POLITICS-CANADA: APEC Security Scandal Grows

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Mark Bourrie

OTTAWA, Sep 27 1998 (IPS) - The scandal over security measures at a Pacific Rim summit in Vancouver last year has become something of a farce with the government and police officials scrambling to avoid blame for the violence that erupted.

What originally started out as a minor controversy over the alleged excessive use of force on demonstrators at the University of British Columbia last November became more serious when sensitive documents were leaked to the media this month.

They showed that the Canadian government planted spies among demonstrators, arrested student leaders without charge, and ordered dozens of anti-Indonesia protesters to be sprayed with pepper to appease former Indonesian president Suharto. The government also has been accused of allowing armed Indonesian agents, including an army general accused of genocide, to attend the conference, despite warnings from Canadian security agents.

The leaked documents involving correspondence between Canadian officials and the Indonesian government show the organisers of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vancouver were afraid that Suharto would boycott the meeting. The Canadian apologised for anti-Suharto posters in Canadian cities and promised Suharto that he would not see demonstrators.

Official documents showed that the federal police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), opposed the decision to allow armed foreign guards into Canada and hunted Indonesian security agents during the APEC summit. They apparently even chased them through Vancouver parks, hotel stairwells, and a university campus.

The documents show that the Canadians were prepared to shoot the Suharto agents, going so far as to surreptitiously slip a heavily- armed emergency response unit into Suharto’s motorcade. At least five of Suharto’s guards were arrested at gunpoint during the summit and expelled from Canada.

Several more had their passports seized after they asked Canadian officials if they could shoot demonstrators if their protesters upset the Indonesian leader.

The scandal reached into the office of Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien over his claim that he had nothing to do with security at the APEC summit.

Documents obtained by student leaders show high-level Prime Minster’s Office staff were involved with police plans to keep demonstrators away from the meeting site. Also a leader of a British Columbian native community, who was a guest at the summit, has alleged that she saw Chretien giving orders to security officials.

Opposition politicians have been trying to paint Chretien as a person who serves the interests of foreign dictators before those of his country’s citizens.

Left-wing opponents of the prime minister have campaigned for years against government support of globalisation. Rightists say Chretien’s reputation in Canada as a “little guy” masks an angry and unstable personality. About four years ago, Chretien nearly throttled a Quebec separatist protester during a Flag Day rally in Hull.

The Vancouver APEC summit attracted a large group of anti-Suharto protesters as the city has a large community of Asians and a well- organised group of resisters to the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. As well, a financial scam in 1996 involving a fake gol claim by a Canadian mining company and Indonesian officials cost Canadian investors nearly 4 billion dollars.

As Canada’s parliament resumed last week, a civilian complaints tribunal began investigating the actions of the police at the APEC summit. The tribunal has the power to subpoena government officials, including the Prime Minister.

Most political observers point to the RCMP as the source of the embarrassing leaks as it had no intention of taking the blame for orders given by politicians.

Canadian opposition politicians have been calling for a full judicial inquiry of the government and police actions at the APEC summit. New Democratic Party leader Alexa McDonough accused Chretien of not telling the truth when he said there was no government interference in APEC summit security.

“Eye-witnesses suggest otherwise,” McDonough told the House of Commons. “Inside the APEC security net, Chief Gail Sparrow saw the prime minister barking out orders, not just to his own staff, but to security staff personnel as well.”

Opposition Leader Preston Manning, head of the Reform Party, accused Chretien last week of “kow-towing to foreign dictators.” He said concerns over the government’s role in the violence “can only be resolved by the Prime Minister himself coming clean on this issue.”

Peter Donolo, the Prime Minister’s press secretary, later referred to Manning as a “dime store Ken Starr” suffering from a case of “scandal envy” – a reference to the independent prosecutor involved in investigating U.S. President Bill Clinton.