Federal Court of Appeal Destroys Canadians' Right To Access Police Records

To avoid providing citizens and residents of Canada with any law enforcement files, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ("RCMP") routinely call all their files "investigatory materials," which are not disclosed to Canadians under the Privacy Act. In 2004, Federal Court of Canada Justice Rouleau ended the practice by requiring the RCMP to provide evidence that the files involve actual investgative activity.

Unfortunately, the Federal Court of Appeal for Canada rules that practically anything involves an investigation for purposes of withholding police files. Justice Nadon, Noel, and Malone held that the words "investigation" and "investigate" are broad in their meaning.

In the decision made on appeal by the RCMP in a Privacy Act lawsuit filed by Keith Maydak, the Court found that mere email exchanges monitoring Court proceedings constituted an "investigation." The Court stated that the RCMP monitored extradition proceedings to eventually arrest Maydak notwithstanding the fact that they already had him in custody. "I was in jail, so the RCMP's excuse was a ruse to trick the Court," Maydak told maydakupdate.com.

"The decision effectively eliminates the ability for Canadians to access RCMP records. As such, the RCMP will continue to run rampant over the rights of Canadians," Maydak said. In the United States, federal law enforcement records can be obtained through privacy legislation unless they prove to the courts that harm could occur. "This is one area of the law that Canada is far behind other countries. A secret police force is the most dangerous thing to have and Canada needs to update its Privacy Act to overrule their disappointing decision," Maydak explained.

A copy of the appellate decision in Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness v. Maydak, 2005 FCA 186 (May 19, 2005), can be found at:
http://decisions.fca-caf.gc.ca/fca/2005/2005fca186.shtml

Judge Rouleau's opinion, docketed at Maydak v. Solicitor General of Canada, 2004 FCT 1171 (Aug. 24, 2004), can be viewed at:
http://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/fct/2004/2004fc1171.shtml

Contact: Keith Maydak
maydak@miserablemail.com