CHIEF FELT 'OBLIGED' TO SEEK PROBE OF MAYOR-ELECT

Vancouver police Chief Jamie Graham says he felt obliged to ask the
RCMP several weeks ago to review the past conduct of mayor-elect Sam
Sullivan because otherwise he would have been questioned about why he
hadn't investigated something that appeared to be a criminal act.

"I was faced with a dilemma. I did not want to affect the upcoming
election . . . [but] the circumstances in my view warrant a careful
examination, so that at the end of the day there will be no criticism
that we saw facts and we did not act," Graham said.

The chief, who was speaking at a Vancouver Board of Trade conference
at the Wall Centre, faced a barrage of questions from reporters about
news that the RCMP, at Graham's request, is reviewing Sullivan's past
admissions that he has given people money to buy drugs.

Sullivan has also said that on at least one occasion he drove an
addict to a Downtown Eastside location to buy drugs and allowed him
to smoke crack in his van.

"I felt that based on those facts, those self-admissions, it would be
prudent for police to have a careful look at this because of the
possible conflict with the Vancouver police and Mr. Sullivan's future
as the possible chair of the police might warrant having an outside
agency look at this," Graham said.

Graham's request adds a considerable element of strain to what is
already an unpromising relationship between Sullivan and Vancouver police.

During the election campaign, Sullivan announced he would create a
"crime commissioner" to tackle Vancouver's crime problem. Graham
responded that that was actually his job.

The head of the Vancouver police union criticized Sullivan for
claiming that police could put more officers on the street by finding
efficiencies. Sullivan maintained that it was his job to make sure
that the city gets "value for money" from the police and not just
write them a blank cheque, which he claimed Vision Vancouver's Jim
Green was promising.

Graham said he contacted the province's conflict-of-interest
commissioner, Judge H.A.D. Oliver, to ask him how to proceed and
Oliver advised him to send the file to the RCMP. Graham did that
shortly after he read a story in The Vancouver Sun that detailed an
encounter between Sullivan and a young man in the Downtown Eastside,
where Sullivan gave money to buy crack twice during the evening and
drove the young man to the corner of Hastings and Columbia to make the buy.

That incident took place sometime after February of 2001, although
neither party could recall the exact date.

"A careful analysis of the circumstances as written in that article
could lead one to believe that there could be an offence . . .
regarding possession of drugs or facilitation or conspiracy of a drug
offence," Graham said, adding that he doesn't normally ask for
pre-investigation reviews based on newspaper stories, but that this
was an exceptional situation.

Sullivan responded that he thinks Graham asked for the investigation
only because Mayor Larry Campbell and Coun. Jim Green forced the
issue by constantly referring to it during the election campaign.

But, when asked if he thought Graham was responding to political
pressure, Sullivan replied: "No, I think the chief is a professional."

He said he hasn't been interviewed yet by the RCMP but will cooperate
fully with whatever he is asked to do.

Campbell and Green typically did not bring up the issue unless they
were asked about it by reporters, but the Vision Vancouver campaign
did run a series of ads in the Chinese media in the last days of the
election, telling voters that Sullivan had bought drugs for users.

Campbell also wrote to the solicitor-general's ministry during the
campaign, asking for its position on Sullivan's suitability to be on
the police board, given his past actions.

Kevin Begg, the assistant deputy minister in the ministry, said the
ministry is taking no action because the mayor of Vancouver
automatically becomes the police board chair and there is no
requirement that he or she go through any security check or review of
their suitability.