LS-340E
BILL C-494: AN ACT TO
AMEND THE WITNESS PROTECTION
PROGRAM ACT AND TO MAKE A RELATED AND
CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENT TO ANOTHER ACT
(PROTECTION OF SPOUSES WHOSE LIFE IS IN DANGER)
Prepared by:
Margaret Young
Law and Government Division
25 May 1999
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF
BILL C-494
HOUSE
OF COMMONS |
SENATE |
| Bill
Stage |
Date |
Bill
Stage |
Date |
| First Reading: |
19 April
1999 |
First Reading: |
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| Second Reading: |
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Second Reading: |
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| Committee Report: |
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Committee Report: |
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| Report Stage: |
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Report Stage: |
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| Third Reading: |
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Third Reading: |
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Royal Assent:
Statutes of Canada
N.B. Any substantive changes in this Legislative Summary which have
been made since the preceding issue are indicated in bold print.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
BACKGROUND
DESCRIPTION
A. Titles (Clauses
1-2)
B. Definitions
(Clause 3)
C.
Purposes of the Act (Clause 4)
D. Factors
Relevant to Admission to the Program (Clause 8)
E. Agreements with
Law Enforcement Agencies (Clause 11)
F. Other
COMMENTARY
BILL C-494: AN ACT TO AMEND THE
WITNESS PROTECTION
PROGRAM ACT AND TO MAKE A RELATED AND
CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENT TO ANOTHER ACT
(PROTECTION OF SPOUSES WHOSE LIFE IS IN DANGER)
BACKGROUND
Bill C-494 was introduced at first reading
in the House of Commons by its sponsor, Mr. Jay Hill (Prince George—Peace River), on
19 April 1999. The bill would amend the Witness Protection Program Act to include
spouses whose lives are in danger because of the actions of their current or former
spouse.
The Witness Protection Program Act(1) was passed by Parliament in 1996. Although it was a
government bill,(2) the initiative for the project began
with a Private Member’s bill introduced by Mr. Tom Wappel in February 1994 as Bill
C-206. That bill garnered all-party support, passed second reading in the House of
Commons, and was referred for committee study. Meanwhile, when the government introduced a
very similar bill of its own, Mr. Wappel withdrew his own bill. It is noteworthy that in
the considerable amount of time allotted to debate on both bills, the entire focus of
concern was on the protection of witnesses and sources. Although protection of spouses
entered the discussions, it was only in their role as witnesses against criminals; there
were no references to the possible need to protect persons who are victims of the violent
actions of their own spouse or former spouse, and they are not covered under the
definition of "witness" in the Act.
The Witness Protection Program Act
provided a legislative base and a structure for decision-making for the RCMP Witness
Protection Program.(3) Although it had been in existence
since 1984 as an administrative program, it had not had clear criteria or rules or an
accountability structure. The Act: introduced a list of factors to be considered in
deciding whether a person should be admitted to the program; defined
"protection" as including relocation, accommodation and change of identity as
well as counselling and financial support; provided for protection agreements to be
entered into and specified their requirements; and established the criteria and process
for terminating protection. It also provided for agreements to be entered into with
provinces and municipalities for which the RCMP provides policing, so that they could be
part of the national program.(4)
Although they are not covered by the RCMP
Program, spouses who are in such danger that they must flee their surroundings and change
their identities are not completely unprotected at the present time. Two federal
government departments, Human Resources Development Canada and Revenue Canada, administer
a little-known ad hoc process called New Identities. With the help of
information from police, women’s shelters, and victims’ groups, the program
helps desperate women in life-threatening situations gain a new identity and relocate by
providing them with a new social insurance number and ensuring continuity of federal
social benefits. The program has no specified mandate, however, and no separate funding,
so the assistance it can provide is not comprehensive.
DESCRIPTION
A. Titles (Clauses
1-2)
Clause 1 of Bill C-494 would amend the
long title of the Witness Protection Program Act, which at present refers to
establishing and operating a program of protection for people in relation to certain
inquiries, investigations or prosecutions. The bill would add the words: "and to
enable certain spouses whose life is in danger to receive protection."
Clause 2 would change the title of the Act
to the Witness and Spousal Protection Act (emphasis added).
B. Definitions
(Clause 3)
The term "law enforcement
agency" is used in several places in the Act, but is not defined. The bill would
include the term in section 2 of the Act (the definition section) and specify that it
would include a department within the meaning of the Financial Administration Act.
