Back in late September there didn't appear to be a lot of ambiguity in the reporting. Like this story in the Toronto Star.
RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli admitted yesterday he knew shortly after Maher Arar was deported to Syria in October 2002 that Canadian investigators had wrongly labelled him to American authorities as a terror suspect.
Or this from the CBC.
Zaccardelli recounted his personal history with the case, saying that in 2002, he had some knowledge of the investigation into Arar and that he knew he was considered a person of interest.But he said he didn't become involved until after Arar was already in jail in Syria. Zaccardelli said he learned that RCMP investigators had been trying to correct the false information that had been given to the Americans.
Part of that statement seemed suspect at the time because O'Connor's report provides no evidence that the RCMP tried to correct any misconceptions in the minds of American authorities. But the clear implication is that Zaccardelli knew then that there was a problem.
Now fast forward to today.
Giuliano Zaccardelli, the RCMP commissioner, yesterday offered a new account of when he discovered his force had passed erroneous information about Maher Arar to U.S. authorities."Senior officials, including myself, were not informed until the inquiry completed its works," Mr. Zaccardelli said in an address to the Canada Club.
Zaccardelli makes a return appearance before the parliamentary committee today and it ought to be pretty interesting since, as this story reports, government MPs are a bit perplexed at the commissioner's latest version of events. Meanwhile, on the subject of whether or not he should resign, Zaccardelli had this to say.
Yesterday, Mr. Zaccardelli argued he should remain as the country's top cop. And he vowed to implement a number of reforms, including improving the force's database."Ladies and gentleman, accountability can be a complex subject," he said. "As former deputy prime minister and minister of public safety Anne McLellan told a committee just last week, 'Accountability takes on many forms and we must get past the notion that heads must roll to have accountability.' "
Ah. Accountability is complicated. Apparently so is the truth. We've spent the last two months listening to various other government officials of the time testify that Zaccardelli didn't pass on his knowledge to them. And he waits until now, in a speech to the Canada Club, to suggest that he had no information to pass on?
pogge, when you do an update, could you consider the possibility that Zaccardelli was caught flat-footed by the flat denials of the three former ministers who testified after him and claimed that they learned of RCMP errors only after Justice O'Connor delivered his report?
I found those statements just a bit hard to believe, and furthermore quite irresponsible. If they are true, why did anyone in the government finally go to bat for Mr Arar in the first place? And if they are true, then I (and a lot of other ordinary citizens) had stronger suspicions than Anne McLellan did long before she did -- maybe she had no certain information, but she and other ministers were in a position to act on such important doubts.
Yo skdadl:
Just a bit on the 8:00 CBC news ..... Harper is unhappy .... looks like Zaccardelli's ass is, as they say, grass.
looks like Zaccardelli's ass is, as they say, grass.
It had damned well better be. He should have been fired when Justice O'Connor's report first came out.
It really doesn't matter to me whether or not he knew about the false information on Arar in 2002 or 2006. He either let a *Canadian citizen* he knew to be innocent of terrorism charges suffer in a Syrian prison, or his subordinates did.
Even if we believe his latest pleas of innocence, he's the commissioner of the RCMP. If his subordinates are running around distributing false evidence to the FBI and he didn't know about it, what does this say about Zaccardelli's leadership ability?
So he's either an actual accomplice to Arar's fate, or he's incompetent. Not to mention, apparently, a liar.
Fire him already. Otherwise, the CPCs talk about "accountability" can be dismissed as so much hot air.
I can't see the Cons firing Zaccardelli, Scott. It would send the wrong message to the law and order crowd. If he had any honour, he would have quit already, but then, if he had any honour, he would never have sent one of his fellow citizens off to be tortured and then lied about it.
Yo Scott:
No one could agree with you more there ....
Still, Harper has a point, both political and factual when he observes he cannot just up and dump the guy without some kind of investigation.
The political is that Harper has to look like someone operating off considered, rational positions that take into account all the facts of the matter. If he comes across like a fickle gunslinger even his supporters are liable to ask the deadly question: "WDF?"
All this with the rest of Canada and everyone in this corner of the universe knowing that he IS a fickle gunslinger for investing so much credibility in this as you point out, either incompetent or liar. Flying in the face of evidence to the contrary, he now must try to appear as a fair man, deceived.
This is all necessary before he, and we all know Harper is going to do it, shits on him from a great height. It has nothing to do with "Canadian values", human rights, or even "just the facts, M'am" and everything to do with spin and political fence mending.
The factual part is, of course, he has to find out 'wha hoppin' so he he can call Hugh Segal or Charles McVety to help spin it into showing how he is the party wronged, not Arar or the Canada.
Zaccardelli now says that he was tired and apparently, hallucinated that he knew about the stuff he read in the September 2206 report back in 2002.
Hey, it's no biggie right?
For a cop to get tired and forget that crucial events are separated by a few years. What could go wrong with having a top cop prone to such delusions?
His job is safe.
Croghan27 sez:
Still, Harper has a point, both political and factual when he observes he cannot just up and dump the guy without some kind of investigation.
I respectfully disagree. There's already been an investigation - the O'Connor inquiry. That report clearly demonstrated *at the very least* malfeasance and incompetence in the way the RCMP handled the Arar case. Zaccardelli should have been fired as soon as the report was made public.
Tim sez
If he had any honour, he would have quit already
Indeed. It looks as if he's belatedly found his honour (or more likely someone, ah, found it for him); the CBC is reporting that he's resigned. Good riddance.
Good news follows bad! The New Government has made this day a little brighter by announcing a new pogrom :
http://www.peterspolitics.com/news/read_news.html?news=17560&target=%2findex%2ehtml%3f
P.s., don't cops keep notes anymore? Too low-tech I guess. Interesting reports of Harper's ministers doubting keep Zaccardelli on BEFORE the O'Connor report, and even more so after.
Perhaps Harper's Ark is splitting at the seams.
Here's a report that Day, McKay and Toews all wanted to fire him earlier and Harper would not:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/061206/national/zaccardelli_behind_the_scenes
"...They all toed the government line in public but privately voiced a different view, two government sources said. Day made a direct appeal to the prime minister at one cabinet meeting this fall.
"Day asked straight out. He said, 'This is not right. Why is this man still here?' " one of the government sources said.
The prime minister avoided the subject.
"Harper just changed the channel. He said, 'Now, moving along to the next subject.'
"He just cut him dead."
Late Wednesday, the prime minister's office vigorously denied the account of the two senior government officials..."
the prime minister's office vigorously denied the account
Of course they denied it. There is no disagreement in Canada's New Government™. They all agree on everything, all the time. To show anything else is to show weakness. Or something like that.