Accessing the RCMP file

From lisamarieyoung.ca

Official police file

Lead RCMP investigator Corporal Markus Muntener has stated that Lisa's file (Nanaimo RCMP file #2013000120) is "enormous, including 15,000 documents and hundreds of witnesses."[1][2][3] Despite all of this, zero visible progress has been made by the RCMP in the case and, officially, Lisa remains missing.[4]

Official RCMP spokesmen have always remained tight-lipped about the investigation[5], even with Lisa's parents[6], and when they tried to pursue answers on their own, Lisa's parents were warned off by investigators,[7][8], dissuaded from hiring a private investigator,[9] then completely "cut off" from any further information about their daughter's case.[10]

Documented mishaps

The small amount of information that the RCMP has provided to the public has been marred by inaccuracies, duplicity, and misleading statements.[view list] This includes details investigators provided to Crime Stoppers for the production of a re-enactment video.[view list] In fact, an official RCMP spokesman initially stated that "Crime Stoppers no longer makes re-enactment videos" — information which was later determined to be a blatant lie.[more info]

Meanwhile, the media have documented several examples of the RCMP's improper handling of the investigation including excessive delays‏‎ and negligence‏‎, the spread of inaccuracies and misinformation‏‎, the mishandling of witnesses and mistreatment of Lisa's family, and of RCMP preventing progress and working against Crime Stoppers efforts toward resolution of Lisa's case.

Considering this vast and varied compilation of the improprieties on the RCMP's part, one might wonder what's locked away within the official file.

This may, in fact, be the precise reason why members of the RCMP have worked so hard to prevent progress in Lisa's case, or, more specifically, the recovery of Lisa's remains from her clandestine burial location at 49.14502, -123.97504.

See also: Lisa's List of Fifty

As it turns out, there is a process through which Lisa's file may be accessed.

Access to Information Act

Any Canadian citizen[note 1] can request information from an RCMP investigative file, by filing a request under the Access to Information Act .[note 2]

For privacy reasons, when the information being requested is about a person, the request must include:

  • (if the person is living) written permission from that person, or,
  • (if the person is deceased) a copy of the death certificate.

See also: RCMP's guide to making a request under the Access to Information Act

🛈 To make a request for information about yourself, see instead the RCMP's guide to making requests under the Privacy Act.

Presumption of Death Act

Any Canadian citizen[note 3] can apply to the court to have a death certificate issued for a missing person, under the Presumption of Death Act.

The application requires a summary of relevant information about the police investigation into the event[13] stating:

  • The missing person has not been seen or heard from since she went missing, and,
  • There is no reason to believe that the missing person is alive, and,
  • Reasonable grounds exist for supposing that the person is dead.

"This information can generally be provided in the form of a letter from the police investigator, upon request."[source]


See also


Notes

  1. ↑ Under the Access to Information Act, any Canadian citizen or permanent resident residing in Canada has the right to access (for a $5 fee) any record under the control of a government institution.[11]
  2. ↑ The Access to Information Act is structured around the principle that government information should be available to the public.
  3. ↑ Any "interested person" who is a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or any person or corporation residing in Canada has the right to request access to records of government institutions that are subject to the Access to Information Act.[12]


Sources

  1. ↑ Darron Kloster, Times Colonist (June 26, 2021), Police using new witness statements to search for Nanaimo woman who vanished in 2002 tc20210626
  2. ↑ Eric Plummer, Ha-Shilth-Sa (June 26, 2021), 'Bring peace to Lisa': Police continue with investigation using new techniques hss20210626
  3. ↑ Ian Holmes, NanaimoNewsNow (June 26, 2021), New information in Lisa Marie Young's disappearance after several people come forward nnn20210626
  4. ↑ Nicholas Pescod, CHEK News (June 26, 2021), Nanaimo RCMP plead for more information regarding disappearance of Lisa Marie Young cn20210626
  5. ↑ Paul Walton, Harbour City Star (June 25, 2008), Still waiting for Lisa hcs20080625
  6. ↑ Paul Walton, Nanaimo Daily News (June 24, 2008), Remembering Lisa Marie ndn20080624
  7. ↑ Ruth Olgilvie, Ha-Shilth-Sa (Aug 14, 2003), Investigation for missing woman frustrates family hss20030814
  8. ↑ Jim Gibson, Star Phoenix (May 15, 2004), Vanished sp20040515
  9. ↑ Times Colonist (May 5, 2007), Distraught mom hopes missing daughter alive tc20070505
  10. ↑ Jim Gibson, Calgary Herald (Apr 18, 2004), Lisa Marie Young: Vanished ch20040418
  11. ↑ Access to information requests, Government of Canada, "Access to Information Act"
  12. ↑ Access to information requests, Government of Canada, "Types of ATIP requests"
  13. ↑ British Columbia Provincial Government (1996), "Presumption of Death Act" bc19050618
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