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Section II:
Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada supports the Attorney General of Canada in the discharge of his criminal law mandate – in particular its work supports the priorities of prosecuting criminal offences under federal law and contributing to strengthening the criminal justice system.

Over 50 federal statutes confer prosecution and prosecution-related responsibilities on the Attorney General of Canada. These duties are carried out by the PPSC. In all provinces and territories, except Quebec and New Brunswick, the PPSC has responsibility for the prosecution of all drug offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, regardless of whether a federal, provincial, or municipal police agency lays the charges. In Quebec and New Brunswick, the PPSC is responsible for drug charges laid by the RCMP only.

In addition, in all provinces and territories, the PPSC prosecutes violations of federal statutes, such as the Fisheries Act, the Income Tax Act, the Excise Act, the Customs Act, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Elections Act, the Competition Act and the Canada Shipping Act as well as conspiracies and attempts to violate these statutes. In the provinces, the PPSC also prosecutes certain Criminal Code offences, including those related to terrorism as well as criminal organizations, money laundering and proceeds of crime. In the three territories, the PPSC is responsible for prosecuting all Criminal Code offences.

Hence, the PPSC performs a number of key national roles in fulfilling the criminal litigation responsibilities of the Attorney General of Canada, including:

• Providing legal advice to law enforcement agencies and investigative bodies on criminal investigations ³;
• Providing litigation support during the investigative stage, including wiretap applications and orders to produce evidence;
• Conducting charge review and exercising the Attorney General's discretion to prosecute;
• Conducting legal risk assessment and management, and developing prosecution plans to manage mega cases;
• Prosecuting cases on behalf of the Federal Crown;
• Conducting appeals and interventions in all levels of Court on behalf of the Federal Crown;
• Training prosecutors and investigators;
• Communicating with the media; and
• Acting as a centre of expertise for criminal law, national security and federal prosecution matters, and providing policy advice in the development of amendments to federal statutes relevant to the criminal justice system.

Our progress in achieving the Strategic Outcome of the PPSC is summarized in the following table:

Strategic Outcome	Key Performance Indicators	Results
Prosecute criminal offences under federal law in a manner that is independent of any improper influence and respects the public interest	Total time spent on files, as well as total number of files	The PPSC caseload in 2007-2008 totalled 67,901 files The total time spent on active files was 621,288 hours
	Breakdown of in-house caseload by level of complexity	Level of complexity % of files by level of complexity % of hours (time spent) by level of complexity • Mega 0.2% 9% • High 3.3% 23% • Moderate 35.9% 29% • Low 60.6% 39%

³ The PPSC places operational priority for providing prosecution related advice during the investigative stage primarily on cases involving a high level of complexity and legal risk.

Information on trends in performance for each of the four program activities is described in the following pages.

2.1 Program Activity 1: Prosecution of drug, organized crime and Criminal Code offences

Financial Resources ($ millions)

Planned Spending	Authorities	Actual Spending
99.2	94.4	85.9

Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
573	583	10

Description of Activity

Under this program activity, the PPSC provides prosecution-related advice and litigation support during police investigations, and prosecutes all drug charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, regardless of whether a federal, provincial or municipal police agency lays the charges, except in the case of Quebec and New Brunswick, where the PPSC prosecutes only drug charges laid by the RCMP. Many of these cases involve organized crime. In the provinces, the PPSC prosecutes certain Criminal Code offences, including those related to terrorism as well as criminal organizations, money laundering and proceeds of crime. Pursuant to agreements and arrangements with the provinces, the PPSC also prosecutes Criminal Code offences where they are related to drug charges and the drug aspect forms the major part of the case. In the three territories, the PPSC prosecutes all Criminal Code offences.

