SECU Committee Report

RECOMMENDATION 1

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada maintain the National DNA Data Bank and all associated facilities as a public service and authorize the use of private facilities solely in exceptional overflow circumstances.

RECOMMENDATION 2

In view of the importance of DNA analysis to the administration of justice and the considerable savings it results in, the Committee recommends that the Government of Canada and the provincial governments of Ontario and Quebec recognize the urgency of the situation and immediately allocate additional funding to their forensic laboratories which are responsible for providing DNA analysis to the National DNA Data Bank.

RECOMMENDATION 3

The Committee recommends that the DNA Identification Act and related laws be amended to systematically require the taking of a DNA sample upon conviction for all designated offences. However, before proceeding with the amendment, the government must provide the NDDB with the additional resources required to accommodate the increased demand for DNA analysis that would result from taking DNA samples automatically upon conviction.

RECOMMENDATION 4

The Committee recommends that the government of Canada:

• amend section 3 of the DNA Identification Act to ensure the purpose of the Act states that the National DNA Data Bank helps law enforcement agencies to identify, arrest and convict persons alleged to have committed designated offences, as well as to exonerate the innocent, given that the administration of justice seeks to serve the truth.
• amend the Criminal Code to allow a suspect of a designated offence to voluntarily provide a DNA sample for an exoneration test.
• broaden the application of the DNA Identification Act to require that a DNA sample be taken from a Canadian citizen convicted of an offence abroad that is the equivalent of one of the designated offences in section 487.04.
• provide for the retroactive application of the automatic requirement for the taking of a DNA sample stemming from the implementation of recommendation 3 of this report to all those serving a sentence for a designated offence at any time between the coming into force of the amendment and the expiration of the offender’s sentence according to law or his or her release from a correctional facility, whichever comes first.

RECOMMENDATION 5

The Committee recommends that the federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for Justice and Public Safety determine the best way of proceeding with the creation of the two additional DNA identification indexes, namely, a Missing Persons Index and a Victims Index.

RECOMMENDATION 6

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada explore whether it would be preferable for the National DNA Data Bank to be completely independent in order to eliminate any perception of partiality.

RECOMMENDATION 7

The Committee recommends that the federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for Justice and Public Safety consider the possibility of setting up their own independent forensic laboratories.