SPYCAM TO STAY

The federal privacy commissioner says Kelowna should scrap its downtown
video surveillance camera. The mayor and local RCMP say it stays and
they'll put up more.

The commissioner's report, released Thursday, states the video surveillance
at the Bennett Clock on Queensway Avenue contravenes the Privacy Act.
However, if the film isn't running continually, it technically skirts the Act.

And that's what the city and RCMP intend to do.

"We're in compliance with the Privacy Act. Our intent is to operate within
the laws of Canada," said Const. Garth Letcher of the Kelowna RCMP.

But that's not what federal privacy commissioner George Radwanski intended.

"They may be technically within the letter of the Act, but it's my view
that, although technically they comply, the community won't be served
unless the camera is removed," Radwanski said.

If doesn't matter if the tape is rolling or not, he added. "It's not
respectful of our privacy rights."

"The price we pay with the loss of privacy is far greater than the benefit
gained."

In his lengthy report, Radwanski states there might be instances when video
surveillance by the RCMP could be justified, but randomly filming people in
public is not one of them - and smacks of Big Brother.

"The level and quality of privacy in our country risks being struck a
crippling, irreparable blow if we allow ourselves to become subjected to
constant, unrelenting surveillance and observation through the lens of
proliferating video cameras controlled by the police or any other agents of
the state."

But Mayor Walter Gray said the commissioner has his agenda, and the city
has its own.

"He says 'privacy will be the defining issue of the new decade' and I say
safety and security will be the defining issue of this community," said Gray.

Gray says most citizens support the cameras. In the city's 2001 citizen
survey, 80 per cent agreed community safety cameras are an effective crime
prevention tool.

"I absolutely can tell you it's a deterrent." Gray said. "We know it has
been effective."

At the Downtown Kelowna Association, executive director Clint McKenzie said
he's noticed less crime at the bus terminal across the street from his office.

"It's has a positive impact in discouraging trafficking and soliciting," he
said.

The DKA kicked in $5,000 for the camera, with the balance of $17,000 paid
for by the city. Since it was installed in February, the camera has been
operated by the RCMP, who hired four people to monitor it.

Officers from the federal privacy commission were in Kelowna in early July
investigating a complaint filed by the B.C. privacy commission. The
provincial commissioner didn't have jurisdiction because the cameras were
monitored by the RCMP, a federal body. On Aug. 28, the RCMP stopped filming
continuously, while the investigation was on. Now, recordings will only be
made if it appears there's a crime in progress.

The city has five more cameras planned for Bernard, Queensway, Leon and
Lawrence avenues, as well as areas on Abbott, Ellis and Pandosy streets and
possibly Bertram and Richter streets.

RCMP Insp. Don Harrison isn't sure if they are going ahead, but said the
commissioner's decision isn't going to stop police from installing more
cameras.