Results: Program Activity #1

Expected Results	Key Performance Indicators	Results
Decisions on merit	Number and percentage of litigation files decided on merit, based on most serious crime: guilty plea; guilty plea (other/lesser offence); conviction; conviction (other/lesser offence); and, acquittal	Decisions # of files % of total files Guilty plea 10,906 75.6% Guilty plea (other/lesser offence) 604 4.2% Conviction 2,284 15.8% Conviction (other/lesser offence) 53 0.4% Acquittal 584 4.0% Total 14,431 100.0%
Effective pre-charge interventions/ advice	New files where pre-charg advice provided	36%

Drug Prosecutions

In 2007-2008, the PPSC handled 50,676 prosecution files related to offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. This number included cases prosecuted by staff counsel and by private-sector legal agents, and represented approximately 75 per cent of the files that the PPSC prosecuted. These cases covered a broad range of criminal activity. For example, the PPSC prosecuted cases of possession of marihuana, trafficking in crack cocaine on street corners, producing methamphetamine or growing marihuana in residential communities, or importing shipments of cocaine. Some cases were relatively straightforward, while others raised complex legal issues and required weeks, or even months, of testimony.

In recent years, several jurisdictions have established drug treatment courts to help address the problem posed by addiction-motivated crime. The drug treatment court model is predicated on the notion that reducing recidivism rates for such crime can sometimes be best achieved by addressing the underlying addiction to drugs. In this model, prosecutors, judges, treatment providers and other personnel work together to provide intensive supervision, monitoring and support for participants admitted into the program.

Drug treatment courts operate in six major Canadian centres, five of which are staffed by PPSC prosecutors. (The Regina Drug Treatment Court is staffed by prosecutors from the Ministry of the Attorney General of Saskatchewan). The Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto and Ottawa drug treatment courts collectively accepted 301 accused persons into their respective programs in 2007-2008.

Organized Crime

The RCMP and other Canadian police forces are increasingly focusing resources on organized crime. Their investigations in this area are usually complex and there is a need to manage the disclosure of evidence throughout the investigations. As a result, the PPSC is often called upon to work closely with the police during the investigative stage.

The increase in organized crime investigations has led to an increase in the number of complex prosecutions, including the phenomenon of mega-cases, prosecutions of extraordinary scope and complexity that can require the full-time assignment of several prosecutors for lengthy periods. In 2007-2008, the PPSC prosecuted approximately 545 cases related to organized criminal activity. While this represented approximately 2 per cent of the number of files prosecuted during the year, the time spent on them amounted to almost 20 per cent of total time recorded by PPSC counsel.

The PPSC follows a mega-case policy, which is included in the Federal Prosecution Service Deskbook, to implement the lessons learned in the management of these cases. The policy requires the early involvement of prosecutors, the preparation of a prosecution plan at an early stage, and the review of each mega-case prosecution plan by the PPSC's National Prosecution Advisory Committee.

The PPSC is an active participant in the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Heads of Prosecution Committee. The Director of Public Prosecutions is permanent co-chair, and the PPSC provides the administrative and secretarial support to the Committee and is responsible for the agenda of its meetings. With the assistance of provincial prosecution officials, the FPT Heads Committee enables a sharing of information, precedents, and best practices relating to organized crime prosecutions. In 2007-2008, the Committee moved forward on the full implementation of the National Organized Crime Database, a secure Extranet site for prosecutors specializing in organized crime cases that contains a case law and precedents library, as well as a discussion section. The site was demonstrated to the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and to the Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada, who have both expressed interest in supporting the site.

Proceeds of Crime and Offence-Related Property

The PPSC is responsible for seizing and restraining proceeds of crime as well as property used in the commission of offences (offence-related property). During the year in review, most of the offences that generated proceeds of crime and offence-related property were drug offences. By way of example, PPSC counsel restrained bank accounts into which proceeds of crime had been placed and prosecuted account owners for possession of proceeds of crime. A person who has used a residence to produce marihuana may have the house forfeited upon being convicted of producing a controlled substance. In 2007-2008, proceeds of crime offences and offence-related property were identified in 5,402 files prosecuted by the PPSC.

The PPSC is an active partner in the Integrated Proceeds of Crime (IPOC) initiative, created in 1996. The initiative contributes to the disruption and deterrence of targeted organized criminal groups by pursuing their illegally obtained proceeds and assets. Under the initiative, 12 IPOC units are funded across the country. These units are staffed with PPSC counsel, RCMP and other police force members, forensic accountants and Public Works and Government Services Canada asset managers. The PPSC provides Crown counsel to the IPOC units, prosecutors to prosecute money laundering and proceeds of crime charges, and a counsel at PPSC headquarters to manage and coordinate legal issues arising from proceeds of crime and money laundering cases.

