An emotional Giuliano Zaccardelli on Thursday denied any political interference in his testimony over the Maher Arar affair or his decision to resign as commissioner of the RCMP.

"No one at any time or anywhere tried to influence my decisions," the teary-eyed Zaccardelli told reporters at a news conference in Ottawa.

Giuliano Zaccardelli, who led the RCMP for five years, said Thursday: 'I don't regret anything. I did the best I could.'
(Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

Zaccardelli resigned as RCMP commissioner on Wednesday, a day after admitting he gave incorrect testimony on the Arar affair to the Commons committee on national security and public safety. He said his conscience was clear after admitting his mistake and doing the right thing.

"I had never had any choice but to tell the truth," said Zaccardelli, who had been in the RCMP for 36 years and led the force for five.

Arar, a Canadian citizen who was born in Syria, was stopped at a New York airport on his way home from a vacation in September 2002. U.S. officials accused him of links to al-Qaeda and deported him to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured for months.

Zaccardelli and the RCMP have faced heavy criticism since September, when an inquiry into the case released a report that concluded the U.S. decision to deport Arar was "very likely" based on misleading information provided by the Mounties that wrongly suggested the Ottawa computer engineer was linked to the militant group.

Zaccardelli felt staying on would harm RCMP

Zaccardelli said he decided to resign following consultations with his family and after realizing that staying would be detrimental to maintaining Canadians' trust in the Mounties — a force that he said he "had the greatest honour" to lead.

'I would never do anything to hurt this organization.'-Giuliano Zaccardelli on the RCMP

"I would never do anything to hurt this organization," Zaccardelli said. "I don't regret anything. I did the best I could."

In a memo sent to RCMP employees and obtained by CBC News, the commissioner seemed unapologetic about any of his actions that led to his resignation.

"My life has been defined by my experience of being a Mountie and there is not one moment, one decision or one circumstance of my career, that I would change."

On Sept. 28, Zaccardelli testified to a Commons committee that he learned about the incorrect information and tried to correct the error during Arar's detention.

But on Tuesday, Zaccardelli said he didn't learn about the incorrect information until after Justice Dennis O'Connor's inquiry report was released in 2006. 

Zaccardelli said Thursday he was frustrated it took so long for him to get back to the committee to clarify his comments.

Day defends Zaccardelli before unruly committee

Zaccardelli's former boss, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, appeared before the committee Thursday.

In what was at times a very fractious exchange with Day, Liberal committee member Mark Holland criticized the government for not acting sooner after receiving a letter from Zaccardelli in November advising members he wanted to correct "misperceptions" from his initial testimony.

Day told the committee he still feels Zaccardelli didn't intentionally do anything wrong.

Day also deflected heated questions by Holland over a Canadian Press report that Day and other senior Tory ministers demanded Prime Minister Stephen Harper fire the commissioner, only to be ignored. The Prime Minister's Office has denied the report.

Zaccardelli's resignation takes effect a week from Friday. The Opposition parties have said Zaccardelli's replacement should not come from the current senior RCMP ranks.

Arar to speak on resignation

Arar is slated to respond publicly on Friday to Zaccardelli's resignation.

Julian Falconer, one lawyer for Arar, told CBC Radio's As It Happens that his client plans to hold a news conference. He will speak a day after Zaccardelli and Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day are expected to comment publicly.

Falconer wouldn't speak for Arar, but expressed his own disappointment in Zaccardelli's "complete about-face."

"It's dispiriting in the extreme to think that after all that's happened, that we still can't get a straight story."

Arar has filed a lawsuit against officials from the RCMP, CSIS, Foreign Affairs and others in senior government positions for their alleged role in his deportation and detention in Syria, said Falconer.

The lawsuit seeks $37 million in compensation for extraordinary injury to Arar and his family.