Deadline for Submission of Report of the Iacobucci Internal Inquiry Extended until September 2, 2008

Ottawa, January 28, 2008 – The Honourable Frank Iacobucci, the Commissioner conducting the Internal Inquiry into the Actions of Canadian Officials in Relation to Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou-Elmaati and Muayyed Nureddin, announced today that the deadline for submitting his report has been extended until September 2, 2008.

The Inquiry’s Terms of Reference call for the Commissioner to submit both a confidential report and a separate report that is suitable for disclosure to the public simultaneously in both official languages to the Governor in Council.  The Terms of Reference initially provided for the submission of this report on or before January 31, 2008. 

In a recent ruling, the Commissioner stated:  “While the Inquiry has proceeded as expeditiously as possible, and I intend that it will continue to do so, the further work that needs to be done and the necessity for consultations with participants lead me to the view that the reporting deadline of January 31, 2008 set out in the Terms of Reference is not practical.  Accordingly, I will be seeking an extension of the date for submitting my report, including the report suitable for disclosure to the public, to a date that is both realistic and achievable, assuming that the reviews for national security confidentiality that must be conducted proceed in a timely manner.”  The deadline for submission of the report has now been extended until September 2, 2008.

Earlier this month, the Commissioner held a public hearing to receive submissions concerning the standards that he should apply in determining whether there were deficiencies in the conduct of Canadian officials, as his mandate calls for him to do.  In concluding the hearing, the Commissioner stated that he found the submissions helpful and instructive.  The Commissioner has also recently conducted interviews of Messrs. Almalki, Abou-Elmaati and Nureddin to assist him in assessing their allegations that they were tortured in Syria and (in Mr. Abou-Elmaati’s case) in Egypt.

Established under Part I of the Inquiries Act by the Minister of Public Safety, the Commissioner's mandate is to determine whether the detention of these three individuals in Syria or Egypt resulted from actions of Canadian officials, particularly in relation to the sharing of information with foreign countries; those  actions or the actions of Canadian consular officials were deficient in these cases and whether any mistreatment of these three individuals in Syria or Egypt resulted from deficiencies in the actions of Canadian officials.

Media contact:

Francine Bastien
Cell.: 613-299-6554
Email: fbastien@bellnet.ca