RCMP's 'iuvenile'

The Cadre , Octy ll

page '5 ‘Y

informers

will no longer receive pay

Ottawa (CUP )- Solicitor-general "Jean Pierre Goyer has announced - that the RCMP will no longer pay ‘ “juvenile” informers.

In a lengthy statement to- the house of commons september 17, he dealt with both the RCMP policy of using juvenile informers and charges made by Robert Eadie «21) iormer informant for the RCMP.‘ '

'The statement was almost completely composed of in- formation supplied by RCMP commissioner W.L. Higgitt. It absolved the federal police force

‘ from any “impropriety” in either the Eadie 'case or, by implication, in the matter of- “juvenile in- formers”. -

A juvenile, in Goyer’s terms, i someone under 17 or 18 years of age. In the statement to the house, he said that juveniles who provide the RCMP with information will no longer be paid under any cir- cumstances.

“I am sure that members of the house will agree that the practice of paying juveniles for information given by them to the police is repugnant,” Goyer said. He did not say why the practice was not “repugnant” to him or to the RCMP before Eadie's damaging disclosures. 7

Actor John Wayne

As of august 24, he said, there were “only six” juvenile in- formants reporting to the RCMP and “receiving payments for in- formation on a casual basis”. He gave no information as to the number of unpaid informants, nor any guarantee that young people over the age of 18 would not be paid to inform on their peers. Outside the house. Goyer defended the continuing use of informers.

He expressed his distaSte in having to reply to Eadie’s “serious allegations”but did not, say why.

Eadie had charged that he had been forced by the RCMP to be an informer on drug use and traf- ficking in Cornwall, Ontario. He said the RCMP had threatened to plant drugs on him and bust him on drug charges if he did not cooperate.

On the basis of the RCMP in— formation, Goyer denied all the accusations. He pointed out as well that Eadie’s father approved of his son’s being an informer, one of the conditions in the RCMP policy on informers.

“There’s no way we could have approved,” Eadie’s father ‘-later told the press. “As soon as we found out what he was doing, we toldhim to stay out of it.”

Eadie had also claimed that the RCMP refused to protect him, when as a result of his informing activities he was attacked and beaten up.

Goyer said the police report of a visit to the Eadie home to in- vestigate the “alleged beating” noted only “a small cut on his upper lip” and “no apparent damage to his teeth”. The elder Eadie later said there was more serious damage. He said his son’s mouth was swollen, his teeth ere loosened, and that he had received a welt across the back.

Goyer concluded his report to the commons with a commendation of the RCMP’s investigation of its own activities and called Eadie’s charges “untrue and malicious”.

Opposition members are calling ‘

for an investigation.

mm-niuinwi .

'Greenpeace'

Montreal (CUP - A Montreal committee, basing itself at Loyola college has begun a city-wide campaign that will eventually climax in a border protest against an American atomic blast code- named Canikin that will take place early in october on Amchitka island in the Aleutian island chain.

The committee, which includes in its membership Loyal student council personnel, hopes to mobilize Montreal area college, university and CEGEP students in a massive pilgrimage to the border, over a twoday period and a protest rally tentatively scheduled for october lst. The blast is tentatively scheduled for october 2nd, though no formal announcement has yet been made.

The,committee. also hopes that the-’different universities in Canada, in proximity to the border will organize similar protests.

The plans also include a proposal for a similar march to the border south of Montreal by American students.

The atomic bomb, a five- megaton affair, will be the most powerful underground explosion yet attempted and is estimated to be. 250 times the strength of the blast that levelled Hiroshima morl than 25 years ago.

Opponents of the proposed blast condemn it as militarilly anachronistic and possible hazardous to the environment. However, the only person who can call the test off, US President Richard Nixon, has not yet in-_ tervened.

A similar blast on‘Amchitlta two

years ago caused thousands of British Columbia students to block the Canadian-American border in unsuccessful protest. _

This year, in addition to border protests, a BC fishing boat, the Greenpeace, with a dozen crew members, scientists, and jour-

nalists hope to prevent the US blast by staying off the three-mile territorial limit within sight of the blast site.

Should the US go ahead with the blast, the Greenpeace crew- members face the possibility of swift destruction.

Amchitka blast argued

WASHINGTON (CUPl)— The White House has received conflicting recommendations from government agencies on whether

or not to proceed with an underground nuclear test on Amchitka this fall.

Reportedly, the Department

In October, 1969, the AEC

Environmental reasons were said to be of secondary consideration to the department. I

The State Department took a middle ground. It did not

supports Amchitka

Movie actor .John Wayne said Monday fears of Canadians and Japanese that the Amchitka nuclear test will "create a chain reaction that would end’ the world",ie nothing but a “bunch of crap." Mr. Wayne, who arrived aboard his converted mine-sweeper The Wild Goose Monday, said the five-megaton blast is “none of the business” of Canada or Japan. The test should go ahead because the United States should be “better prepared than everyone" to deal with the "Commies" who are always breaking treaties, Mr. Wayne said.

of Defense and the Atomic Energy Commission want to give a green light for the explosion. Five other agencies wish to either cancel the test or postpone it until the conclusion of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks now being conducted. Arrayed against the test are: the State Department, the Office of Science and Technology, the U.S. Information Agency, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Council of

Environmental Quality. Amchitka is about 250 miles

from the southwestern tip of the Aleutian Islands, off Alaska, and

about 500 miles from the,

nearest Soviet

island.

Union-owned

set off a one-megaton hydrogen bomb, 4,000 feet .under the island without causing significant damage. The new test will be 5 timés as strong, detonated 6,000 feet below the island. It will be a test of the Spartan anti-missile missile warhead, designed to evaluate its strength in atmospheric detonation.

The latest poll on the proposed test is the product of a d epartment u nder-secretary's committee named to investigate the controversy.

The office of Science and Technology reportedly opposed the test because new developments have rendered the Spartan warhead obsolete.

recommend the test's cancellation, but rather advised postponement. The Council on Environmental Quality took much the same position, while the Environmental Protection Agency ‘opposed the test, believing that even a slight possibility of earthquake is too much of a chance to take.

The Defense Department continues to favor the tests as necessary to national security, as does the AEC, minimizing the

c hances of environmental damage.