Public Complaints and Review Commission Act (S.C. 2024, c. 25)

Marginal note:Documents and explanations

18 The Commission is entitled to receive from any member, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, any person appointed or employed under Part I of that Act or any officer or employee of the Canada Border Services Agency any documents and explanations that the Commission considers necessary for the exercise of its powers and the performance of its duties and functions under this Part.

Marginal note:Exceptions

• The following provision is not in force.

  19 (1) Despite section 17, the Commission is not entitled to have access to information under the control, or in the possession, of the RCMP or the Agency if the information reveals

  • The following provision is not in force.

    (a) information relating to a request made by a member, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, or other person appointed or employed under Part I of that Act for legal assistance or indemnification from Her Majesty in right of Canada;

  • The following provision is not in force.

    (b) information relating to a request made by an officer or employee of the Canada Border Services Agency for legal assistance or indemnification from Her Majesty in right of Canada;

  • The following provision is not in force.

    (c) communications referred to in subsection 47.1(2) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act;

  • The following provision is not in force.

    (d) information that is subject to solicitor-client privilege or the professional secrecy of advocates and notaries or to litigation privilege and that relates to the provision of advice to a member, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, or other person appointed or employed under Part I of that Act when the privilege or secrecy may be claimed by the member or other person and not the RCMP;

  • The following provision is not in force.

    (e) information that is subject to solicitor-client privilege or the professional secrecy of advocates and notaries or to litigation privilege and that relates to the provision of advice to an officer or employee of the Canada Border Services Agency when the privilege or secrecy may be claimed by the officer or employee and not the Agency;

  • The following provision is not in force.

    (f) information that is subject to solicitor-client privilege or the professional secrecy of advocates and notaries or to litigation privilege when the privilege or secrecy may be claimed by the RCMP or the Agency and that relates to the RCMP’s or the Agency’s dealings with the Commission, including

    • (i) legal opinions relating to the way in which the RCMP or the Agency should conduct itself in regard to the Commission, and

    • (ii) minutes of meetings held by the RCMP or the Agency relating to the way in which it should conduct itself in regard to the Commission;

  • The following provision is not in force.

    (g) any report prepared for the Commissioner in respect of a meeting held or to be held between the Commission and the RCMP and containing analysis or advice relating to the meeting; and

  • The following provision is not in force.

    (h) any report prepared for the President in respect of a meeting held or to be held between the Commission and the Agency and containing analysis or advice relating to the meeting.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Exception — confidences

  (2) Nothing in this Part authorizes a person to disclose to the Commission a confidence of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada in respect of which subsection 39(1) of the Canada Evidence Act applies, and the Commission may not use the confidence if it is disclosed.

Marginal note:Exception

20 The Commission is not entitled to have access to

• The following provision is not in force.

  (a) a confidence of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada the disclosure of which could be refused under section 39 of the Canada Evidence Act; or

• The following provision is not in force.

  (b) commercial information that Canada has committed under an international agreement to keeping confidential.

Marginal note:Use of privileged information

21 If the Commission obtains access to privileged information in respect of a matter under subsection 17(2), the Commission may use that information only in respect of that matter.

Marginal note:Protection of information

• The following provision is not in force.

  22 (1) The Commission may, by regulation, establish measures to protect the information under its control or in its possession.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Consultation and approval

  (2) Subject to subsection 25(2), if the Commission obtains access to information referred to in subsection 16(4) or to privileged information from the RCMP or the Agency, a member, officer or employee of the Commission and any other person acting on its behalf must not distribute any report or other document that contains or discloses the information or any part of it without having first obtained the Commissioner’s or President’s approval, as the case may be.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Time limit

  (3) The Commissioner or President must indicate whether he or she approves the distribution of a report or other document under subsection (2) as soon as feasible after being consulted under that subsection.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Regulations

  (4) The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting measures to protect the information under the control, or in the possession, of the Commission.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Conflict or inconsistency

  (5) In the event of a conflict or inconsistency between the regulations made under subsections (1) and (4), the regulations made under subsection (4) prevail to the extent of the conflict or inconsistency.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Duty to comply with regulations

  (6) Subject to subsection (5), every member, employee and officer of the Commission and every person acting on its behalf must comply with the regulations made under subsections (1) and (4).

Marginal note:Security requirements

23 Every member, employee and officer of the Commission and every other person acting on its behalf must

• The following provision is not in force.

  (a) obtain and maintain the necessary security clearance from the Government of Canada and take the oath of secrecy prescribed by regulation;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (b) comply with all security requirements under this Part and the Security of Information Act; and

• The following provision is not in force.

  (c) follow established procedures or practices, including any requirement found in a Treasury Board policy, guideline or directive, for the secure handling, storage, transportation and transmission of information or documents.

Marginal note:Safeguards — third party

• The following provision is not in force.

  24 (1) The Commission must not disclose information referred to in subsection 16(4) that it has received from the RCMP or Agency to any person or entity other than a member, employee or officer of the Commission or a person acting on its behalf unless the Chairperson is satisfied that

  • The following provision is not in force.

    (a) the person or entity will take reasonable measures to protect that information;

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    (b) the person or entity will require all of its members, employees, officers and other persons acting on its behalf to meet requirements that are equivalent to the requirements referred to in section 23; and

  • The following provision is not in force.

    (c) the person or entity has agreed to any measures that would assist the Commission to verify compliance with the obligations described in paragraphs (a) and (b), which may include agreeing to permit the Commission to enter and inspect the premises of the person or entity and any information storage facilities and to provide any information or documents requested by the Commission.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Duties to comply

  (2) Every person who has received information under this section must comply with the regulations made under paragraph 87(b).

Marginal note:Disclosure by Commission prohibited

• The following provision is not in force.

