DUCEPPE RENEWS CALL FOR ANTI-GANG LAW

Needed To Stop Crime At Ports, Bloc Leader Says

RIMOUSKI, Que. (CP) -- Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe is renewing his
call for anti-gang legislation following a federal report that organized
crime has infiltrated major Canadian ports and airports.

The report, obtained by CBC French-language TV, says biker gangs have the
complicity of port employees in drug-smuggling operations in Montreal,
Halifax and Vancouver.

The 1996 document describes the Port of Montreal as a "sieve" for
contraband. There are also problems at Dorval and Mirabel airports.

Several news investigations in recent years have pointed to similar
conclusions.

Duceppe, whose riding includes the port, reiterated his call for a federal
law that would make it an offence to belong to a criminal organization.

"This (crime) corrodes all our democratic institutions," Duceppe told a
news conference yesterday.

"They launder their money through legal businesses. It's government
agencies also that are being attacked. All of this shows that we must act
strongly and rapidly,"

Duceppe accused Revenue Minister Martin Cauchon, who is responsible for the
federal customs agency, of trying to silence him on the issue.

In a TV interview earlier this week, Cauchon accused the Bloc of running a
single-issue campaign focused on biker gangs. But Duceppe said he intends
to keep raising the issue.

"What nauseated me . . . was that Martin Cauchon asked me to keep quiet
when the person responsible for Customs Canada is Martin Cauchon."

Last week, at the time of a major drug bust in the Port of Montreal, police
officials said port employees were implicated. The dockworkers' union has
demanded a retraction.

The federal government abolished the Ports Canada police force several
years ago. Duceppe said that police resources should be increased but
stronger legislation is also essential.