Fri, June 24, 2005

Const. Stephen Camp realized he was stepping out on a limb when he launched a hate-crimes investigation of staff at the Chinese consulate in Calgary last year.

Nobody had ever tried it before - not in Canada, anyway.

"We're in uncharted waters," said Camp, who works with the Edmonton Police Service's hate crimes section.

"This is a one-of-a-kind investigation, and we have no history of investigations by other police forces to guide us.

"But if we feel someone's distributing hate propaganda in our city, we move forward. It doesn't matter who they are or who they work for.

"Hate literature violates the basic values of this country. If they're promoting hate, they're breaking the law."

LITERATURE INVESTIGATED

Camp recently wrapped up an investigation into literature distributed by Chinese consular staff in Edmonton late last year. The material allegedly slandered Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual movement under assault by the communist government.

According to local Falun Gong supporters, the material claimed the movement promotes ritual mutilation, suicide and murder.

Camp's office concluded the literature violated Canada's hate-crimes law. His findings are now under review by Alberta Justice, which will decide whether to recommend charges against consular staff.

"This is wonderful news," said Joel Chipkar, spokesman for Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) Canada. "Edmonton is really breaking ground here.

"We've complained in the past to police in Toronto and Ottawa about the activities of Chinese consular staff in harassing our members, but nothing ever came of it."

Calgary MP Rob Anders, a frequent critic of the Chinese government, also praised the EPS for taking the first step.

'ECONOMIC REPERCUSSIONS'

"The difficulty is a lot of people in government and in the law enforcement community know what's going on, but they're too worried about the economic repercussions to do anything about it," he said.

"Prime Minister Paul Martin himself has business interests in China, and he's always been one for quietly negotiating human rights with China behind locked doors. But we shouldn't tolerate this kind of behaviour on Canadian soil."

A spokesman for Alberta Justice said the department is reviewing the file, and could recommend charges if there is "a likelihood of a conviction."