Auditor General Sheila Fraser will investigate opposition allegations that the RCMP's forensic services are bogged down by delays and backlogs.

Ms. Fraser confirmed this week in a letter to John Maloney, chairman of the Commons justice committee, an audit will be launched into the RCMP's Forensic Laboratory Services "with a view to reporting to Parliament in the next 18 to 24 months."

The auditor general was responding to a May 12 written request for an independent
review from the Commons justice committee. Conservative, Bloc Quebecois and NDP MPs banded together last month in the justice committee to pass a motion over the objections of Liberal members.

The request for the review comes after the justice committee heard troubling testimony last May from two retired senior forensic officers, Gary Mcleod and David Hepworth, who contend the RCMP is wasting money in a backlogged and inefficient forensics system that had nearly 1,000 cases still pending as of last February.

 

Toronto MP Roy Cullen, parliamentary secretary for Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan, argued against the audit.
But he said outside the House of Commons yesterday, "If the auditor general focuses on value for money, and performance benchmarked against other jurisdictions, we are going to come out very, very well. But if she gets hung up on language around 'backlog' versus 'work in progress,' then I think we are all doomed, because it's not going to do anything for anybody."