four of the 35 pages that were subject to further review related to the April 28, 2020 meeting that is a focus of this Committee’s study. These were in the notes of Supt. Campbell. On May 30, 2022, those notes of the April 28, 2020 meeting were disclosed to the MCC without any redactions. This was well in advance of the testimony of Supt. Campbell before the MCC on July 25 and 26, 2022.
None of the remaining pages concerned the April 28, 2020 meeting. They have all now been disclosed to the Commission. Some information in these 35 pages is redacted for privilege, personal information, and relevance. However, there are no redactions to the notes referring to the April 28, 2020 meeting.
Department of Justice counsel continue to work closely with MCC counsel to ensure that Canada’s document production process is transparent, comprehensive, and timely. The Government of Canada is committed to fully supporting the Mass Casualty Commission Inquiry in its important work.
I have full confidence in the dedication and professionalism of the Department of Justice lawyers and paralegals representing Canada in the MCC inquiry.
Thank you.
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