  25 (1) Except as authorized under subsection (2), a member, officer or employee of the Commission and any other person acting on its behalf must not provide information to any person, or allow any person to have access to information, knowing that the information is privileged information to which they had access under subsection 17(2) or being reckless as to whether the information is such information.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Authorized disclosure

  (2) Every person who is otherwise prohibited under subsection (1) from disclosing privileged information may, if authorized by the Chairperson, disclose that information

  • The following provision is not in force.

    (a) to the Attorney General of Canada or of a province if, in the opinion of the Chairperson, the information relates to the commission of an offence under federal or provincial law by a director, an officer or an employee of a government institution and there is evidence of such an offence and the information is required in criminal proceedings, either by indictment or on summary conviction, that have been commenced by the laying of an information or the preferring of an indictment, under an Act of Parliament;

  • The following provision is not in force.

    (b) to the Minister other than in an annual report referred to in section 13;

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    (c) to the Commissioner if, in the opinion of the Chairperson, the information is required for the purpose of enabling the Commissioner to exercise his or her powers or perform his or her duties and functions under the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act; and

  • The following provision is not in force.

    (d) to the President if, in the opinion of the Chairperson, the information is required for the purpose of enabling the President to exercise his or her powers or perform his or her duties and functions under the Canada Border Services Agency Act.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Disclosure of privileged information — proceedings

  (3) A member, officer or employee of the Commission or other person acting on its behalf must not be required, in connection with any criminal, civil or administrative action or proceeding, to give or produce evidence relating to privileged information to which he or she had access under subsection 17(2).

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Application

  (4) Except as provided by any other Act of Parliament that expressly refers to it, this section applies despite any other Act of Parliament other than the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Application

  (5) This section applies despite subsection 13(1) of the Auditor General Act and subsection 79.4(1) of the Parliament of Canada Act.

Marginal note:Use of information

• The following provision is not in force.

  26 (1) Despite any provision in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act or the Canada Border Services Agency Act, but subject to subsection (2), a member, officer or employee of the Commission, with the Chairperson’s approval, may, in the exercise of their powers or the performance of their duties and functions under this Act,

  • The following provision is not in force.

    (a) use information obtained by the Commission under this Act relating to a complaint if

    • (i) the information relates to a particular event or series of events that involved one or more RCMP employees and one or more CBSA employees,

    • (ii) the information is relevant and necessary to deal with a complaint made under section 33 or 36 that relates to the event or series of events or to initiate a complaint under section 36 that relates to the event or series of events, and

    • (iii) the information is used solely for the purpose of dealing with the complaint or initiating the complaint; and

  • The following provision is not in force.

    (b) use information obtained by the Commission under a review conducted under subsection 28(1) or (2) or section 29 of any activity that was, is or may be carried out by the RCMP or Agency if

    • (i) the information is relevant and necessary to the conduct of a review under subsection 28(1) or (2) or section 29 of any similar activity that was, is or may be carried out by the RCMP or Agency, and

    • (ii) the information is used solely for the purposes of the review referred to in subparagraph (i).

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Opportunity to make representations

  (2) If the information is privileged information that was obtained from the RCMP or Agency, a member, officer or employee of the Commission and any person acting on its behalf must not use the information without having first given the Commissioner or President, as the case may be, an opportunity to make representations.

Marginal note:Disclosure prohibited

27 A current or former member, officer or employee of the Commission, or any person who is acting or has acted on the Commission’s behalf, may disclose information that they obtained or to which they had access in the course of exercising their powers or performing their duties and functions under this Act only for the purpose of exercising their powers or performing their duties and functions under this Act or as authorized or required by any other law.

Marginal note:Review and report

• The following provision is not in force.

  28 (1) For the purpose of ensuring that the activities of the RCMP are carried out in accordance with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act or the Witness Protection Program Act, any regulations or ministerial directions made under them or any policy, procedure or guideline relating to the operation of the RCMP, the Commission may, on the request of the Minister or a third party or on its own initiative, conduct a review of specified activities of the RCMP and provide a report to the Minister and the Commissioner on the review.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Review and report

  (2) For the purpose of ensuring that the activities of the Agency are carried out in accordance with the Canada Border Services Agency Act, any ministerial directions made under that Act and any policy, procedure or guideline relating to the operation of the Agency, the Commission may, on the request of the Minister or a third party or on its own initiative, conduct a review of specified activities of the Agency and provide a report to the Minister and the President on the review.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Condition

  (3) In order to conduct a review on its own initiative, the Commission must be satisfied that no other review or inquiry has been undertaken on substantially the same issue by a federal or provincial entity.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Notice

  (4) Before conducting a review on its own initiative, the Commission must give a notice to the Minister indicating that the Commission is satisfied that the condition referred to in subsection (3) has been met and setting out the rationale for conducting the review.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Policies, procedures and guidelines

  (5) The Commission must include in the report any findings and recommendations that it sees fit regarding the adequacy, appropriateness, sufficiency or clarity of any policy, procedure or guideline relating to the operation of the RCMP or Agency, as the case may be.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Copy of report to provincial ministers

  (6) The Commission may provide a copy of the report made under subsection (1) to the provincial minister who has the primary responsibility for policing in any province in respect of which there is an arrangement between the government of the province and the Minister under section 20 of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Summary of report

  (7) The Commission must make public a summary of every report.

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Opportunity to make comments

  (8) Before making the summary public, the Commission must give the Commissioner or President, as the case may be, an opportunity to submit comments on the findings and recommendations included in the report within 60 days after the day on which the report is received by him or her or any longer period that the Minister considers appropriate. The Commission must make public any comments that the Commissioner or President submits at the same time as it makes the summary public.