Prosecutions in Canada's North

In Canada's three territories, the PPSC prosecutes all Criminal Code offences and all offences under other federal legislation. In 2007-2008, the PPSC prosecuted 8,189 files in the territories, including 7,321 Criminal Code offences, 406 drug offences, 235 regulatory offences and 227 various other offences.

Prosecutors who practice in the territories benefit from cultural sensitivity training to better understand the communities they serve. PPSC Crown Witness Coordinators, who are members of the local cultural communities, provide invaluable assistance in this area. In 2007-2008, the PPSC Yukon Regional Office provided an intensive three-day cultural session, where prosecutors spent time on the land, and heard from a number of long-time residents who spoke passionately about subjects such as residential school issues, traditional medicines and the challenges faced by Aboriginal justice committees.

The session received positive feedback from participants. PPSC offices in the North will continue to work on approaches to providing this training annually, in order to reach all northern prosecutors.

In 2007-2008, the PPSC appointed a headquarters special advisor on northern issues with a mandate to address the special training, recruitment and retention needs in the territories. The special advisor focused on developing a stronger relationship with provincial counterparts because their case profiles are similar to those in the PPSC northern offices.

2.2 Program Activity 2: Prosecution of federal offences to protect the environment, natural resources, economic and social health

Financial Resources ($ millions)

Planned Spending	Authorities	Actual Spending
19.1	19.2	18.8

Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
115	127	12

Description of Activity

Under this program activity, the PPSC provides prosecution-related advice and litigation support to federal investigative agencies, and prosecutes all non-drug prosecutions under 50 federal statutes, including regulatory offences and economic crimes.

Specialized teams of prosecutors are dedicated to prosecutions where expert knowledge of specific legislation is required. By way of example, the offices in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver dedicate resources to economic crime prosecutions, whereas the Atlantic Regional Office has a dedicated team of counsel devoted full time to prosecuting fisheries offences, in addition to an economic crime team.

The PPSC provides advice on and prosecutes complex capital market fraud cases. PPSC legal advisors are part of the RCMP's Integrated Market Enforcement Teams (IMETs) that investigate suspected capital market fraud offences. The teams also include RCMP officers and other investigators, such as forensic accountants. Where provincial attorneys general decline to prosecute, the PPSC may prosecute complex capital market fraud cases referred by the IMETs.

As well, a group of PPSC prosecutors provides most of the prosecutorial services in highly specialized areas relating to offences under the Competition Act, the Textile Labelling Act, the Precious Metals Marking Act, and the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act.

The PPSC is also responsible for recovering, under provisions of the Criminal Code, outstanding fines, most of which relate to regulatory offences.

Results: Program Activity #2

Expected Results	Key Performance Indicators	Results
Decisions on merit	Number and percentage of litigation files decided on merit, based on most serious crime: guilty plea; guilty plea other/lesser offence; conviction; conviction other/ lesser offence; and, acquittal	Decisions # of files % of total files Guilty plea 532 75.5% Guilty plea (other/lesser offence) 2 0.3% Conviction 143 20.3% Acquittal 28 4.0% Total: 705 100.0%
Effective pre-charge interventions/ advice	New files where pre-charge advice provided	24%

Regulatory and Economic Crime

Regulatory Prosecutions

Under federal law, there exists a wide category of offences that regulate individual and corporate conduct in the interests of health, safety and the general welfare of the public. These are referred to as regulatory offences and are found under such statutes as: the Income Tax Act, the Fisheries Act, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Canada Elections Act, the Customs Act, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Food and Drugs Act, the Copyright Act, the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Canada Labour Code.

Regulatory prosecutions comprise the second-largest category of offences prosecuted by the PPSC, after drug prosecutions. In 2007-2008, the PPSC was responsible for approximately 7,495 files involving regulatory prosecutions. This represented approximately 11% of the total number of PPSC files during this period.

