Tories hit for stifling 2 probes

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By ANDREA BAILLIE (CP)

TORONTO The Conservative government was accused Wednesday of trying to thwart the release of potentially damaging information about two nagging Tory sore spots - the SARS crisis and the killing of a native protester at Ipperwash provincial park - in a bid to avoid scandal before the Oct. 2 election.

The Liberals accused the government of muzzling civil servants who have been asked to participate in a review of the government's handling of the SARS outbreak headed by Justice Archie Campbell. And the NDP hammered the Tories for trying to postpone a civil trial over the police shooting eight years ago of Dudley George.

Public hearings on the SARS crisis could prove explosive for the Tories as they are scheduled to begin Sept. 29, just days before Ontario voters go to the polls.

The Ipperwash trial also poses a potential problem for the re-election campaign of Premier Ernie Eves. It was to begin Sept. 22.

The accusations against the Tories began flying early Wednesday when the Liberals released a memo from the Community Services Ministry that instructs employees to notify their managers if they are contacted by the SARS review team.

"This is a gag order. The SARS inquiry needs access to all information, and this government is standing in its way," said deputy Liberal leader Sandra Pupatello.

A key member of Campbell's team condemned the memo, saying that employees asked to participate in the review must be able to talk freely.

"Instructions that (employees) have to advise their managers and not speak to the commission are wrong . . . They're free to talk to the commission without reporting that fact," said Doug Hunt, commission counsel.

After becoming aware of the memo earlier this week, Hunt wrote a letter Tuesday to the government asking that it be withdrawn.

But it wasn't until the memo was made public Wednesday that the government issued a new directive.

"It is critical that all employees know that . . . they are not under any obligation to inform anyone about their cooperation with the commission," said a memo from Tony Dean, who as secretary of cabinet is a civil servant, not a member of the Conservative's political staff.

Campaigning in Ottawa on Wednesday, Eves said he had nothing to do with the initial bulletin.

"I didn't have part in preparing the memo or talking about whether it should be sent out or not, nor should I during the course of an election campaign," he said.

"I believe this was a memo decided upon by somebody in the civil service and . . . put out by them."

Later, however, he issued a scathing statement demanding the Liberals apologize for suggesting Dean had done anything wrong.

"For the Liberal party of Ontario to suggest that the cabinet secretary, a respected public servant with many years of service to the people of Ontario, would be involved in an attempt to thwart an independent legal process is not only highly offensive, it is wrong," Eves said in the statement.

"While I, as an elected official, understand politics sometimes involves excessive rhetoric, to besmirch the reputation of one of Ontario's finest public servants is unacceptable."

NDP Leader Howard Hampton, also in the Ottawa area Wednesday, suggested the Tory government wants to put off hearing from Campbell until after the election.

"We're probably seeing an action which will serve to delay Mr. Justice Archie Campbell in his work until after the election is over."

Campbell's review is to focus on issues such as how information about SARS was communicated to health-care workers and whether efforts taken to isolate the virus could have been improved.

Eves had been under pressure from some health-care workers to hold a full-scale public inquiry but refused to do so.

In addition, a report on the SARS crisis commissioned by federal Health Minister Anne McLellan will probably not be made public before the election, a senior Health Canada official confirmed Tuesday.

Dr. Paul Gully denied politics were at play in the timing of the release of the report, which was initially meant to have been made public before the federal and provincial health ministers' meeting in Halifax at the beginning of September.

Dr. David Naylor, the lead author of the report, confirmed Wednesday he is still fine-tuning the summary of his report, which is expected to spread considerable blame over all levels of government for their handling of the SARS outbreak.

Hampton also accused the Tories on Wednesday of stalling the Ipperwash trial in order to boost the party's re-election chances.

Murray Klippenstein, the lawyer representing five of George's siblings, said Public Safety Minister Bob Runciman filed a request through his lawyer to push the date to Oct. 3 - the day after the election.

Klippenstein said he filed court documents this week opposing the request, adding that "the George family basically thinks that's a manoeuvre to avoid having the truth come out during the election campaign."

A spokeswoman for Runciman declined comment Wednesday.

Hampton said "government lawyers have certainly used every manoeuvre, every procedural trick to delay this as much as possible."

The Liberals, meanwhile, denied Wednesday that they were using the SARS memo to deflect attention from problems in their own campaign.

"I don't think this is a bogus issue," said Liberal George Smitherman.

"What we're doing is highlighting to Ontarians that on a matter of crucial importance to them - understanding exactly what happened that led to the deaths of 43 Ontarians - that the government of Ontario is seeking to corral the testimony of its employees."

In fact, 44 people in the Toronto area died of severe acute respiratory syndrome in two outbreaks in March and May.

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