by P.J. Harston
Northern News Services
NNSL (OCT 09/96) - Three RCMP involved in the sometimes violent Giant Mine strike are suing a Mountie watchdog agency for $1.5 million.
Insp. Dennis Massey, Cpl. Amrik Virk and Const. David Joyes launched a lawsuit last April against the RCMP Public Complaints Commission and its chairman Jean-Pierre Beaulne.
They claim they were defamed and maliciously prosecuted.
In February, 1995, the trio were hauled before the commission at a hearing in Yellowknife, where their actions during two violent strike-related confrontations in June, 1992 were placed under a microscope.
The commission cleared all three of any wrong-doing following the inquiry.
Massey, Virk and Joyes were part of an RCMP emergency response team stationed near Red Deer in 1992.
The team was called in to help bolster local RCMP ranks during the turbulent summer opn the picket line.
The striking union -- the Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers Union -- complained to the commission that the three used excessive force during the confrontations. This included the drawing and aiming of semi-automatic handguns.
Red Deer-based lawyer Lorne Goddard said his clients filed court papers earlier this year in federal court in Edmonton.
The Mounties claim their reputations were harmed, they suffered mental anguish and their careers were put on hold as a result of the inquiry.
"It's not a case that will be dealt with quickly -- it'll take a couple of years to go through the courts, I'm sure," Goddard said late last week.
Massey, Amrik and Joyes are the first Mounties to launch legal action against the commission since it was created in 1988.
The commission is an independent federal agency that reviews and investigates -- and may also conduct public hearings into -- complaints about the RCMP.