Economic Crime

As part of its work to fight economic crime, the PPSC prosecutes Income Tax Act offences such as tax evasion and Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act offences. As noted above, Integrated Market Enforcement Teams (IMETs) combat capital market fraud offences that are regional or national in scope and that pose a threat to investor confidence in Canada. In 2007-2008, PPSC members of IMETs continued to provide legal advice to investigators on a number of ongoing investigations. In addition, the PPSC can prosecute Criminal Code fraud charges arising from IMET investigations. In December 2007, the RCMP released a report to the Commissioner, entitled Enhancing Integrated Market Enforcement Teams, Achieving Results in Fighting Capital Markets Crime, prepared by Senior Expert Advisor and former Superintendent of Financial Institutions, Mr. Nick Le Pan. The plan was developed to help improve the effectiveness of IMETs.

The PPSC is now working with its IMET partners, including provincial securities regulators, to implement recommendations from Mr. Le Pan's report, notably through the Economic Crime subcommittee of the FPT Heads of Prosecutions Committee, which will assist in developing a cross-jurisdictional implementation plan.

Competition Law

The Competition Law Section (CLS) of the PPSC handles prosecutions under the Competition Act and three other regulatory statutes: the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, the Textile Labelling Act and the Precious Metals Marking Act. All of these statutes are administered and enforced by the Commissioner of Competition, who oversees the Competition Bureau.

The CLS also provides advisory services during investigations by the Bureau on matters that may lead to prosecutions. The bulk of the work handled by the CLS relates to offences under the Competition Act, such as criminal conspiracies to fix prices, bid-rigging, false or misleading representations, deceptive telemarketing, and pyramid selling. In 2007-2008, PPSC prosecutors with the CLS worked on 60 cases, 14 of which were adjudicated by the courts.

Fine Recovery

The PPSC's National Fine Recovery Program recovers outstanding court-ordered federal fines through the efforts of eight fine recovery units, located in regional PPSC offices across Canada. The responsibility for administering the program was the subject of an assignment from the Attorney General of Canada to the Director of Public Prosecutions on September 20, 2007. The program was implemented nationally in late 2002, and has since resulted in the recovery of over $39 million. In 2007-2008, the program recovered $4.5 million.

Outstanding fines are recovered through various types of interventions, including an initial demand letter, telephone contacts, seizure of assets, income garnishment, and suspension of federal licences. The final resort is the issuance of a warrant of committal in cases where offenders try to avoid making payment despite their ability to pay.

The most successful and cost-effective methods of recovery are demand letters, negotiated payment agreements and telephone calls, which resulted in the collection of $1.7 million or almost 40 percent of the total recovered in 2007-2008.

2.3 Program Activity 3: Addressing criminal issues, in the context of prosecutions, to contribute to a safer world for Canada

Financial Resources ($ millions)

Planned Spending	Authorities	Actual Spending
5.1	4.8	4.4

Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
30	30	0

Description of Activity

Under this program activity, the PPSC provides prosecution-related advice and litigation support during investigations, and prosecutes charges under the Part II.1 of the Criminal Code (Terrorism), the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) Terrorist Financing Act, the Customs Act, the Excise Act, and the Excise Tax Act to combat trans-national crime and terrorism. As well, the PPSC may provide counsel to assist in the execution of extradition and mutual legal assistance requests before Canadian courts under the Extradition Act and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act.

This program activity supports the prosecution of criminal offences under federal law and prosecution-related work with a volume of approximately 718 litigation files in 2007-2008.

Results: Program Activity #3

Expected Results	Key Performance Indicators	Results
Decisions on merit	Number and percentage of litigation files decided on merit, based on most serious crime: guilty plea; guilty plea other/lesser offence; conviction; conviction other/ lesser offence;and, acquittal	Decisions # of files % of total files Guilty Plea 56 93.3% Conviction 2 3.3% Acquittal 2 3.3% Total: 60 100.0%
Effective pre-charge interventions/advice	New files where pre-charge advice provided	• 21%

National Security

Anti-terrorism

The Attorney General of Canada has concurrent jurisdiction with the provincial Attorneys General to prosecute terrorism offences. In 2007-2008, the PPSC was responsible for prosecuting four cases involving terrorism-related offences in Trois-Rivières, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. They required approximately 3 per cent of the total of all in-house counsel time during 2007-2008.

The PPSC is one of the federal partners on Canada's Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams (INSETs). INSETs bring together representatives of the RCMP, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, other federal departments and agencies, and provincial and municipal police services to help deal with threats to national security. INSETs are found in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

The objective of INSETs is to increase the capacity to collect, share and analyze intelligence among partners on threats to national security and to improve the collective ability of partner departments and agencies to combat these threats to create an enhanced enforcement capacity.

