ava THE situation with the migrant “boat people” is fast becoming a mockery. Every aspect seems des- tined to make this country a global laughing stock. The prime minister is in denial. The Mounties are raiding already undermanned detach- ments to act as custodial guards for God knows how long. Their marginal budget is being kicked all over the place with the cost of their operation let alone the 15 or so officers assigned to con- duct the investigation into the matter. The armed forces are try- ing to protect our coastal sovereignty with equipment being held together with scotch tape and baling wire. The new immigration minister doesn’t seem to know whether she’s drilled, punched or bored and clearly she’s uiready been finger- tamed by the civil servanes who really run her office. We're building a jail in the heart of a quiet Esquimalt neighbourhood to house the - migrants and the locals are getting pretty upset over ail of the noise and interruption in their lives. The migrants themselves have to be handcufted when ever they’re moved because they’re being housed in essentially a naval base not a secure containment facility. Why, when we have a per- Fectiy good facility which, until August, housed the Vancouver Police Departnient jail? But then the optics of that would — probably upset the politically correct. Then there’s the whole waa iio x Dear Editor: '- On. behalf of The War Amps and its Child Amputee (CHAMP) Program, I would like to thank you for your ardi- “-¢le about Champs Michael Diering | and Lindse McDonald of North Nancouver, who attended the asseciation’s 1999 B.C. _CHAMP’ seminar recently, Through this article. you . have given your readers a won- derfal insight into the life of oung amputees, and let them _know how their donations to The War Amps key tag and address label service are spent. Your coverage will go a long way in helping to spread the word and let those who could benefit from our pro- grams know they are available. For.-more information, visit '. The War Afaps Web site at or call toll- i "free 1-800-250-3030 or fax toll-free 1-806-219-8988. Cliff Chadderton Chief Executive Officer, The .. War Amps grant north shore news MAIL Box crime and punishinent question of information being provided to the public. As the arrivals by rusty tubs have become more tre- uent, the attention given by the media has become much more intense. Even the Toronto media have noticed! Because the trafficking in human cargo is an enterprise of organized crime and in this case, Asian organized crime, onc of the principal spokesmen for the police has been Sgt. Jim Fisher, a Vancouver police officer cur- rently assigned to Criminal Intelligence Services Canada (CISC). Fisher is the recognized expert on Asian gangs, triads and other elements of Asian organized crime. It’s part of his job descrip tion in his position to edu- cate, comment aad inform the media. As the story has grown, Fisher has been quoted in just about every newspaper, wire service and newscast around North America. RCMP spokesman Corporal Grant Learned has been referring all media requests to Fisher simply because he has the specific knowledge and Learned doesn’t. I was very surprised when on Monday I spoke to Fisher on the phone and when I asked for an update on the taigrant situation I was told Gone MiSs! be “couldn't go there,” and was referred to Supt. Ray Lang, the officer in charge of the Immigration and Passport section at RCMP headquar- ters. Now, we go back a long time, before he was a cop when he refereed junior hockey fer a living, and I couldn't imagine that ope of reaction trom him unless he’s been ordered not to talk. Was this true, E asked, had he been gagged? “You know I can’t say that,” he replied. And thus ended the con- versation. So I did a little digging with some other old friends and determined that he had, in fact, been gagged by the RCMP who administer CISC. Tt has been suggested by some pointy-headed one that Fisher had deliberately or inadveriently given out “holdback” information. (Information known only to the investigators and not for pubiic consumption ) Now this sort of allegation can destroy a professional officer’s reputation and career. Accerding to the people I spoke to, Fisher was not privy to “holdback” information in this investigation and has only been providing the background on Asian gangs and how the people smug- glers operate. So, what gives? I contacted Grant Learned for the RCMP"s official posi- tion. He essentially confirmed the gag erder saying, “I'm told he ts not now a resource available to us in the business of public information.” L asked if this made things more difficult given the wide- LEASE SPECIAL $399 o 947,550 Based on a 1999 ML320 Classic, 5.5% lease rates. 36 month, low mileage walk- away with $8,509 down or trade. Taxes, PDI, freight and license extra. Optional buy back $30,432.00 0.A.C. Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc. 1375 Marine Dr. North Vancouver 934-9351 www.vancouver.mercedes-benz.ca spread media interest. Learned replied, “I don't have the background of knowledge Jim has. “He is the quintessential expert.” This is nuts. Canadians are clamouring for information on this issue. Good Lord, all one needs to do is dial around the radio talk shows to know how the situation has struck a chord with everyone regardless of pulitical stripe or ethnicity. The single person in the policing community who can speak knowledgeably about the subject has been gagged and Lang has been designat- ed the RCMP’s spokesman on the migrant issue. Lang’s version of media relations and informing the public is rather old-school apparently. When contacted for com- ment by Province reporter Fabian Dawson, who broke the corruption in our Hong Kong consulate story, Lang was a virtual fountain of information. “I can neither confirm nor deny” was his mantra. What this is really about is anyone’s guess. I’m betting on a little inter-agency peeing contest. Something like 4 petulant child whining abou not get- ting any attention. I'm told there have been some very high level meet- ings between the RCMP, Immigration Canada Enforcement and CISC over this issue. 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