Keywords Politics, International

Chrétien has acknowledged that, as host, he asked his staff to make sure the visitors had no security fears. But he denied he ever issued orders to tear down signs or divert demonstrators away from the meetings. "I don't have to explain anything," he said last week. "I did not talk to any RCMP person." Chrétien also said he would refuse to testify before the commission. But two of his closest advisers will appear: chief of staff Jean Pelletier, and Jean Carle, then the PMO's director of operations.

Carle's testimony may be the most revealing. A close friend of the Chrétien family, as well as a longtime aide, Carle developed a fierce reputation for throwing his weight around after the Liberals won power in 1993. In one unsavory incident, he publicly berated Canada's ambassador to Egypt, Michael Bell, at the 1996 Sharm-el Sheik anti-terrorism summit, blaming him for an embarrassing snafu between the PMO and Egyptian security officials. As director of operations, Carle was the PMO's liaison with the RCMP - an area where political and security concerns can easily overlap. Some RCMP officers privately told Maclean's they are taking the blame for simply carrying out the PMO's orders, which they allege included instructions to move demonstrators away from the leaders.

In the run-up to the APEC summit, Chrétien's office was clearly intent on assuaging Suharto's worries. Through his ambassador to Canada, the dictator made it clear he did not want to see any protests against him, and threatened to boycott the summit unless that was assured. Aides say Chrétien grew increasingly exasperated by Suharto's demands - but he could hardly ignore them. Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population, and Suharto was the most influential leader in southeast Asia. A summit without him might be deemed a failure.

As a result, documents show, Axworthy and Chrétien reassured the Indonesians in personal letters that Suharto would not have to worry about his "comfort," as they put it. Axworthy also reportedly apologized to the Indonesian foreign minister that the "Wanted" posters of Suharto then appearing in Canadian cities were "outrageous and excessive" - a surprising statement from a minister who was a civil rights marcher in his own student days. The RCMP even agreed to allow Suharto's own security agents to carry concealed weapons, although they did tell the visitors, in answer to their questions, that shooting demonstrators "would not be tolerated" - and that they could do nothing to control media coverage.

It may be difficult to prove at the Vancouver hearings that RCMP security efforts went too far. The responsibility for keeping foreign dignitaries safe from harm while on Canadian soil can be used to justify strict control measures. (According to reports at week's end, concern for the demonstrators themselves may have been a factor, especially after the RCMP learned that Suharto's son-in-law, the much-feared head of Indonesia's secret police, was leading the dictator's special guard detail.) But next week's testimony may shed light on a more unsettling question: whether a Canadian prime minister or his staff tried to stop citizens from advocating freedom and democracy, all to avoid embarrassing a visiting despot.

Maclean's September 21, 1998

Author BRUCE WALLACE in Ottawa