Border Enforcement

A PPSC representative sits as a member of the International Joint Management Team of the Integrated Border Enforcement Teams (IBETs) program. The program is an intelligence-led initiative between Canadian and American law enforcement officials to promote integrated enforcement along the Canada-United States border. This bi-national partnership enables the core law enforcement partners involved in IBETs to share information and work together daily with other local, state and provincial enforcement agencies on issues relating to national security, organized crime and other criminal activity that occurs across the Canada-United States border.

War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity

The PPSC prosecutes offences under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act. In 2007-2008, the PPSC was responsible for prosecuting Canada's first-ever such prosecution, in Montreal, in relation to offences alleged to have occurred in Rwanda in 1994. While such prosecutions may not arise frequently, they can be expected to be complex and lengthy, with significant amounts of evidence related to events beyond Canada's borders.

2.4 Program Activity 4: Promoting a fair and effective justice system that reflects Canadian values within a prosecutorial context

Financial Resources ($ millions)

Planned Spending	Authorities	Actual Spending
1.1	0.8	0.8

Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
6	8	2

Description of Activity

Under this program activity, the PPSC contributes to the government priority of strengthening the criminal justice system across Canada and improving its efficiency by providing legal training to police, and by promoting federal/provincial/territorial cooperation within the prosecution community on shared issues. This latter work is carried out through the PPSC's leadership of and participation in the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Heads of Prosecution Committee, which supports and promotes effective horizontal linkages between various communities of interest and stakeholders involved in the administration of criminal justice in Canada. The Committee is also a convenient venue where stakeholders such as the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the RCMP and the Federation of Law Societies can seek the views of the Canadian prosecution community.

To address prosecution issues of common interest, the PPSC works closely with the Heads of Prosecuting Agencies Conference (HOPAC), which brings together the heads of prosecution services from all over the world who operate in a criminal justice system based on common law. The PPSC also actively participates in various international groups and committees, such as the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP), whose mandate is to promote international cooperation between prosecution services and prosecutors on operational and management issues.

Results: Program Activity #4

Expected Results	Key Performance Indicators	Results
Practical knowledge and training on criminal law topics provided to staff prosecutors, agents and senior law enforcement investigators	Range of training initiatives	PPSC School for Prosecutors conducted two intensive one-week training courses for 70 staff prosecutors and agents on criminal law practice as well as operational policies and guidelines PPSC co-organized 3 workshops on investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases for police and prosecutors PPSC prosecutors provided on the ground training to investigators on legal issues affecting investigations and prosecutions
Promotion of federal / provincial / territorial and international cooperation on prosecution issues to strengthen the criminal justice system	Nature of cooperation venues Role of the PPSC Range of issues discussed	FPT committees/groups and international associations composed of heads of prosecution services and other government officials responsible for justice issues Chaired meetings of, provided expertise, advice and secretariat support to, and participated in FPT committees and groups Co-organized an international conference bringing together prosecuting agencies with a tradition of common law Legal and operational issues, at national and international levels, on criminal law practice, organized crime prosecutions, proceeds of crime, expert witnesses, prosecutor training and security, and best practices for prosecuting fraud involving government

Training

In 2007-2008, PPSC counsel provided training to police officers across Canada on numerous criminal law matters including search warrants, disclosure obligations, wiretaps and informant-related issues. PPSC counsel also participated in training given at the Canadian Police College, where a general counsel was assigned on a full-time basis to ensure that training and training materials addressed prosecutorial concerns.

The PPSC, in conjunction with the RCMP, the Department of Justice Canada and other federal partners, conducted a series of training workshops on human trafficking to law enforcement and prosecutors across Canada. The training focused on investigating and prosecuting human trafficking cases, immigration issues relating to victims, border detection of victims, witness problems during investigation and trial, a legislative overview, and two case studies. Workshops took place in Edmonton, Halifax and Fredericton and will continue in other cities through 2008 and 2009.

