Complaint to Information Commissioner – Charges Laid in High River

Airdrie, Alberta
April 30, 2014

Ms. Suzanne Legault
The Information Commissioner of Canada
Place de Ville, Tower B
112 Kent Street, 7th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1H3

Dear Ms. Legault:

Re: COMPLAINT – RCMP ATI ACT FILE: A-2014-01872

Reference is being made to my original request dated March 24, 2014 and the RCMP’s response dated April 17, 2014 that I received yesterday.

I REQUESTED: “Reference is being made to the RCMP’s search and seizure activities during the emergency response to the flood in High River, Alberta in June and July 2013. For the period from June 20th to December 31, 2013, please provide copies of reports, records, documents, correspondence and communications related to any and all criminal charges laid as a result of the searches of more than 4,000 homes and businesses in High River Alberta between June 20, 2013 and July 10, 2013.”

THE RCMP RESPONDED: “The information request is exempt in its entirety under Section 16(1)(a) of the Access to Information Act, a description of which can be found at https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/a-1/.”

This blanket exemption under section 16(1)(a) seems completely unreasonable. How could the release of recordsthat provide simple statistics on the number and type of criminal charges laid in High River (as a result of these unwarranted searches and seizures) justify keeping this information from the public?

Yours sincerely,

[Original signed by]
Dennis R. Young
1330 Ravenswood Drive SE
AIRDRIE AB T4A 0P8
Home Phone: 587-360-1111
New E-Mail: [email]dennisryoung@telus.net[/email]

cc Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety
Honourable Peter Mackay, Minister of Justice
Ian McPhail, Interim Chair, Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP