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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-11-03, Page 5GOI?ERICI :SIGNAL -STAR, THURSD it, NOVEMBER4, 1071%-,-P sgkes The distinguished Royal Canadian Mounted Police have long thrived on the admirable reputation that they always get their man. And for all intents and purposes they have distinguished themselves in upholding that tradition. Bat recent revelations have heads of government, oppoe»tion members and even back benching MPs wondering who 'the man' is. Stories have been reeling out of Ottawa at an unpredictable rate concerning the illegal practises of our revered mounties. The front page releases began with the story of an illegal break-in at Parti Quebecois Montreal headquarters in 1973, mushroomed into claims that the RCMP have spy networks across the country and then escalated to the fin- dings of bugging devices. Seems no one can escape the rejuvenated RCMP operating a la the CIA, their counterparts of the United States. The capital was shocked when a bugging device was found in a phone in Joe Clark's conference room. Either the constabularies wanted to put an immediate end to the speculation of Joe's last name or they wanted to bore friends at a party with the tapes. Perhaps they deemed such tapes useful in lulling horses to sleep after a gruelling musical ride. If the opposition could not buy those alibis how would the mounties explain the device recovered from the bottom of Elmer MacKay's chair, who after all is the Tory critic of the RCMP. Would a mountie dare say he lent the device to an unsuspecting Liberal in the House or could he have lost it while crawling through MacKay's office on routine maneuvers. Another Tory MP offered a choice morsel to the House this week saying the RCMP have formed a domestic spy network that has infiltrated labor unions, college campuses, political organizations and even the Saskat- chewan Metis Association. From this revelation are members of the local Parent Teachers Association to cast a scrutinous eye among its mem- bers for fear one might double as an agent. Would they be forced to conduct meetings in hushed tones with hands groping the undersides of tables and chairs for bugging devices? rt is just getting so that you can't trust anyone and any group could be in- filtrated in the name of national security. Will our troops of little boy scouts and brownies also become targets of in- filtration and are their apples and cookies beyond the reproach of bugging devices to record conversations relevant to the security of our nation. Would they dare! The RCMP activities will liave a marked effect not only on the force but on Canadians as well. Our own ,Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, had previous knowledge of possible RCMP in- volvement in a barn burning and theft of explosives in Quebec a -couple of months ago. While he did express regret at the situation he said it was not outright condemnation. But if anything comes of this it may be that House MPs will rush out -to enroll in night school electronic courses to combat the spy network and there will undoubtedly be a rush on trench coats of the double agent variety. Whatever comes of it Rene Levesque will have plenty of trump to play with and he claims he knew for several months that the jerks (RCMP) were conducting surveillance. ncardine News reported that a quay into that town's police ent was almost recommended ficials of the Ontario Police ion initially felt this procedure taken after inspecting the town . Osmond and W. S. Shimmin, isors, stated in a memorandum gust 5 that they later decided within the department could ed another way. emorandum to Elmer -Bell, of the Ontario Police Com - outlined serious internal within the department. The II not s t prob when t accept her t care re. M loubts all, and litor letter fficulty le hem rotects onlf ofhn riter he e bitted effo Tanta d major hostage incident in the oronto ended in twilight just awn last Sunday as a man s a cowboy exchanged his rifle t of his 26 hostages for a bottle . Just 15 minutes later he ed to police. man, identified by police as 23 - Paul Arnold Virtanen, held s and customers of a North nch of the National Trust Co. ours threatening to shoot them police released his accomplice arrested earlier Saturday in an d robbery of a drug store. n, who described himself to E VVEEK AFTER HERE two advisors inspected the department last July 13 and indicated they will make another inspection this year. The two police commission officials suggested that local police problems be handled through meetings with frank discussions about problems and dif- ferences. One meeting would be between town council's protection committee and Kincardine Police Association mem- bers. The other meeting would be bet- ween the committee and Police Chief Bill Sweedland. The officials also recommended that a rules and regulation bylaw governing the police department also be passed by IN INFORMATION, BACKGROUND AND OPINION HURON council. Council passed such a bylaw. The following is a direct quote from the memorandum sent by the two ad- visors to Mr. Bell on the subject of the Kincardine Police Force. "An annual inspection of the above force was conducted starting July 13, 1977. The town receives adequate policing from its police force, with