[asia-apec 756] G&M: Lawyers for APEC Protesters Alter Tack

[Sharon R.A. Scharfe]

Globe and Mail
October 6, 1998


                                                               INFLUENCE

                      Lawyers for APEC protesters alter tack

                      Tuesday, October 6, 1998
                      NORMAN SPECTOR

                      VICTORIA -- As the hearings of the RCMP Public Complaints
                      Commission resume this week, lawyers for the
demonstrators who were
                      pepper-sprayed and arrested at the APEC summit tell me
they are
                      changing tack.

                      In the beginning, they urged the young activists to
proceed methodically
                      through the evidence before considering whether to ask
that the Prime
                      Minister be subpoenaed. These were lonely times for
the demonstrators
                      and their lawyers. Canadians seemed not to be paying
attention, or to
                      care, about what had happened at the University of
British Columbia in
                      November, 1997. Nor did anyone object when the Public
Complaints
                      Commission declined to fund the demonstrators to hire
lawyers. Prime
                      Minister Jean Chrétien had yet to acknowledge that his
famous pepper
                      quip was not funny. And the demonstrators were still
viewed as a group
                      of wacky British Columbians -- and radicals to boot.

                      To test whether the commission has the will and the
powers to probe the
                      highest levels of the Canadian government, the lawyers
are cutting to the
                      chase and demanding that it subpoena Mr. Chrétien now.
They are also
                      renewing their request for more government documents
and funds for
                      their clients.

                      The game plan changed in recent weeks along with the
fortunes of the
                      demonstrators. A flood of documents showed the Prime
Minister's Office
                      directing police activities for political and not
security reasons. The
                      demonstrators began to have some success raising
funds, though not
                      enough to offset their original plan, which was quite
costly.

                      Then Parliament resumed and responsibility began to
stick to the Prime
                      Minister. Feeling the heat, the government concluded
that anything was
                      preferable to allowing the issue to play out in
Question Period with Mr.
                      Chrétien in the starring role. "Let the Public
Complaints Commission do its
                      work," became its refrain.

                      The opposition turned its attention to the commission,
questioning its
                      independence and suggesting it was neither capable nor
mandated to
                      inquire into the Prime Minister and his office. It
complained that
                      demonstrators would not be funded and noted that most
of the members
                      of the commission had been appointed by the government
and had
                      contributed to the Liberal Party of Canada --
including commission
                      counsel Chris Considine through his law firm. It also
implied that the
                      commission would not have the guts to subpoena Mr.
Chrétien.

                      To all of these allegations, the government repeated,
"Let the commission
                      do its work." The demonstrators and their lawyers are
now asking the
                      government and the commission to show their cards to
see whether they
                      are bluffing.

                      The evidence already in shows that Mr. Chrétien wanted
to be, and was,
                      personally involved to an unusual degree in reassuring
the Indonesians that
                      their president would not be embarrassed. The summit
was Mr. Chrétien's
                      parade, and he did not want Suharto raining on it. His
most senior officials
                      -- chief of staff Jean Pelletier; Clerk of the Privy
Council Jocelyne
                      Bourgon; top policy adviser Eddie Goldenberg; Mr.
Chrétien's
                      foreign-policy adviser Jim Bartleman; and director of
operations Jean
                      Carle -- all understood his concerns and were
implementing his wishes.

                      Until now, Mr. Chrétien has been evasive about his
involvement and
                      whether he would agree to testify before the
commission. If he complies,
                      lawyers for the demonstrators will also be able to ask
him to explain the
                      policy change that allowed Indonesian bodyguards to
carry weapons at
                      UBC -- even after they asked about the repercussions
of shooting
                      students, which the RCMP is hinting was behind some of
their
                      heavy-handed actions.

                      If, on the other hand, the Public Complaints
Commission does not issue a
                      subpoena or if the Prime Minister refuses to comply,
the demonstrators
                      will focus their efforts on the class-action suit they
have launched against
                      Mr. Chrétien and others they say conspired to deprive
them of their
                      constitutional rights. And no Canadian, not even a
prime minister, has the
                      right to disobey a court subpoena. 

                      E-mail: nspector at globeandmail.ca

                          

                                       We welcome your comments. 
                                 Copyright © 1998, The Globe and Mail Company
                                          All rights reserved.


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