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Pastimes : Rarely is the question asked: "is our children learning" -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Sladek who wrote (1875)	1/24/2004 8:21:51 AM
From: John Sladek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2171

24Jan04-Controls over RCMP needed, Liberal says Probe security issues, MP urges Media join fight over search LES WHITTINGTON AND BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH OTTAWA BUREAU OTTAWA—The raid on a journalist's home underscores the need for tightened federal controls over the RCMP to protect citizens in the post-Sept. 11 era, says a Liberal MP who chaired the Commons sub-committee on national security. "We don't have a barn-burning yet, but I'm trying to pre-empt one," said Scarborough MP Derek Lee, in a reference to illegal practices carried out by the RCMP to fight separatism in Quebec in the 1960s and 1970s. Canada has rigorous civilian control of its spies at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) but has failed to establish adequate scrutiny of the RCMP since its anti-terrorism role was expanded after Sept. 11, 2001, Lee said. Urgent public inquiries into the RCMP's powers appeared almost certain as the government came under rising criticism yesterday over the raid on Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O'Neill's home, and the role of security services in the recent Maher Arar deportation case. Lee, who has extensive experience in security matters, said MPs should bring police and federal officials before a Commons committee to probe these security issues "in order to protect our civil liberties." Senior federal government sources said Prime Minister Paul Martin would encourage MPs to hold hearings on the sweeping Security of Information Act. The law, passed in December, 2001, to expand the government's ability to combat terrorism, was cited by the RCMP when it launched a search of O'Neill's home and office on Wednesday. The legislation contains a provision allowing Commons or Senate committees to review the law within three years. The Citizen is prepared to fight the controversial search all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, said Rick Dearden, the lawyer for O'Neill and CanWest Global Communications Corp., owner of the Citizen. Officials with the Star, the Globe and Mail and the CBC said yesterday they would consider joining the court fight to protect the important journalistic principles at stake. "If CanWest wants help, we will definitely be there to support them," Star publisher John Honderich said. "I would think virtually every newspaper in the country would, but certainly the Star will." Richard Mahoney, an Ottawa lawyer and Liberal candidate in the next election, urged the government to convene a judicial inquiry into the handling of the entire Arar case, including the search of O'Neill's home. Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian, was arrested by U.S. authorities in New York in 2002 and deported as a suspected terrorist to Syria, where he was held and interrogated for 10 months before he was released. On Wednesday, the Mounties searched O'Neill's home in an attempt to trace the source of a story she wrote in November that described documents from Canadian authorities' investigation of Arar. Scott Anderson, the Citizen's editor-in-chief, wants Martin's assurance that O'Neill, 50, won't be charged under a sweeping new law meant to keep a lid on government secrets. Anderson also asked the Prime Minister to make public the affidavits used by the police to obtain the search warrants. "Seizing a journalist's property and searching for the identity of a confidential source causes serious injury to the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press enjoyed by Canadians," Anderson wrote in a two-page letter to Martin. Late yesterday, a spokesperson for Martin confirmed they had received the letter, but had no comment. RCMP Staff Sergeant Paul Marsh said of the O'Neill raid that the Mounties had acted within the law and it was up to the government to decide if the law should be modified. He would not comment on the circumstances of Arar's deportation, which is the subject of a complaint to the RCMP Public Complaints Commission. Marsh indicated this week the police probe extends beyond actions involving O'Neill. Three other search warrants that have been obtained by the RCMP might be connected to the Arar leak investigation, Canadian Press reports. The RCMP officer who helped the force secure warrants to search O'Neill's house and office was involved in three other successful warrant applications this month. Marsh declined to say whether other search warrants had been executed. thestar.com