On Parliament Hill

Last week, Minister Blaney also announced that the Harper Government was fulfilling its Economic Action Plan 2014 commitment to create a national DNA-based Missing Persons Index. I’m pleased to report that this legislation has now received Royal Assent.

In October 2014, our Conservative Government introduced this legislation to make it legally possible to create a number of indices, including a Missing Persons Index. The legislation will be known as “Lindsey’s Law” in honour of Lindsey Nicholls, who disappeared in 1993 and has never been found. Lindsey’s mother, Judy Peterson, has been a tireless advocate for the creation of a DNA-based Missing Persons Index.

The Missing Persons Index will be one of five new indices created in the RCMP’s National DNA Data Bank. These indices will be valuable new tools for investigating missing persons and criminal cases, and will supplement the work currently undertaken by the National Centre for Missing Persons. The legislation includes important safeguards to ensure that the privacy rights of Canadians are respected.

This new tool will help reassure families that police are pursuing every avenue to find their missing loved ones.