The MacNeil/Lehrer Report; Canadian Parliment

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and other public television stations and by grants from exelon corporation allied chemical corporation and the corporation for public broadcasting the government has been engaged in surveillance activities and i want to know what i want to know where the solicitor general grocer raised about surveillance a political parties and perhaps ordinary citizens he's

beaming he's been meaning you usually placid politics in canada had been whipped into a storm these past two weeks by disclosures reminiscent of recent fbi cia scandals the royal canadian mounted police the federal police force were accused of illegally and systematically spying on canadians for years the disclosures reluctantly confirmed by the government i'm embarrassed prime minister trudeau because one target for our sea and the surveillance was his arch political opponent the party which is trying to take what back out of canada all of this has been watched with unusual fascination by canadians because the scandal broke just after television was admitted to the house of commons tonight a look at some of those stories seems in the canadian parliament you're runnin here in the united states the image of the

royal canadian mounted police is always been that of tall strong man and scarlet code to always get their man or sing across the lake like nelson eddy or call across the you've got like sergeant preston but there's always been mortally r c e m p them that they've always had their security services branch plainclothes mounties will perform a function similar to that of the fbi in this country and if the past activity of that part of the artsy and p that has caused a ruckus there've been disclosures of the illegal mail openings break ins bugging and even arson by r c e m p agents attempting to counter subversion espionage and terrorism in canada the two most publicized breakdowns were at the montreal offices of a left wing news agency and of the parti quebecois five years ago the most bizarre was the arsonist the charge that now to burn down a barn in nineteen seventy two you keep a meeting of parents from coming all they've also been accused of stealing some dynamite from the montreal factory as all these past horror stories were coming out the

opposition members of parliament provided some fresh frosty with the revelation that electronic bugs had just been found in some of their offices the clear implication that the party mp was behind a charge denied by prime minister trudeau and others in the dell and in television coverage heightened the drama in the house of commons in ottawa the body modeled on the british parliament where members sit facing each other in rows the majority party in this case the liberal party forming the government on the left and the opposition parties led by the progressive conservative party on the right and here in the center at the very back the speaker of the house of commons the wind and they rolled like his british counterpart the television coverage is run by parliament itself and made available to television networks the exchanges were about to say took place last week in question period an important part of the tradition was no exact equivalent in american government in question period opposition members can ask the most searching questions of the government including the prime minister

himself another tradition in ottawa members applauded by something their desks their wide notice that the specific storyline same for the tapes were about to say when the latest rc and the revelations started coming out prime minister trudeau was out of town and unavailable for the question period when he didn't get there the opposition members were loaded and ready for the particular board in on the rca and these activities concerning the parti quebecois political party behind the quebec separatist movement that activity included that break in at the montreal offices of the peak you as you'll hear be referred to and the taking of computerized list of the peak use members the trudeau government's position is that once had learned in nineteen seventy five the prc and p was spied on the quebec independence party it ordered it stopped and promptly issued new guidelines for the police the solicitor general the

cabinet on march twenty seven nineteen seventy five define the mandate of the security service now as the prime minister recall almost new legal offenses collins has been informed debate or kurt before that definition of the man or the prime minister of canada tell us what was the mandate of the security service prior to march twenty seven nineteen seventy five and specifically did that mandate part of march nineteen seventy five the deal with the question of illegal activities and what instructions were given to the security services in regard to illegal activities it's been the pacific a jury service before the date of the

publication of the year giving of these guidelines of the us and he was the traditional mandate carried out by arson and he wonders sometimes as i know this we have not been able to find a specific guidelines issued in march reason why some were issued in march seventh hour well because at that time we realized that her voice and he had been investigating a political party the part and they're asking us for a ride in terms of what they should be doing is the police the security

services as it is the fact that the us and people commit any illegalities necessary by might think any other case they could not legally romney's benefit he became aware that the security services were engaged in surveillance of a legitimate political parties that time asked to authorize that surveillance video not at that time have crossed his mind the question as to whether or not to control it he was keeping or as a responsible minister or security services who were more than twice all admission surveying the activities of political parties who might indeed human involvement in illegal activities did it not that it was that

