RCMP forensic lab ‘drowning in work’ as it misses all response targets, internal figures show

Lawyer Rick Woodburn says prosecutors have to wait too long for samples from the lab, leading to worrying court delays and cases being thrown out.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale oversees the RCMP, which reported its National Forensic Laboratory Services aren't returning sample results in time, which critics say leads to court delays that will be exacerbated by new impaired-driving rules.The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

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BY SAMANTHA WRIGHT ALLEN

December 12, 2018

The RCMP’s forensic lab is behind on all of its performance targets, failing to complete half of all DNA requests and more than a third of toxicology tests within the target time even as it predicts a huge increase in samples the lab will need to process after chang...

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