COUNTER-CULTURE MAYORAL CANDIDATE SUES MALL

HAMILTON - Church of the Universe clerics Walter Tucker and Michael
Baldasaro have filed a joint lawsuit and are seeking $3 million in damages
from the owner of Eastgate Square.

The two claim they were assaulted, humiliated and wrongfully detained by
mall security two days before the Nov. 27 municipal election in which
Baldasaro ran for mayor.

With their long, gray beards and colourful hemp-woven hats, the pair are
well known advocates for the legalization of marijuana, which they use as a
church sacrament.

On Nov. 25, they attended the Centennial Parkway mall wearing tall top hats
emblazoned with Canada's flag. Baldasaro, 51, and his supporters had
sported the hats throughout his failed mayoralty campaign.

Tucker, 67, said he was talking to an area author, who was autographing
books outside a store, when he was confronted by a security officer.

''This guy came up to me in a very confrontational way and said: `You are
trespassing.' And I laughed and said, `Get away from me, I'm buying a book.
I'm a customer.'''

The security officer informed Tucker he was under arrest. ''At that point,
he grabbed me and started shaking me. I felt like a rat in the mouth of a
terrier.''

In a statement of claim filed at Hamilton's John Sopinka Courthouse, the
plaintiffs state two other security officers forced Baldasaro to the floor
in a public area and cuffed his hands behind his back. The two men say they
were detained by mall security for about 30 minutes.

A statement of claim contains allegations which have not been proved in court.

Representatives of Cadillac Fairview Corporation Ltd., which owns Eastgate
Square, did not return calls from The Spectator yesterday. However, the
large Toronto property developer has filed a statement of defence in
Hamilton's Superior Court.

The defendant denies each and every allegation made in the statement of claim.

Cadillac Fairview specifically denies any assault or unlawful detention.
The company states citizens' arrests are authorized by the Criminal Code
and that ''any detention of the plaintiffs was lawful and based on
reasonable and probable grounds.''

Progressive Conservative candidate, Steven Knight, who ran against Hamilton
East MP Sheila Copps in the federal election, was actively campaigning at
Eastgate Square with his family the same day the two men were arrested.

Knight said he was not approached or confronted by security staff. However,
he said they remained outside the mall entrances and unlike Tucker and
Baldasaro, did not hand out election materials inside the mall.

Baldasaro denies campaigning inside the mall. ''But this raises an
interesting question,'' he adds. ''If in fact they thought I was
politicking, and they call that soliciting, isn't that obstruction of an
election?