RCMP DEFENDS WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM

A top RCMP officer yesterday defended the force's witness protection
program, saying that its paid agents, mostly criminals, don't live in
a "bubble" and are not immune from prosecution after they assume
their "new life," in which they get free automobiles, houses,
education, and all their debts paid.

Raf Souccar, the RCMP's assistant commissioner, testified yesterday
at a House of Commons committee that there is a perception that
criminals who are paid as police informants are above the law.

In fact, the force's 700 agents are subject to the law, and never
spared prosecution, Assistant Commissioner Souccar said.

The Commons committee on public safety and national security
yesterday launched an all-party probe into the RCMP's witness
protection program after the Citizen exposed Richard Young, an RCMP
agent who fabricated crime plots in exchange for hundreds of
thousands of dollars -- only to go on to kill under an identity
afforded him by the RCMP.

The agent was signed on despite an RCMP polygraph expert's concerns
about his stories. He was never charged for lying to RCMP officers
about plots to kill officials, including a prosecutor in Victoria.

At the first day of public hearings yesterday, top Mounties fielded
basic questions about the program.

The assistant commissioner said that over time, RCMP handlers
"diminish" their time spent with paid agents. In fact, the RCMP is
notified when its agents have broken the law when they are arrested
by other police forces.

It is against the law for the Citizen to identify the RCMP agent's
present identity.