Information Commissioner warns of dangerous precedent in RCMP long-gun registry case
CBC Radio | Posted: May 15, 2015 11:15 PM | Last Updated: May 15, 2015
Canada's Information Commissioner says she's never seen anything like this.
Following a long investigation, Suzanne Legault concluded that the RCMP illegally destroyed records related to the long-gun registry.
Now, she's also publicly questioning the federal government's attempt to create a "perilous precedent" by retroactively rewriting Canada's access-to-information law to absolve the RCMP of wrongdoing.
Canada's Information Commissioner tabled a special report earlier this week and revealed that she recommended almost two months ago that charges be laid against the RCMP for its role in withholding and destroying gun registry data.
The government responded by trying to rewrite the law though the latest omnibus budget bill.
"This is an attempt to erase potential civil, criminal and administrative liability," Legault told The House's Evan Solomon.
"It's no longer about the long-gun registry, this is about the actions that the government is purporting to do in this matter and the precedent that it is setting," Legault said.