MACKAY ROASTS MOUNTIES BOSS

RCMP COMMISSIONER Giuliano Zaccardelli should have been more cautious
before linking the killing of four of his officers solely to a
marijuana grow operation, Tory deputy leader Peter MacKay charged
yesterday. Zaccardelli has since retracted the statements, and MacKay
called on Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan, who also made the link,
to do the same.

"He was a little bit quick in condemning or linking the deaths to a
grow op. Clearly that was part of the cause of why the RCMP were there
but it looks like stolen property was also a part of that," MacKay
said.

"What the commissioner has done in stepping back from that is an
admission that he should have gathered more information, he should
have been a little more cautious in linking that as the root cause.

"McLellan should follow Zaccardelli's lead," he said.

McLellan's spokesman, Alex Swann, said she has never commented on the
investigation into the murder of the four officers.

"When she was asked her position on grow ops, she spoke to those
matters and her views were not shaped by this event. Her views are
long held on grow ops," Swann said.

Liberal MP Paul DeVillers, who chairs the Commons justice committee,
defended Zaccardelli's statements, insisting it was a "natural"
connection to make in the aftermath of the murders.

"It doesn't change the fact that grow ops are very dangerous and
police are frustrated over the fact that they are at risk, having
encountered a lot of incidents involving organized crime and
well-armed groups that are there to protect their grow ops at any
cost," he said.