OTTAWA - Canadian law restricts the flow of information between the Mounties and Canada's spy agency, putting Canadians at greater risk of another terrorist attack, says former commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli.
And with the threat "at Canada's doorstep,'' the risk of an attack is greater today than it was more than two decades ago when Air India Flight 182 was bombed out of the sky, killing 329 people, Zaccardelli told an inquiry into the tragedy.
"If we're still working under the same legislation that was an impediment in 1985, and the threat has increased, we now are facing a more serious challenge here,'' Zaccardelli said.
Families of the victims of the bombing should find Zaccardelli's candour refreshing, says Jacques Shore, a lawyer who represents them at the inquiry headed by Justice John Major.
"Mr. Zaccardelli made it very clear there has to be changes in the system,'' said Shore, who predicted that many of the former RCMP chief's comments would end up becoming part of the final recommendations coming out of the inquiry.
"He also made it very clear that if we don't make these changes, we are at risk, because ultimately he said that that trip wire is closer to us today than it was even 21, 22 years ago.''
Current law is forcing the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to work under a structure that limits the transfer of information from one organization to the other, Zaccardelli said.
Zaccardelli commended the culture of co-operation that exists now between the two agencies, as compared to years past.
But in a day and age where terrorism is arguably a greater threat to the country, changes are needed in Canadian law to allow critical information to flow more quickly, he said.
And those changes will ultimately result in further changes in the working cultures of both agencies, Zaccardelli predicted.
"What we have today, in spite of the best co-operation, or the best attempt, they still have to work under this framework which impedes them from doing what I believe they've got to do,'' he said.
"When we create the proper legislative and policy changes, I believe that will drive the cultural changes because then we can all safely look and see that we're here for the interests of Canada.''
Zaccardelli's testimony was in stark contrast to that of Andy Ellis, the director general of CSIS in the Toronto region, who told the inquiry Nov. 23 that the once-troubled relationship between the RCMP and CSIS has improved dramatically.
Ellis said that CSIS has shed its reluctance to share information with the RCMP that might threaten to reveal secret sources.
A number of witnesses have told the inquiry that squabbling and inter-agency suspicions between the RCMP and CSIS hurt the investigation into the Air India bombing.
Only one man has ever been convicted for his role in the plot. Another was shot dead by police in India in 1992 and two more were acquitted at trial in Vancouver in 2005.
Zaccardelli acknowledged that the relationship between the Mounties and CSIS has not always been the best, even under his six-year tenure at the helm of the RCMP.
Efforts to improve that relationship should continue, even without legislative changes, said Zaccardelli.
But changes in laws governing intelligence sharing are long overdue, he said.
"Given that we don't have the legislation, it should not prevent us from doing everything we can to improve the relationship, so we've got to do both,'' Zaccaredelli testified.
"But, ideally, let's tackle the problem, because we've spent over 20 years of window dressing,'' he added.
"The window's still the same. We need a new window.''
