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Subject: Ottawa changes stance in APEC inquiry
Keywords: international, legal, legal investigations, social issues,
	civil rights
Organization: Copyright 1999 by United Press International (via ClariNet)
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Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 19:22:35 PST
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	VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- The Canadian government  
has changed its stance in an inquiry into the conduct of the Royal 
Canadian Mounted Police, saying it will pay the legal fees of students 
testifying against officers of the force. 
	The move came today in a letter from Lawrence MacAulay, the new  
solicitor general, to retired judge Ted Hughes, who is heading the 
inquiry in Vancouver, British Columbia. 
	Former Solicitor General Andy Scott, who resigned in November, had  
twice previously refused to provide legal funding for the students. 
	The inquiry, which began in October, is looking into complaints by  
some 20 student protesters that RCMP officers violated their 
constitutional rights by by using pepper spray to disperse peaceful 
demonstration in Vancouver in November 1997. 
	The demonstrations occurred while Asia Pacific Economic Conference  
leaders were holding a summit meeting on the campus of the University of 
British Columbia. 
	On Feb. 5, Hughes wrote to MacAulay to say the students needed  
lawyers, and the funding was essential to enable them to meet the legal 
costs. 
	He suggested Ottawa should pay, saying that if it failed to do so, he  
would decide next month if he had the authority to order the federal 
government to pay. 
	MacAulay's decision was welcomed by the student protesters.  
	Craig Jones, one of the protesters testifying before the inquiry,  
says Ottawa's new stance will introduce a new tenor into the inquiry, 
and there would now be vigorous cross-examinations of the officers 
involved. 
	The protesters also want Prime Minister Jean Chretien to testify,  
alleging that he, or his office in Ottawa, had a role in the RCMP's 
actions. 
	Hughes says he intends to look more closely at documents presented by  
the students, and would decide whether Chretien should be summoned. 
  	   	

