[R-G] Defence show cancelled over protests

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=886584e5-fdc0-442c-b1d3-89fe87252965&sponsor=

Defence show cancelled over protests
Vigil participants say PCO edict scuttled event, not threat of civil  
disobedience

David Pugliese
The Ottawa Citizen

Thursday, September 25, 2008

The threat of civil disobedience by protesters at a defence trade show  
scheduled for next week in Ottawa was the reason for the event being  
shut down, according to one of its organizers.

But others who planned to take part in the two-day event at Lansdowne  
Park blame a Privy Council Office edict that prevented senior military  
officers and Defence Department officials from taking part in various  
aspects of Secure Canada 2008 because of the federal election.

And one of the co-ordinators of a disarmament group opposed to Secure  
Canada 2008 says the trade show's officials are using the peace  
protesters as scapegoats.

"I think they're totally exaggerating any kind of threat that we  
posed," said Richard Sanders of the Coalition to Oppose the Arms  
Trade. "Our main thing was a candlelight peace vigil. That doesn't  
seem too threatening."

Mr. Sanders said seniors' activist group the Raging Grannies was also  
planning to set up a peace garden outside Lansdowne Park as well as  
walk back and forth across Bank Street to slow traffic.

But Rick Tachuk of Secure Canada 2008 said Ottawa police warned  
exhibit organizers there could be incidents of civil disobedience  
outside the trade show.

"We had been notified by the ... Ottawa police that they had picked up  
intelligence on a potential security threat on the event and (they)  
brought this to our attention," he explained. "This came as a total  
shock to us."

Mr. Tachuk said the cost of providing security around Lansdowne Park  
would have been prohibitive. He declined to discuss the cost of  
security, but did add that event organizers were responsible for  
paying it. "We had a security budget, but this far, far surpassed any  
reasonable expectation of what would be required," he added.

A defence industry official said the price tag was more than $80,000.

But officials with Armed Forces Communications and Electronics  
Association Canada, hosts of one of three events taking place under  
the Secure Canada umbrella, blamed the cancellation of the  
association's event on a recently issued government decree. "This  
cancellation relates to the federal election currently under way and  
restrictions placed on senior government officials participating in  
public conferences," a press release said.

Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Walt Natynczyk was to have delivered  
the keynote address at the AFCEA Canada event, and other officers were  
making presentations as well.

But the Privy Council Office recently launched an unprecedented  
clampdown on government business during the federal election, slowing  
the workings of the bureaucracy to a crawl in some areas.

Meetings between bureaucrats and everyone from consumer advocacy  
groups to industry representatives have been cancelled out of concern  
such gatherings may taint the outcome of the federal election. The PCO  
edict has also put a temporary halt to some Canadian Forces equipment  
projects and has required military officers and public servants to  
withdraw from long-planned defence conferences.

Secure Canada 2008 was to have combined three industry events into  
one: Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Canada's  
conference, a conference for unmanned aerial vehicles and the Secure  
Canada trade exhibit. Mr. Tachuk said while the conferences were  
running into problems because military officers were no longer  
available to speak, the trade show portion could have proceeded if not  
for the excessive security costs.

Mr. Tachuk said the trade show had been run at the Congress Centre and  
Ottawa hotels previously and there were no protests. He said the show  
does not exhibit weapon systems, but is concentrated more on equipment  
for domestic security and disaster response.

But Mr. Sanders questioned that, noting that one exhibitor sells  
equipment, including silencers and other gear, for special forces teams.

He said it appears the PCO clampdown is to blame for the cancellation  
of Secure Canada 2008, but that the defence industry is intent on  
blaming protesters. He noted that the groups have held peaceful  
protests previously and applied for and received a permit from the  
City of Ottawa to hold their event outside Lansdowne Park.

Mr. Sanders acknowledged that opposition to the Secure Canada show was  
late in getting starting and, as a result, the numbers of those  
involved were not that great.

"We didn't feel we had the resources or enough people to organize a  
rally," he said, adding that was the reason the focus was on a  
candlelight vigil.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008