The long-awaited "interim" report from the APEC inquiry has been released. And just like the whole 1997 APEC fiasco, the release of the report itself was a bungled affair. Of course, the story of the report's chaotic and haphazard public release is admittedly inside baseball stuff for media and Ottawa watchers, but it is symptomatic of the findings authored by Justice Ted Hughes.

Canada hosted the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit in Vancouver in November 1997. During the summit, protestors mostly demonstrated against the policies of former Indonesian dictator and summit delegate, President Suharto.

They also blocked all access roads to and from the summit venue one day (November 25th at UBC) when the 18 world leaders attending were scheduled to conclude one of their sessions and depart. The RCMP were given a mere six (6) minutes to clear one of the roads of protestors. The rest is TV history.

RCMP Staff Sergeant Hugh Stewart was seen barking orders to protestors to evacuate the area immediately, when they did not comply, pepper spraying ensued, wood shampoos were dished out liberally courtesy of police Billie clubs, and arrests ensued. During the summit, protest signs were confiscated; constitutional rights protecting free speech and peaceful assembly were also trampled.

Amidst all this, Prime Minster Jean Chretien, was asked to comment on the pepper spraying incident, to which he responded blissfully (or deliberately ) unaware of what happened by saying "for me, pepper is what I put on my plate."

Well the peppershaker has taken four years to reach the public table. While the RCMP still must formally respond, here's the bottom line: This process cost $10 million -. taxpayer dollars with almost half of the money going to lawyer's fees! And where will it get us Mostly nowhere.

Will anyone be held to account for "substandard RCMP performance" and the fact that the crackdown on student protesters "was the direct result of inadequate police performance " Hughes also noted "many examples of substandard RCMP performance reflect failures in the planning process."

But even worse, the report also found that there was political interference from government officials. Hughes concluded that some RCMP officials "succumbed to government influence and intrusion."

By the numbers it's now four years since the APEC fiasco. As a result of 52 public complaints, $10 million dollars has been spent. Two commissioners presided (the first one quitting). Testimony occurred over 170 days from 153 witnesses comprising more than 40,000 pages. The report is 453-pages long with seven appendices and makes 21 non-binding recommendations.

Now compare this to New Zealand where a strikingly similar incident happened during their hosting of the APEC summit in 1999, a full two years after the Canadian affair.

As first reported by Jim McNulty in the Vancouver Province this past January, the kiwi affair reached many of the same conclusions and recommendations as outlined by Justice Hughes. But with important differences to be sure.

Instead of a powerless commission, a committee of Parliament conducted their inquiry. Unlike our Prime Minister, New Zealand's PM Jenny Shipley, testified in her own defense.

After a mere 22 hours and 35 minutes of testimony from 69 people, plus a further 27 hours and 12 minutes of deliberation with 54 written submissions, a concise 52-page report was tabled in Parliament. From fiasco to the tabling of the report, about a year went by.
And you can bet the bank that they didn't spend $10 million in the process!