RCMP ORDERS PROBE OF WITNESS CASE

Police to review facts concerning man who committed murder while in
protection program

William Lin and Carly Weeks with files from Richard Watts The Ottawa Citizen

The RCMP has ordered a thorough review of facts concerning a former
informant-turned-agent over allegations he abused the Witness
Protection Program.

Assistant Commissioner of Federal and International Operations Raf
Souccar ordered the review after the Citizen reported on a man
formerly known as Richard Young, who allegedly supplied false
information and later committed murder as a protected witness, RCMP
spokesman Martin Blais said yesterday.

The review, which will be conducted by RCMP officers in British
Columbia, will include a "complete briefing of the facts surrounding
the investigation of Mr. Young conducted in 'E' Division," said Sgt.
Blais, referring to an RCMP division in British Columbia.

Opposition parties are also calling on the Conservative government to
look into allegations of the program's potential abuse, as well as
concerns over its secrecy and lack of accountability.

"We don't know if there's systemic issues here, or if it's isolated,"
Liberal public safety critic Sue Barnes said yesterday. "I think it
raises some disturbing questions about the operations of the Witness
Protection Program."

NDP public safety critic Joe Comartin wants the federal government to
launch an independent inquiry into the case of the
informant-turned-agent who later committed murder as a protected witness.

Mr. Young allegedly provided false information about a man the RCMP
believed was a

major drug dealer in Victoria. The man was later promoted to a paid
agent, despite doubts about his credibility that were raised by a
police polygraph specialist.

After participating in an RCMP-initiated drug "buy and bust" in 2001,
Mr. Young was put in the Witness Protection Program. He was later
convicted of murder, but because he's a protected witness, no details
of the case can be published or released.

Now, opposition parties are speaking out about what they say are
indications the Witness Protection Program is too secretive and may
be rife with abuses the public is never told about. It may be time to
change the way the program is run to increase the level of
accountability and ensure problems or abuses aren't ignored, they said.

"I think a number of us for a long time have felt uncomfortable with
the fact it's just the police services that make the decision on
whether somebody's going to be allowed in this program and feel that
we need an oversight," Mr. Comartin said.

He said the protection program, which costs between $2 million and

$3 million a year, is not accountable and must be changed to include
the use of judges, so police forces aren't solely responsible for
choosing who is allowed in the protection program or promoted from
RCMP informant to agent.

"Oversight in itself is not sufficient. We need actual intervention
by judicial authorities as the process is ongoing -- not after the
fact," Mr. Comartin said yesterday. "I want to prevent the abuse and
the only way you can do that is to have the intervention before the
process starts.

Mr. Comartin and Ms. Barnes said they plan to raise the issue at the
House of Commons public safety committee in order to determine
whether there are widespread problems within the Witness Protection
Program. Ms. Barnes said she wants officials from the program to
appear before the committee to get the full answers surrounding this
case and whether there are problems with the program's operations.

"At this point, we don't have sufficient information," she said.

Tom Bulmer, a lawyer who took on the case of the accused Victoria
drug dealer after he was introduced to him through Mr. Young, had
accused the RCMP of negligence for dismissing a polygraph report that
questioned Mr. Young's credibility.

He also had suspicions about Mr. Young.

Mr. Bulmer said in an interview that he would like to see federal
politicians amend the act so the public is better protected.

After all, Mr. Young, who was convicted of killing someone while
using his new identity, was handed money and inserted into a new
community where he committed the act, Mr. Bulmer said.

"There has to be a balance to protect that other community as well,"
Mr. Bulmer said, noting police routinely put out public and media
warnings on newly released offenders.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day was not in Ottawa yesterday, but
a spokeswoman said he is aware of the issue.

"Minister Day is looking into these reports and has asked for a full
briefing. Tackling crime in all its forms is a priority of this
government," spokeswoman Melisa Leclerc wrote in an e-mail.

But Mr. Comartin said the federal government needs to hold an
independent inquiry to address the disturbing issues raised by Mr.
Young's story.

"There definitely should be an independent one," he said. "We're not
sure that we're being given accurate information."

Although there is a clear need to keep details of the protection
program from the public, such as any information that could identify
witnesses, Canadians deserve to have some information about the
program, said Edward Prutschi, a Toronto criminal lawyer.

"There's a very clear reason why Canadians want accountability from
the program," he said. "Should things like overall cost of the
program, number of persons in the program, identifying issues like
that don't actually give you an indication of who the person is or
how the program functions. Should Canadians be able to access that
kind of information? I think the answer is yes."