In the years before Deputy Commissioner Mike Cabana retired, he did many things to attempt improving Canada's Witness Protection Program - I would like to think that the changes he worked diligently at making, continued after his departure, but I am not seeing it.
This past year I decided that I would write a real book discussing real issues regarding the program. It is not a book of petty complaints but a hard look at serious issues that need to be addressed - both for the good of the people in it but more importantly for its effects on public safety and the justice system.
I have been warned against writing this book for the past nineteen years that I have been in and around witness protection. I have been threatened (sternly cautioned) by justice department lawyers and been reminded of the potential consequences by most every coordinator I have known - the RCMP do not want people writing from the program.
They will say it is for security reasons in the same vein of excuses they always give for vetting documents. There is some validity to this justification. Having said that, if the security is more likely to be breached by not bringing issues to light than doing so - I will take the consequences.
The book is going to go to the editors in the coming four weeks. In the meantime I have a request for all who are reading this blog post - especially those who work within the system.
If you have any questions or comments that you would like to see addressed in this book, please send me a message in the social media platform you are reading on or send it to info@paulderry.ca
It is appreciated and I look forward to any and all I hear from.
Thanks