OTTAWA—The continuing silence of RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, who has been mute since a damning report last week on the extradition and torture of Maher Arar, is raising concerns about whether there's political interference in the national police force.
Anne McLellan, the former minister in charge of the RCMP, said she is surprised and disappointed that Zaccardelli hasn't made any public statements and says she can't imagine that he's chosen to muzzle himself.
"I think Canadians want to hear from the commissioner of the police. They want to hear from this institution that they actually believe in and want to believe in," McLellan, now a private citizen, said in an interview yesterday.
Zaccardelli was in South America at an Interpol conference last week when Justice Gordon O'Connor issued his report into the 2002 extradition of Arar, a Canadian citizen, to Syria.
The O'Connor report, which totally exonerated Arar, found that the RCMP mistakenly passed along information to the United States which led to his extradition on a flight stopover in New York and subsequent torture in Syria.
The RCMP commissioner has subsequently returned to Canada and has met with Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, but he hasn't made any public comment.
McLellan says that when she was public security minister in the last Liberal government she would have never ordered the RCMP commissioner not to speak, because this would have constituted political meddling.
The RCMP is supposed to operate at arm's length from its political masters.
If Zaccardelli has been muzzled, she said: "That raises very, very serious questions in terms of the motivations of the politicians involved."
A spokesperson for Day did not respond to phone messages yesterday.
But in the House last week, Day said it would be "a good idea" for Zaccardelli to testify before the Commons committee on public safety. That appearance, sources said, will probably happen this week.
In the meantime, however, even his friends are puzzled about the silence, saying it goes against all Zaccardelli's convictions about being a vocal advocate for the RCMP.
"Knowing him as I do, I can only imagine how frustrating this would be for him, not to be able to say anything," said one close friend of the RCMP commissioner.
Bill Graham, the acting Liberal leader, said Zaccardelli's silence follows a pattern in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government. Graham is a former defence minister who wonders why Canadians aren't hearing more from Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier on the very touchy issue of Afghanistan.
"This is a funny government. Harper muzzles Day, Day muzzles the RCMP commissioner, and he muzzles everybody down the line. The muzzle starts at the top," Graham said.
McLellan said she can understand some sensitivity on the part of the government with respect to the Arar case because there is an ongoing civil suit revolving around the case. Arar and his family are suing the Canadian government and issues of compensation are still to be resolved in the wake of last week's report.
"While I understand the government and its lawyers may be concerned that the commissioner and others on the force say too much at this time, because of course there is a civil suit by Maher Arar and his family against the government of Canada, I still think Canadians expect and want to hear from the commissioner of the RCMP," McLellan said.
But as someone who was constantly fielding Conservative accusations about alleged Liberal interference in the RCMP, McLellan thinks it's strange to see the shoe on the other foot.
Back when the Conservatives were in opposition, Harper even accused the RCMP of pulling its punches in laying charges in the sponsorship affairs, saying more people would have been arrested if the Liberals weren't in power. Peter MacKay, now foreign affairs minister, repeatedly described the RCMP as a political arm of the Liberal government.
McLellan says it's irresponsible for questions to be hanging over Zaccardelli for this long.
"If they've lost confidence in the commissioner of the RCMP, they should just come right out and ask for his resignation and not play games."
Anne McLellan, the former minister in charge of the RCMP, said she is surprised and disappointed that Zaccardelli hasn't made any public statements and says she can't imagine that he's chosen to muzzle himself.
"I think Canadians want to hear from the commissioner of the police. They want to hear from this institution that they actually believe in and want to believe in," McLellan, now a private citizen, said in an interview yesterday.
Zaccardelli was in South America at an Interpol conference last week when Justice Gordon O'Connor issued his report into the 2002 extradition of Arar, a Canadian citizen, to Syria.
The O'Connor report, which totally exonerated Arar, found that the RCMP mistakenly passed along information to the United States which led to his extradition on a flight stopover in New York and subsequent torture in Syria.
The RCMP commissioner has subsequently returned to Canada and has met with Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, but he hasn't made any public comment.
McLellan says that when she was public security minister in the last Liberal government she would have never ordered the RCMP commissioner not to speak, because this would have constituted political meddling.
The RCMP is supposed to operate at arm's length from its political masters.
If Zaccardelli has been muzzled, she said: "That raises very, very serious questions in terms of the motivations of the politicians involved."
A spokesperson for Day did not respond to phone messages yesterday.
But in the House last week, Day said it would be "a good idea" for Zaccardelli to testify before the Commons committee on public safety. That appearance, sources said, will probably happen this week.
In the meantime, however, even his friends are puzzled about the silence, saying it goes against all Zaccardelli's convictions about being a vocal advocate for the RCMP.
"Knowing him as I do, I can only imagine how frustrating this would be for him, not to be able to say anything," said one close friend of the RCMP commissioner.
Bill Graham, the acting Liberal leader, said Zaccardelli's silence follows a pattern in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government. Graham is a former defence minister who wonders why Canadians aren't hearing more from Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier on the very touchy issue of Afghanistan.
"This is a funny government. Harper muzzles Day, Day muzzles the RCMP commissioner, and he muzzles everybody down the line. The muzzle starts at the top," Graham said.
McLellan said she can understand some sensitivity on the part of the government with respect to the Arar case because there is an ongoing civil suit revolving around the case. Arar and his family are suing the Canadian government and issues of compensation are still to be resolved in the wake of last week's report.
"While I understand the government and its lawyers may be concerned that the commissioner and others on the force say too much at this time, because of course there is a civil suit by Maher Arar and his family against the government of Canada, I still think Canadians expect and want to hear from the commissioner of the RCMP," McLellan said.
But as someone who was constantly fielding Conservative accusations about alleged Liberal interference in the RCMP, McLellan thinks it's strange to see the shoe on the other foot.
Back when the Conservatives were in opposition, Harper even accused the RCMP of pulling its punches in laying charges in the sponsorship affairs, saying more people would have been arrested if the Liberals weren't in power. Peter MacKay, now foreign affairs minister, repeatedly described the RCMP as a political arm of the Liberal government.
McLellan says it's irresponsible for questions to be hanging over Zaccardelli for this long.
"If they've lost confidence in the commissioner of the RCMP, they should just come right out and ask for his resignation and not play games."
