Practice notice on the disclosure of information and/or materials relevant to complaints
Publication date: February 20, 2025
Scope
This practice notice applies to all participants to the Military Police Complaints Commission (MPCC)’s complaints process.
For the purposes of this Practice Notice, a “participant” means the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal (CFPM) and the Professional Standards (PS) staff, the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), the complainant and their authorized representatives, the subject(s), and any witnesses identified during the complaints process.
Context and purpose of the notice
The MPCC has the authority to review military police conduct complaints and to investigate interference complaints. When the MPCC reviews a complaint, the CFPM is required to provide the MPCC with all relevant information and materials.Footnote 1
The MPCC is legislatively mandated to handle all matters before it as informally and expeditiously as the circumstances and the considerations of fairness permit,Footnote 2 ensuring that complaints are reviewed and investigated as soon as practicable.Footnote 3 In the federal public service, it is standard practice to give a 30-day deadline for providing documents or disclosure.Footnote 4
This Practice Notice aims to establish guidelines and expectations with clear timelines for submitting relevant information and materials to the MPCC.
Expected Timeframes for disclosure and additional disclosure requests
Within 10 days of receiving an interference complaint or a request for review of a conduct complaint, the MPCC will submit a written request for disclosure to PS.
PS will provide the MPCC with the requested information and/or materials within 30 days of the MPCC’s request for disclosure.
Subsequent requests for additional information and/or materials by the MPCC will be provided in writing to PS, and the requested information and materials will be provided to the MPCC within 30 days of the request.
Complainants or their representatives will submit all relevant information and/or materials with their initial complaint or request for review, although additional information and documents may be provided later if necessary.
If additional information and/or materials are required during the complaints process, the MPCC will request them in writing from the relevant participant, who will provide them within 30 days of the request.
The participants will make every reasonable effort to meet the timeframes outlined in this Practice Notice. If a participant is unable to meet a specified deadline, they will notify the MPCC and provide a reasonable explanation for the delay.
Standard disclosure materials
The standard disclosure materials provided by PS typically include, but are not limited to, the following:
- copies of all General Occurrence files (Military Police and Professional Standards), including copies of all Military Police notebooks;
- copies of the SAMPIS file, including all case notes;
- copies of all correspondence that is in any way connected to the investigation conducted in this file including email, messages sent by text or apps such as BBM, WhatsApp, PIN to PIN, etc.;
- any reports from external bodies involved in the investigation conducted in this file (e.g. RCMP or municipal police service, municipal or Canadian Forces base fire department);
- any other material obtained from third parties (e.g. grievance file, harassment file);
- Crown brief, where applicable;
- a list of all property reports/evidence; and
- any other paper records, audio and video recordings relevant to the complaint.
Format and method of disclosure
The MPCC will submit all requests for disclosure and additional disclosure via email to PS.
Depending on the circumstances, the MPCC will submit all requests for disclosure and additional disclosure to other participants via email or mail.
Depending on the size and format of the requested information and/or materials, PS is expected to provide the materials and/or information to the MPCC via email or mail.
Effective date
This Practice Notice comes into effect on February 20, 2025.
SIGNED at Ottawa, Ontario, this 20th day of February 2025.
Me Tammy Tremblay, MSM, CD,LLM
Chairperson
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