RCMP ordered to hand Mafia files to corruption commission
Superior Court judge rejects federal protests
The lineup of evidence at an upcoming provincial commission examining corruption in Quebec’s construction industry got a little more intriguing Friday when a Superior Court judge ordered the RCMP to hand over material it gathered about organized crime.
Judge Guylène Beaugé ordered the police force to appear before the commission, which is to begin hearings in the coming months, with wire tapped conversations and videotapes requested in subpoenas sent to the RCMP in January and March.
Citing the Supreme Court of Canada, she said commissions are often set up to discover the truth in reaction to shock, horror, disillusionment or skepticism felt by the population, and serve an important function in Canadian society.
“They are an excellent means to inform and educate worried citizens,” she wrote, citing the high court and adding she couldn’t have worded her conclusion any better.
The Charbonneau Commission claims proof of direct links between the Mafia and construction firms is contained in the abundance of evidence obtained by the RCMP in Project Colisée, a yearslong investigation into organized crime in the province that led to high-profile arrests.
The Canadian gover nment argued during hearings in court this month that the subpoenas were too broad and that the information, obtained through wiretaps and hidden cameras, was protected under the federal privacy law and was therefore for RCMP eyes only.
But Beaugé ruled there are absolutely no privileges or restrictions preventing the Mounties from handing over what its Project Colisée investigation uncovered.
She also rejected the government’s argument that it would have to edit the 1.5 million wiretapped conversations in order to protect the RCMP’S investigation methods, the identity of police informants and innocent third parties.
“The RCMP already admitted that during the trials after Colisée, the crown handed to the defence between 8,000 and 8,500 conversations and that thousands were produced in court,” she wrote. “This process, the RCMP also recognizes, already led to edited versions so as not to violate various privileges.”
The commission has been trying to get the evidence since late last year but federal lawyers argued that a commission didn’t have the power to subpoena a federal institution – an argument Beaugé rejected.
The RCMP-LED Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit gathered wiretapped conversations, 1,500 days’ worth of video footage and tens of thousands of photos and reports from 2002 to 2006, from Mafia hangouts including the Consenza Social Club in St. Léonard, where Mafia bosses met to divide cash from drug trafficking, loansharking and gambling.
The force claimed the subpoena asking for information was unmanageable given the volume of the RCMP’S evidence but, as Beaugé pointed out, the commission asked for information on specific individuals and companies.
On Nov. 22, 2006, Project Colisée ended with dozens of arrests.