RCMP commissioner Zaccardelli resigns amid criticism over Arar

RCMP commissioner Zaccardelli resigns amid criticism over Arar file

Canadian Press

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Embattled RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli has resigned. (CPimages/ Tom Hanson)

OTTAWA (CP) - Embattled RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli has resigned amid criticism over conflicting statements about the Maher Arar case.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the announcement Wednesday during question period in the House of Commons. "Today, Commissioner Zaccardelli submitted his resignation to me and I have accepted it," Harper said. "The commissioner has indicated to me that it would be in the best interests of the RCMP to have new leadership as this great organization faces challenges in the future.

"I'd like to thank the commissioner for his long and dedicated service to the RCMP and the country."

On Tuesday, Zaccardelli admitted he got his facts wrong when he testified at a Commons committee in September about when he first knew the RCMP had passed erroneous information to U.S. authorities.

An inquiry concluded that the information - which suggested Arar had ties to al-Qaida - likely led the U.S. to deport him to his native Syria where he was tortured.

Opposition critics have been demanding Zaccardelli's resignation. Harper said Tuesday that the government would examine the facts and respond "in a manner that is objective, professional and dispassionate."

"We do not fire people without due process. But we will proceed appropriately and ensure there is accountability for actions."

Zaccardelli was back before a Commons committee Tuesday to "set the record straight," as he put it, about what he knew and when he knew it in Arar's deportation to Syria as a suspected al-Qaida agent.

His performance left opposition MPs howling for his resignation, and even Conservative members expressed disbelief at the new version of events.

At issue is when the commissioner first learned that the RCMP had passed erroneous information to U.S. authorities wrongly describing Arar as an Islamic extremist with suspected terrorist ties.

Zaccardelli indicated in testimony on Sept. 28 that he knew of that mistake shortly after Arar was deported by the Americans to Damascus, where he was tortured into false confessions of terrorist activity.

But he was unable to offer an explanation of why he didn't go public to set things right, or brief the Liberal government of the day on the matter.

The commissioner now says he was wrong in his original explanation of what had transpired. He couldn't go public or tell his political masters, because he didn't know at the time about the mistaken terrorist label the force had hung on Arar.

© The Canadian Press 2006