[asia-apec 955] More revelations in Canada SprayPEC saga

[Gatt Watchdog]

THE. VANCOUVER SUN 		THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1998 
 
STUDENT CLAIMS PMO, OFFICER STEWART TALKED  

	An APEC protester claims an RCMP officer consulted 
	with Prime Minister's Office before spraying incident.  

	Kelly Sinoski and Doug Todd 

	A prominent student protester at APEC claims RCMP Staff 
Sergeant Hugh Stewart consulted with the Prime Minister's Office before 
the infamous pepper spraying incident in November 1997. 
	Jonathan Oppenheim makes the allegations in his submission to the 
RCMP Public Complaints Commission, which is investigating the RCMP's 
handling of protesters at the APEC summit. 
	His submission quotes interviews from an internal RCMP 
investigation that has not yet been released. However, the interviews were 
distributed to lawyers for all parties involved in the probe. 
	Oppenheim released material from his submission on his website 
Wednesday. However, commission counsel Kevin Gillet refused to release 
the submission officially, saying it was not made while the commission was 
proceeding and shouldn't be made public. 
	Oppenheim's submission quotes Stewart as saying in an interview 
that he and senior officers met with PMO officials before deciding to use 
pepper spray to disperse the crowd. 
	But PMO official Jean Carle was quoted as telling the police 
investigation he had no involvement in the discussions about dispersing the 
crowd. 
	According to transcripts of radio communications provided by 
Oppenheim, RCMP Superintendent Wayne May, who was in charge of 
over-all security, radioed the command centre, saying: "We got to start 
moving, just talking to the Prime Minister's Office here and they figure 
about 4 o'clock and if there's any delay the PM's going to be wanting a full 
briefing....'' 
	Oppenheim said Wednesday "My concern is the Prime Minister's 
Office was involved in giving the RCMP orders, to ensure there would be 
no dissenting protesters." 
	Hearings into how the RCMP handled the APEC summit are on 
hold until the Federal Court deals with allegations by the Mounties' lawyer 
that the RCMP Public Complaints Commission chairman is biased. 
	Stewart wouldn't comment on Oppenheim's allegations, but two 
RCMP lawyers said they were not aware that PMO officials were involved 
in the decision to use pepper spray at APEC. 
	RCMP lawyer Kevin Woodall said he recalls the officials from the 
Prime Minister's Office met with police only to find out what was going on. 
	RCMP lawyer George MacIntosh said he prefers to let the hearings 
reveal what happened. 
	"I'm not going to get into Jon's thesis bit by bit," he said. "We really 
have to let that evidence play out in the hearing because there are too many 
witnesses to be accurate." 
	Carle couldn't be reached for comment.