[asia-apec 700] OttCit: Re: Destroyed Docs?

[Sharon R.A. Scharfe]

Ottawa Citizen
September 24, 1998
Ottawa Citizen Online
                                              

                                                              
                  Commission counsel refutes
                  protesters' claim

                  GREG JOYCE


                  VANCOUVER (CP) - Documents crucial to an inquiry into an RCMP
                  crackdown on protesters at the Asia-Pacific economic
summit have been
                  destroyed, a protester alleged Wednesday. 

                  But the counsel to the RCMP Public Complaints Commission,
which begins
                  hearings next month, vigorously discounted the claim. 

                  Jonathan Oppenheim, a member of APEC Alert and one of the
protesters
                  arrested by RCMP during last fall’s economic summit with
18 world leaders,
                  said documents were destroyed by officials in the Prime
Minister’s Office. 

                  "We know that Jean Carle and Jean Pelletier have no
documents with them,"
                  said Oppenheim, referring respectively to the former
director of operations
                  during APEC and Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s chief of
staff. 

                  "They were asked for the documents and said they don’t
have any." 

                  Carle and Pelletier are both scheduled to testify at the
inquiry, which begins
                  Oct. 5 in Vancouver. 

                  Documents already filed with the commission indicate
officials in the PMO
                  played a key role in security arrangements for the summit. 

                  But Chris Considine, counsel for the commission, insisted
Wednesday that
                  there is "no evidence of documents being destroyed in
order to deprive us of
                  access to them. 

                  "I have no reason to believe there’s been a deliberate
destruction of
                  documents." 

                  Considine agreed Carle and Pelletier had no documents to
bring to the inquiry
                  because "documents that are relevant are already with the
Foreign Affairs
                  Department or the Privy Council Office." 

                  There were revelations Tuesday that the RCMP had
infiltrated the protest
                  groups before APEC and compiled information and photographs. 

                  In a sworn statement before the commission, Sgt. Peter
McLaren said "there
                  was an undercover operation taking place which involved an
RCMP
                  undercover operator having direct access to some of the
protesters identified
                  with the APEC Alert group." 

                  APEC Alert was one of the main student groups protesting
the Asia Pacific
                  Economic Co-operation conference held in Vancouver last
November. 

                  McLaren’s statement says that RCMP officers who were the
"handlers" for
                  the undercover operator told him that information gathered
was channelled
                  directly to the RCMP team dealing with the demonstrators. 

                  RCMP spokesman Sgt. Russ Grabb said the RCMP are authorized to
                  investigate individuals or groups they believe are
allegedly involved in criminal
                  activities. 

                  "At APEC there was a concern that certain individuals were
planning
                  criminal breaches of security such as penetration of
security fences in order
                  to get close to world leaders," said Grabb. 

                  "The RCMP had the responsibility to investigate and
prevent such alleged
                  crimes from happening." 

                                  © The Canadian Press, 1998


                      

                                     Copyright 1998 The Ottawa Citizen

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