Toronto, August 13, 2009: The Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) fully endorses the recommendations of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP (August 11, 2009). While we fully support and appreciate the commitment and hard work of the RCMP and its officers, the CRRF agrees with the Commission's conclusion that the current process regarding investigation of complaints involving death cases, may affect public confidence in the transparency and integrity of the criminal investigation and its outcome.

The CRRF encourages the RCMP to fully implement the Commission's recommendations, including the development of national standards and policies governing the conduct of investigations. "While we appreciate that the RCMP investigators have conducted their investigations in a professional manner and are "free of bias", we believe there is a need to introduce the necessary changes to allow investigations to be conducted by an external  criminal investigative body," notes Dr. Ayman Al-Yassini, Executive Director of the CRRF. "We hope the RCMP will adopt the Commission's recommendations in order to enhance public confidence in and perception of the transparency and integrity of the criminal investigations."