This would ensure that cases that came to the attention of Human Resources Canada and
Revenue Canada under the New Identities program could be recommended by those
departments for acceptance into the RCMP Program and that the RCMP could enter into
agreements with them regarding the Program. It would also mean that the Commissioner would
be under an obligation to inform the departments of the reasons for any decision to refuse
a spouse entry into the Program.
The term "spouse" added to
section 2 would be defined as including a former spouse and a person who had cohabited in
a conjugal relationship with another person for a period of not less than one year.
C.
Purposes of the Act (Clause 4)
The existing purpose of the Act is stated
to be to promote law enforcement by facilitating the protection of people involved in
providing assistance in law enforcement matters. To that would be added the following:
"to protect certain persons who believe on reasonable grounds that their life is in
danger by reason of acts committed against them by their spouse."
D. Factors Relevant to
Admission to the Program (Clause 8)
Section 7 of the Act now contains a list
of eight factors relevant to determining whether a witness should be admitted to the
Program. The bill would add an additional list applicable to spouses. Three of the factors
would be the same in each case:
the nature of the risk to
the security of the witness/spouse;
alternate methods of
protecting the witness/spouse without admission to the Program; and
such other factors as the
Commissioner deems relevant.
Specifically relevant to spouses would be
the following:
the nature of the injuries
suffered by the spouse, or the severe psychological damage inflicted by the other spouse
and the latter’s criminal record, if any; and
the circumstances that cause
the spouse to believe that their life is in danger.
E. Agreements with Law
Enforcement Agencies (Clause 11)
Section 14 of the Act permits the
Commissioner of the RCMP (who can delegate the power) to enter agreements with a law
enforcement agency to enable witnesses in need of protection as a result of its law
enforcement activities to enter the Program. Clause 11 would add a paragraph specifically
extending the power to enter agreements to cover spouses "where the law enforcement
agency believes on reasonable grounds that the life of that person is in danger because of
acts committed by the person’s spouse."
F. Other
Clauses 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, and 13 would
merely add, in each case, a reference to "spouse" to the Act(5) as required to ensure the inclusion of spouses in all relevant aspects
of the RCMP program. Clause 9 would add a reference to admission to the Program as a
witness in a situation inapplicable to spouses (a requirement to give the information or
evidence in relation to the legal proceeding).
COMMENTARY
Changing the RCMP Witness Protection
Program as proposed by Bill C-494 would introduce a subtle yet important shift in the
purpose of the program. As stated in the existing Act, its purpose is to promote law
enforcement; the method of doing so is to protect witnesses who are in jeopardy
because of their involvement in police activities. The bill would add a related but
separate purpose: the protection of persons who believe their lives to be in danger from
their spouses or former spouses. Thus, protection for these individuals would be a goal of
its own, not directly related to broader police activities.
The bill would provide a more solid base
for the current New Identities program run by Human Resources Development Canada
and Revenue Canada. Criteria for admission would be established, agreements would be
required and regularized (although protection without an agreement would be available in
an emergency), and funding would be available.
Lest it be thought that opening up the
Program to spouses could result in an unmanageable situation in which applicants flooded
the system, it should be noted that the criteria for entry would be strict. Spouses would
have to "believe on reasonable grounds that their life is in danger by reason of acts
committed against them by their spouse" (clause 4) and would have to be recommended
for admission by a law enforcement agency (which, under the definition of that term, would
include a government department). The Commissioner, through a delegate, would make the
final decision. Alternative measures of protection would have to be examined before a
spouse could be admitted to the Program.
Although it would not be an answer to all
the many problems that arise as a result of spousal abuse and violence, inclusion of
spouses in the RCMP Witness Protection Program would serve as a last ditch safety net for
spouses in cases where counselling and criminal law measures had proved ineffective, with
the result that their very lives were in danger.
(1) S.C. 1996, c. 15, RSC 1985, Chap. W-11.2.
(2) First
introduced as Bill C-78 in March 1995, then reintroduced as Bill C-13 in 1996 following
prorogation.
(3) There
are a number of other witness protection programs operated by police forces across the
country but that of the RCMP is the only national program.
(4) The
1997-98 annual report required under section 16 of the Act reveals that in 1997-98 a total
number of 110 protectees were accepted into the Program (figure includes accompanying
family members). Of these, 22 protectees were from another law enforcement agency. A total
of 51 protectees were relocated outside their province of origin. The direct cost of the
program (that is, the money spent directly on the people protected) was $3,058,966.
(5) Or,
in the case of clause 13, to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act for the purpose
of the public complaint process.
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