the level of police service being high com- pared with forces of similar size. We received no complaints either from citizens or members of Council in regards to level of police services provided. The majority of the members of the force appear to be well trained and dedicated police officers. William Sweedland, the chief, has' developed a 'sound, well functioning administration. However after conducting several interviews with members of the force and the council, it became apparent that serious internal problems exist with this force. "- The force is divided in its loyalty and respect for the chief and the local police governing authority. "- The Chief's ability to handle men properly has been questioned. "- Individual members of the force and of council are contributing to the low morale through clandestine meetings where petty grievances are aired. "- The Chief's authority has been undermined through direct orders from at least one member of council -to members of the force. "- It appears that some members of the force are indirectly involved in a local busines's • venture which other members say has an adverse effect on the whole force. "- Chief Sweedland was appointed to the force in 1972 and since that time growth in the town has been rapid. The construction of the Douglas Point PRCIVINCIAL POINTS hostages as a former mental ,patient, was initially charged with two counts of robbery and one of conspiracy to commit robbery. Despite threats and periodic gunshots fired by Virtanen none of the hostages were injured. However two employees of the trust company were treated for exhaustion and anxiety and later released from hospital. The siege at the Northtown shopping plaza on Yonge Street, is the second such incident for Metro police this year, after another gunman held hostages at a downtown Banque Canadienne Nationale for 12 hours last March before he surrendered to police. The incident began after Inidnight Friday when Virtanen and another man tried to rob a card game on the second floor of a residence in North York. Virtanen fired four shots at a locked door attempting to get in but the pair fled when the attempt proved unsuccessful. Later the two tried to hold up the L and S Dispensary drug store on Yonge Street at 2:20 p.m. The store is only eight blocks north of the Northtown plaza. One man entered the store with a sawed off shotgun and thrust a note demanding money and drugs at an employee. He received $79 in cash. Police nabbed the , man as he fled through a rear door before he could reach a getaway car driven by Virtanen. An hour later Virtanen wearing a black 10 -gallon hat, leather jacket and cowboy boots strode into the National Trust branch with a sawed off shotgun in a sling and fired three shots into the ceiling. In the panic and confusion some of the customers were able to flee to the safety of a restaurant next door and phoned police. Police quickly converged on the scene and sealed off the area, and moved curious bystanders out of the area. Inside Virtanen herded 26 hostages to the rear of the building away from windows and the long seige began. Police began communication with Virtanen and sharpshooters took up positions atop surrounding buildings. Relatives and friends of hostages huddled with reporters and photographers in a nearby alley and waited for news of the siege. During the first few hours Virtanen was interviewed by reporters who phoned the bank and he told them he had shot and killed a woman hostage which was untrue. He also warned that other hostages would Nuclear Power Plant has brought large numbers of people to the area with the associated police problems. The in- crease in the force in terms of recruit- ments and training appears to have been handled adequately by the chief. His relations with members of the force, the council and the community were not subject for complaint during this period." The subject was -only part of the memnrandum that appeared in its en- tirety in the Kincardine News. Kin- cardine council received the fourth resignation of a policeman in nine months last week be slain if his accomplice was not brought to the scene. What Virtanen really wanted was his friend and a bottle of scotch. The two men made a act and wanted to die together. Virtanen fired several more shots during the night but they were mainly for effect. Food was brought to the bank periodically and he began releasing hostages. Virtanen later requested his picture be taken by photographers in a jovial at- mosphere. His last hostage was released when a bottle of scotch was delivered. Fifteen minutes later he quietly surrendered. tter irter to eagai ecerg non its s hos of those esday the House of Commons that federal agents have in - labor unions, college campuses cal organizations in a vast spy perating since the 1960's. leged clandestine network, by the civilian security f the Royal Canadian Mounted reports to members of the cabinet, says Progressive five MP Erik Nielsen. targets of the security branch e National Farmers Union, the ederation of Labor and some funded Local Initiatives Nielsen told MP's Monday and ur tO day the United Nations ouncil was prepared to order a t mandatory ban on all arms outh Africa - the first time in t mandatory sanctions will Imposed against a member concerted effort by black lions to impose a full trade