it was approved for him to establish some means to ensure as a responsible minister of the law was not being broken that initiatives such as the surveillance of political parties for ordinary citizens were not being we're not being taken in the stickers the answer is that when i heard that a political party was being surveyed reissued guidelines indicating that that should not be done the young men were asked to leave the opposition as if that time i didn't suspect that maybe in order to serve a political party says the police would have had to break them are just the kind of default well it certainly didn't cross my mind i would imagine we could get and either we could get a list of the members of the conservative party just mind giving some money to some member of the secretary would give a soloist nothing illegal about that i just found an offensive that dr cynthia had had lists lists and we're surveying a political i

don't know if i knew the time that unless they told me they were surveying the party of the american surveillance implying nine with a member of that are going to need a little more reason to suspect they were breaking the law and surveying that party that the suspect you're breaking the law on surveying any spy or terrorist whose and coming in gemma you have a question for the prime minister is going to last saturday's norman mailer as being amazed when he learned of the surveillance of the democratically constituted party that has more words are gee we've got to start and i'd like to ask given his alleged state of amazement that such serious and wrong activity was taking place in terms of monitoring political parties and canada and given also the fact that he said and i quote maybe they

would reference we are simply didn't tell me and the ball about having a membership list of the week you're not considering at one point and sets and today he suggested he'd analysts agree mike himself against know maybe didn't happen it's like my question to the prime minister's every was really amazed about this when he was twelve in nineteen seventy four in nineteen seventy five he couldn't remember the year the jail ny heaven's name is it may stay in the pursuit of questions legally or not if the opposition is distorting my words i never said even in the german press conference that i might or might not a cavernous i said they might or might not uphold that they have this we are simply trying to

nineteen eighty or ninety miles and former iraqi arts in five years and three but their exercise and surveillance of the gq i say that soon add in a seventy four seventy five because we issued guidelines in march seventy five these guidelines were meant to tell the police that they should only emphasize certain types of civilians so that was the goal by this speech and fightin house therefore they've taken place later and seventy four and seventy five i could i'm sure checked by looking at some diarrhea but i don't think it's all out there elements thing was that when we found out around that period but their exercise and surveillance a concept of democratic opposition political party we don't stop and we should go i don't know if i was told them that they had in this or not i honestly don't remember them having told me that they have a mess but i

would agree that it's really in prison that if you have a police and they're really smart which they are under exercise instrumental of partying when it the party though there are party one thing they would do it began with you know it can very easily anyway there's not really that simple as the year the opposition was appalling that in order to get this particular piece of information they have to do anything i know the police are getting information all the time i'm sure that many of former members opposite but it's not always at the police are getting information now that savings in this country which are richer detriment of the security police are getting information on people like engage in acts as terence our lives of all that to get this information you have to break the law it's

b general scenario considering a serious moral and political responsibility as prime minister and i sit in the context of the times we had a rising separatist movement in the province of quebec and the prime minister discovered that the federal police force of canada we're monitoring that political party at this point in our history is a basic moral and political responsibility to at least find out if they were doing it legally

and eight suspects are to leave the opposition that fire from time to time chrysler wants a year near state isn't much more frequent in later stages we had information from the police they would tell the relevant ministers involved securities of foreign affairs innocent justice myself they would tell us that about certain information about their subversive groups encounter another would tell us about the terrorist groups and when i ask each time we need to get this information as soon as the police when they get this information out as terrorist act as to why this information some somebody's mistress

or the prime minister the penny has been doing this has been and how this isn't <unk> sometimes make mistakes mistakes and we discover that and took to it breaking the law will

repeat that we report that the attorney general the problem similarly act has been suspected they're going to go that's the first or the second point is that if we're on the side are to be arranged by the opposition both want is the opposition to begin are monitoring the day my day operations of the police asking about their information from it's not enough but it's not the pain

live viewing of this novel parliamentary television the first permitted in any major democracy is limited to viewers of cable television in a few canadian cities but many stations across the country decide to last week's question that perhaps because of that the prime minister discovered the prc and the scandal was not simply going to blow away the opposition was back the next day and if anything even more aggressive and on really there's been a lot of responsibility

