RCMP CHIEF BACKS OFF ATTACK ON GROW-OPS

Too Quick to Link Pot to Murders, Zaccardelli Says

OTTAWA - Canada's top police officer said yesterday he was too quick
to condemn a marijuana grow operation as the root cause in the deaths
of four Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers last week.

RCMP Commissioner Guiliano Zaccardelli said in an interview that his
condemnation of grow-ops just hours after the shootings may have been
inappropriate because police and politicians did not have full details
of the particular case and the background of cop-killer James Roszko.

Comm. Zaccardelli and Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, his
political boss as the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency
Preparedness, spoke of the scourge of marijuana grow operations within
hours of the killings and the need for tougher penalties for those who
operate them.

"I gave what I believed was the best information I had knowing full
well that at that time I didn't have all the information," a contrite
Comm. Zaccardelli said. "Clearly, there's a lot of things in there
that, in hindsight, we will have to look at in a different
perspective."

Police in Mayerthorpe, Alta., first attended Roszko's home last
Wednesday with a court order to seize stolen auto parts. While there,
they discovered what a search warrant said were 20 "mature" marijuana
plants, "several pots containing dirt with stems coming out of them
numbering close to 100," and a smell "consistent of a marijuana grow
operation."

Police returned the next day -- the day of the killings -- with a
warrant to search for the drug outfit and seized 280 plants, $8,000
worth of growing equipment and a generator worth $30,000, the Edmonton
Journal reported.

But in the days since the murders, it appears they were the work of a
deranged man with a long criminal history, but hardly that of a
gangster protecting his cash crop.

"None of these are simple issues. This requires some reflection and
discussion," Comm. Zaccardelli said. "Let's honour the memory of these
four fallen police officers and help their families get through it,
and then we need to carry on the debate after this."

Comm. Zaccardelli's comments followed statements in the House of
Commons by all four political parties commemorating the deaths of
constables Peter Schiemann, 25, Anthony Gordon, 28, Brock Myrol, 29,
and Leo Johnston, 32.

Opposition parties declined out of respect for the four dead officers
to use yesterday's Question Period to probe the initial reactions of
Comm. Zaccardelli and Ms. McLellan.

Last Thursday night, Ms. McLellan said the officers "were killed in an
operation involving, as far as we know at this point, an illegal grow
operation."

She went on to speak of the great danger grow-ops pose to police
officers, their frequent links to organized crime, and the need for
stronger penalties for those who run them. All are positions she has
held consistently for a long time.

Ms. McLellan would not discuss Comm. Zaccardelli's comments
yesterday.

"The first thing that happened was that everybody acted based on a
lack of information," said Randy White, a tough-on-crime Conservative
MP from British Columbia. "Yeah, they did react, but based on
information they didn't have."

Prime Minister Paul Martin, Ms. McLellan and Comm. Zaccardelli will
travel to Edmonton on Thursday for a national memorial service.
Following that, Comm. Zaccardelli said, he will be making a "more
extensive" public statement on the killings.

All four political parties spoke yesterday in the House of Commons in
honour of the four dead officers.

Ms. McLellan, an MP from Edmonton Centre, southeast of where the
killings took place, said she was personally shaken by the incident
because it occurred in her home province.

"These four officers served their community," she said, "but they were
also part of their community."

There were hints Ms. McLellan and the RCMP could come under heavy
scrutiny in coming days.

"All Canadians are asking, why? Those answers will have to wait for
another day," said Jack Layton, the leader of the New Democratic Party.

"The time is coming to understand the implications of their deaths and
the public policy involved," said Conservative leader Stephen Harper.

Politically, it appears the federal gun registry could bear the brunt
of the fallout in the days to come. Roszko had a long criminal record
and should not have had access to weapons.