The inquiry investigated the role of the RCMP at the 1997 Asia-Pacific leaders' summit in Vancouver, and commissioner Ted Hughes has found examples of police performance that did not meet "an acceptable and expected standard of competence."
He cited instances where conduct was inconsistent with fundamental freedoms in the Charter of Rights.
In his 453-page report, Hughes points a finger at poor police planning.
Garth Mullins
The report blames failures in planning that preceded the pepper-spraying of demonstrators on the University of British Columbia campus.
Hughes makes a number of recommendations calling for better command structure for police. He also calls for changes in the law to recognize the nature and extent of police independence from government.
Hughes says protesters should not have been strip searched and flags and banners should not have been torn down.
Michael Doherty
Garth Mullins of Democracy Street was a protester at APEC. He says Hughes missed the point by focusing on poor communication within the RCMP.
"This report actually defends, or smoothes over and whitewashes, the very scary fact that the prime minister and the PMO gave orders to the RCMP with respect to how dissidents would be treated. That's not a good thing in a democracy," said Mullins.
In his final comments, the judge describes a situation in which the orders came from the highest levels of the RCMP in Ottawa, while the police on the front line were out of command from the minute the APEC conference opened.
Hughes does say that there was improper involvement by the federal government. He points to incidents when the protesters' perimeter was pushed back, saying one of the prime minister's most trusted advisers, Jean Carle, did "throw his weight around."
But the summary doesn't point a finger at Jean Chrétien, nor does it link the government's intervention and the prime minister's concern about embarrassing then Indonesian President Suharto.
Maude Barlow, of the Council of Canadians, says she's pleased Hughes scrutinized the incidents at the summit.
"(Hughes) has very clearly said that there was police brutality and excessive use of force. He was very concerned about the strip searches and people's rights being broken in prison. So, that, I think, is very positive and I think will be useful in the future."
Many people were looking to Hughes' report to see what kind of message he would send, with the escalating protests at trade talks around the world.
Michael Doherty, lawyer for the B.C. Civil Liberties Society, says Hughes places the blame where it should be, with the RCMP brass and organizers, not with the officers on the ground.
"The law was broken by the government, and not merely the law, but the rule of law. And when that happens it can't be just allowed to go by. And when that happens there has to be some accounting," said Doherty.
Doherty says the problems of APEC could be avoided at future conflicts if the changes Hughes suggests are implemented, and there's a stronger recognition in law of the independence of the police.
The inquiry sat for more than 160 days, heard from more than 150 witnesses and cost Canadian taxpayers more than $10 million.
The recommendations are not binding on the RCMP.