he was a crime against the state a state police force one asked for the resignation from the ministry responsible minister of the time really wants a rough version as speaker i am the only member to secure the answer and the report of the commission on security which is published in june nineteen sixty nine the commission on security which was chaired by a very a blown well known former civil servant by a present justice of the supreme court and by a former leader of the new democratic party i mean there has been this strong commissioned security and they say that this is a state security service i'm reading verbatim anyone the security service will inevitably be involved in

actions that may contravene the spirit of not the letter of the law and with kindest on another activities which may sometimes seemed to infringe on individual right this is bigger than it's from a group of outside experts who realize that pretty more than the opposition rebels both parties which to realize who realize the matters of subversion call sort of a very fine line to be drawn between the respective civil liberties on the one side on protection of the security of the state on the other side at how now and this probably most important not

the responsibility it within drawn in that report to the government others to this country was to always be certain that there was a difference between subversion and other activities that may not agreeable to the government with a garment mean we were nineteen and eighteen on the government to make sure that this line is never transgressed americans know nothing is so threatening you can see the peak lately with the young member and there is a question not only at will in theory but i can point out that in fact we made sure that this very fine line between

subversion in the senate was not i mean how that would make sure that this hour ago after mass here in riyadh a year the opposition without seeking a floor stained stating something which is absolutely unequivocally falls as banks is bank the pieces

since those scenes were taped there have been further damaging disclosures on wednesday the government admitted that they are simply has been illegally opening and copying mail for twenty two years yesterday the government said the four seven conducting raids on private premises since nineteen fifty they are simply could not investigate itself the government has turned all evidence over to a royal commission equivalent in this country of a presidential commission the television for the canadian story as a very definite united states i know of course congress is taking steps toward doing something similar just last month the house of representatives authorize the speaker to set up an experimental close circuit tv system just after the first of the year the unresolved part of that problem is who would actually run the system the congress itself as is the case in canada where the tv networks to some kind of cool right that's important to legislators the fear here as

in canada is that if the outside tv people ran the show there might be a lot of embarrassing cutaway shots of empty chairs of lawmakers dozing read newspapers and otherwise not getting any given speaker their full attention there's little movement in the senate for televising its actions except for the possibility of televising the upcoming debate on the panama canal treaty it's well it gave them on to those ferocious question periods in canada are not a product of television they're part of the parliamentary system of government so forget the possibility of ever seeing jimmy carter's say under attack from howard baker john rhodes another potential leaders of the opposition television or not it'll never happen here robin and for members of congress contemplating what affect coverage could have the canadian experience is instructive and a couple of other ways for those concerned with appearance observers in ottawa have noted that members of smartened up their dress and some are rushed off to buy lighter colored suits more substantively political observers have noted a significant effect on the leader of the opposition the head of the conservative

party joe clark until parliamentary television mr clark had a hard time competing with the stature and charisma prime minister trudeau despite all the political troubles besetting the trudeau government now one newspaper wrote mr clarke is seen to be what he always said he was but no one quite believed the leader of the opposition in the parliamentary system still the debate with grayson shop went on your feet as an import part of building a political career public seldom sought now they can muster clark stature has risen one other effect american commentators speculated that the television age was helping to increase the power of the executive by televising parliament especially the winemaker as jim period which the new shows no actually pick up the government the executive has been put on the defensive in the eyes of the public it's a new posture in any case regular television in a national legislature has been introduced smoothly and quickly in canada it is not destroyed parliament or exposed it to ridicule

it may some commentators believe even make it seem relevant again that's also tonight jay leno back to my job on monday night when we'll examine issues like arms and although with one of america's key allies in the middle east the shah of iran robert macneil week has been is anesthesia is your chance to send one dollar in the mueller report fox report by your new hair report was produced by

wnet wpa there solely responsible for its content funding for this program has been provided by the station and other public television stations and by grants from exelon corporation allied chemical corporation and the corporation for public broadcasting is a teen ager you're only mahmoud in