Close X
Friday, November 8, 2024
ADVT 
National

Feds Seek 3-Month Delay To Reassess Court Challenge Of RCMP Gun Data Destruction

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 04 Dec, 2015 12:25 PM
  • Feds Seek 3-Month Delay To Reassess Court Challenge Of RCMP Gun Data Destruction
OTTAWA — The constitutional challenge to a Conservative law that retroactively cleared the RCMP for destroying gun registry data has been put on hold while the new Liberal government reassesses its options.
 
The attorney general of Canada requested a three-month delay in the case, according to the office of federal information commissioner Suzanne Legault, in order to "consider its position in these proceedings."
 
Legault and the individual involved in the case, Bill Clennett, agreed to the postponement.
 
At issue is a highly controversial move by the former Conservative government last spring to retroactively rewrite a 2012 law after Legault recommended charges be laid against the Mounties for withholding and destroying gun registry data.
 
The Harper government reacted to Legault's special report to Parliament by creating a backdated loophole that removed any criminal liability for the RCMP actions. Moreover, it used its May omnibus budget bill to effectively turn back the clock to October 2011, altering the provisions of the 2012 Ending the Long-gun Registry Act and then having that old bill come into force months before it was even passed by Parliament.
 
The information commissioner called the Conservative move a "perilous precedent" that could be used by future governments to retroactively rewrite laws on everything from spending scandals to electoral fraud.
 
The Ontario Provincial Police, which had begun an investigation of the RCMP's actions following a referral from the public prosecutors office, dropped the case as a result of the Conservative legal rewrite.
 
Access-to-information experts said the unprecedented government move cleared the path for the destruction of documents and legislated cover-ups.
 
Last month, Canada's provincial information commissioners sought intervener status in the constitutional challenge at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice — a measure of the widespread unease wit

MORE National ARTICLES

PM Justin Trudeau Said Willing To Look At That Voting Ban For Long-Term Expats

PM Justin Trudeau Said Willing To Look At That Voting Ban For Long-Term Expats
In an interview from the U.K., Laura Bailey says she met Trudeau at a reception at the Canadian High Commission on Nov. 25 as he moved through the crowd and shook his hand.

PM Justin Trudeau Said Willing To Look At That Voting Ban For Long-Term Expats

Former Tory James Moore Opposed As Next Chancellor Of B.C. University

The petition, posted Friday by an anonymous senator from the Prince George, B.C.-based university, had topped 1,000 signatures by early Tuesday.

Former Tory James Moore Opposed As Next Chancellor Of B.C. University

Governor General David Johnston Calls Arrival Of Syrian Refugees A 'Defining Moment' For Canada

Governor General David Johnston Calls Arrival Of Syrian Refugees A 'Defining Moment' For Canada
OTTAWA — Gov. Gen. David Johnston issued a rallying cry Tuesday for Canadians to welcome refugees who are fleeing the conflict in Syria, calling Canada's response to the crisis a "defining moment" for the country.

Governor General David Johnston Calls Arrival Of Syrian Refugees A 'Defining Moment' For Canada

Federal Shortfalls On Track To Be $10.8 Billion Bigger Than Forecasts: Watchdog

Federal Shortfalls On Track To Be $10.8 Billion Bigger Than Forecasts: Watchdog
The government is on track to deliver annual shortfalls that will be as much as $10.8 billion higher than expected, the parliamentary budget office said Tuesday.

Federal Shortfalls On Track To Be $10.8 Billion Bigger Than Forecasts: Watchdog

Canada Rebounds With 2.3 Per Cent Quarterly GDP Growth, But Weakness Persists

OTTAWA — Canada has climbed out of the recession that nudged the economy into reverse over the first half of 2015 — but a rebound in growth during the third quarter has already shown signs of lost momentum.

Canada Rebounds With 2.3 Per Cent Quarterly GDP Growth, But Weakness Persists

India's 'Real Dirt' Lies In Minds, Needs A Clean-up: President Pranab Mukherjee

President Pranab Mukherjee here on Tuesday exhorted people to go strongly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Mission but ensure the society was first cleansed from within as evinced by Mahatma Gandhi through his life.

India's 'Real Dirt' Lies In Minds, Needs A Clean-up: President Pranab Mukherjee