On November 26, 2007, a senior PPSC counsel participated in training relating to the adversarial system provided to Latin American criminal justice system participants sponsored by Centro de Estudios de Justicia de las Americas (Justice Studies Centre of the Americas) in Santiago, Chile.

PPSC School for Prosecutors

The PPSC's School for Prosecutors offers annual in-house programs aimed at promoting professional development relevant to the prosecution function, through the delivery of practical and academic training to prosecutors. In August 2007, the School conducted two intensive one-week courses — one fundamental, the other advanced — each covering a number of topics, to a total of 70 participants. Legal agents were also among the participants.

The School's faculty are experts in criminal law and are drawn largely from the senior ranks of the PPSC. The School also invites guest speakers, including members of the judiciary, professors of law, defence counsel, senior provincial prosecutors and senior police investigators. A combination of lectures, seminars, panel discussions, case scenarios and papers is used to enhance participants' understanding of the modern practice of criminal law. Attention is also given to operational policies and guidelines, such as those contained in the Federal Prosecution Service Deskbook, that address important issues in prosecution practice. The School also serves as a forum for prosecutors to meet, network, share work experiences and develop mentoring relationships.

Federal-Provincial-Territorial Heads of Prosecutions Committee

Established in 1995, the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Heads of Prosecutions Committee coordinates many aspects of criminal law practice across Canada. The Director is permanent co-chair of the Committee and the PPSC acts as its secretariat.

The Committee promotes assistance and cooperation among different prosecution services; it also facilitates the coordination of national prosecution issues and the adoption, wherever possible, of a consistent position on these issues. The Committee works to promote consistency among the operational policies of Canada's prosecution services and consults on criminal appeals brought before the Supreme Court of Canada. It is the only national forum on prosecution issues and has provided the prosecution perspective to federal-provincial-territorial ministers and deputy ministers responsible for justice issues.

The PPSC co-chaired two meetings of the Committee: one in May 2007, organized with the Public Prosecution Service of New Brunswick, in Moncton, and the other in October 2007, with the Criminal Justice Division of Alberta, in Banff.

Heads of Prosecuting Agencies Conference and the International Association of Prosecutors

The PPSC participates in cooperative law enforcement efforts at the international level, particularly in the fight against organized and trans-national crime and threats to national security.

The PPSC jointly organized the Heads of Prosecuting Agencies Conference (HOPAC) 2007 with the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions of Quebec. This was the ninth meeting of HOPAC, which was formed in 1991 to bring together the heads of prosecuting agencies from countries with a criminal justice system derived from the common law tradition.

The PPSC also continued to support and participate in the activities of the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP). The scope of IAP activities is wide: it promotes the effective, fair, impartial and efficient prosecution of criminal offences through high standards and principles, including procedures to prevent or address miscarriages of justice, assists prosecutors internationally in the fight against organized or other serious crime, and fosters measures for the elimination of corruption in public administration.

Federal/Provincial/Territorial Coordinating Committee of Senior Officials (CCSO) and the Uniform Law Conference of Canada (ULCC)

The PPSC participates in Federal/Provincial/Territorial CCSO meetings on a regular basis including a number of CCSO Working Groups on chronic offenders, compelled questioning criminal procedure, drug issues, organized crime, proceeds of crime and sentencing. The CCSO provides support to federal-provincial-territorial ministers and deputy ministers responsible for justice issues. Through its participation in these meetings, the PPSC provides prosecutorial and operational expertise and advice to senior government officials on criminal law reform issues including amendments to the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

The PPSC also participates annually in the Criminal Section meeting of the ULCC. The ULCC was founded in 1918 to harmonize the laws of the provinces and territories of Canada and, where appropriate, the federal laws as well. It also makes recommendations for changes to federal criminal legislation based on identified deficiencies, defects or gaps in the existing law, or based on problems created by judicial interpretation of existing law. The PPSC attended the annual meeting of the ULCC in August 2007 in Charlottetown, PEI.

Best Practices for Prosecuting Fraud Against Governments

February 21, 2007 saw the publication of a directive from the Attorney General, assigning to the Director of Public Prosecutions the responsibility of developing a set of best practices for prosecuting fraud involving governments. Work on this initiative is well under way, and included consultations with provincial prosecution services as well as with international partners whose criminal law systems are similar to Canada's.

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