The 19-page federal justice department’s internal review into its role in the Fenwick MacIntosh extradition process — from Aug. 15, 1997 (“Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service contacts the International Assistance Group to discuss potential extradition request”) to July 14, 2006 (“Canada formally requests extradition of Mr. MacIntosh from India”) — has no named author.
The review — which followed the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year to uphold a lower court ruling that tossed 17 child sex abuse convictions against MacIntosh, largely because of delays in bringing the case to court — also does not name anyone involved in what Justice Minister Peter MacKay Friday described as a “depressing display of bureaucratic bungling.”
Instead, they are simply referred to as “justice officials…” “prosecutors…” “the RCMP liaison officer in India…” “the new counsel…”
Similarly, the details of why what happened are obscured under layers of report-speak. There was “serious human error” and an “absence of institutional systems.” There was “an error, and it is unknown exactly why this error occurred.”
While lamentably lacking in substance, the review has the saving grace of acknowledging the reality of the system’s failures. “The victims and all Canadians had a right to expect better from federal public officials.”
And Justice Minister Peter MacKay — who was not justice minister when any of this happened — was himself admirably forthright. “I want to apologize and express my sincere regrets for the mistakes made by federal employees who played a role in this tragic case and the institutional failures that contributed to this travesty of justice.”
Nothing more to see here, folks. End of story. No need for a public inquiry. Move along.
Except…
Who were these nameless-but-apparently-not-blameless federal employees and what, if anything, has happened to their careers as a result?
Why did they screw up so badly? Were they overworked? Under-trained in the ways of international judicial extradition? Lazy?
As one of the complainants said after the report: “An apology from the federal government is fine and this review is fine, but at the end of the day nothing has changed and MacIntosh is still a free man.”
This article first appeared in Stephen Kimber’s Halifax Metro column.
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