on the Pretoria government down when three Western e United States, Britain and olutions on the subject. lest CANADA IN SEVEN night during an emergency debate on the RCMP, that the 1973 break-in at the Montreal office of the Parti Quebecois was part of a federal campaign to monitor activities of dozens of political groups. Nielsen, who represents the riding of Yukon, ;cad from a confidential security memo the names of 14 organizations he said had been the targets of counter subversion and neutralization tactics. He also charged that some of the federal agents were sent to the United States for training by the Central Intelligence Agency. Amid the shock of the RCMP break-in of a Parti Quebecois office in 1973 the House was even more outraged when it learned that an electronic device was found in a phone in Joe Clark's con- ference room and an electronic bug was discovered beneath a chair in the Commons office of Elmer MacKay, a Tory critic of the RCMP. The devices were discovered by an electronics expert called in by the Progressive Conservatives and throughout the night MPs' offices were swept with detectors by House of Com inons security staff. The Conservatives were careful not to call the device found in Clark's room a bugging unit until it was examined by security experts. They referred to it only as a foreign object. After the bug was found in MacKay's office, Commons speaker James Jerome increased the patrols in the House and offered to sweep the office of any MP. The object was found in the Tory boardroom as MPs sat until 3 a.m. in an emergency debate on the RCMP's 1973 burglary of a Parti Quebecois office and other allegations of the force breaking the law. Solicitor General Francis Fox said the RCMP told him it was not responsible for the installation and WORLDWEEK US ambassador Andrew Young, said a wholesate ban on trade would have been tantamount to declaring a practical state of war with South Africa. Canada and West Germany proposed the arms ban after both countries had sided with Britain, France and the United States in voting against the all-out trade em - The five Western nations were the only countries on the 16 member s'ecurity council to oppose the trade ban. The others - China, the Soviet Union, India, Romania, Libya, Benin, Maurituis, Panama, Pakistan and Venezuela - all voted in favor. All 15 members agreed on another African resolution strongly condemning South Africa for resorting to massive violence and repression. In its crack- down against opponents of apartheid, the system of separating the races. The arms ban vote will take place later this week and the African nations are ex- pected to propose several amendments aimed at strengthening the resolution. The resolution currently calls for all nations to stop the sale of arms, am- munition, military vehicles and spare parts to ' South Africa. The arms ban likely will have little effect on South Africa since it produces all of its weaponry from rifles to jet fighters. Ambassador Young, who had worked hard in private consultations to avoid casting his first UN veto, told the African delegates they were just not tactically wise in pressing the all out trade ban. Canada's compromise resolution also dropped the African demands for a bah operation of the bug in MacKay's office. Fox said he is the only person who can authorize a bug for national security reasons and he had not done so, Clark's chief of staff Bill Neville, said he did net know the name of the device but said it was a small object that is not part of standard Bell telephone equip- ment. He said it does not monitor telephone calls but it can be activated to pick up conversations in a room. - New Democratic Party leader Ed Broadbent said that the 1973 break-in conducted by the RCMP ha.4 potentially tragic consequences for our people. Speaking in an emergency debate in the. on co-operation with South Africa in the field of nuclear development. In Johannesburg an estimated 77,000 primary and secondary students in Soweto defied South Africa's segregated educational system by boycotting final examinations and forfekting their chances of moving up a grade. The gov,ernment attempted to end the six week class boycott by dropping thousands of warning pa mph lets on the black township from low flying aircraft. The warning was ignored. The black students are protesting House of Commons he said the most disastrous effect will be in Quebec where it will help the separatists. Opposition and government MPs traded insults and jeers across the floor during the debate and Clark charged the government with hiding behind a screen of national security. He said govern- ments have to authorize and follow some secret activities but was appalled at the pattern of law breaking that has become evident of late. The debates are expected to continue and all partieS expressed dismay at the recent activity. against the system of Bantu (African) education, which provides for different facilities and texts for black and white pupils. South Africa spends $400 a year for each white student,nearly ten times that spent on a black. More than 400 of Soweto's 700 blackt teachers resigned a month ago in sup- port of their pupils. An estimated 90,000 more students around the country also joined the boyeott. There are nearly 2 million black students in South Africa.