By Jeff Arsenault

It has been more than a year since RCMP officers pepper-sprayed protesters at the Asian Pacific Economic Conference summit in Vancouver. Progress into investigating the actions of the RCMP by the three-person federal public complaints commission has been halted by the resignation of inquiry head Gerald Morin, citing interference from co-panel member Shirley Heafey.

The federal Opposition is calling for Heafey's resignation and for the inquiry to be replaced with a judicial inquiry. Here's the rub: the Liberal government responded by saying it can't, because it has no say in the workings of the committee. What a crock!

Are we supposed to believe this government, who deposed the solicitor general over comments he made on an airplane directly linking the government to how security was handled at the summit, now has neither the influence or the knowledge of the people and events to change things? Not.

To prove this point, one only has to access the UBC Internet Web site to get a grasp of how the government, from Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy to the prime minister himself, was involved.

The site provides RCMP investigation documents, some of them confidential, supplying evidence proving the government had a hand in security issues at the summit, using middlemen and cloak-and-dagger monograms like PM and PMO in secret communiqués with the RCMP.

Our government thought it appropriate to address certain issues about the protesters to the RCMP that may prove embarrassing for it and its Asian guests, like the protesters' freedom of speech and where they could put their signs.

With commission members, the RCMP and the protesters all blaming each other over the imminent demise of the inquiry, the government should do whatever it takes to make sure APEC isn't swept under the rug or hidden in a shroud of deceit.

The only way for it to do that is to get this issue in the courts through a judicial inquiry.

The feds should realize by now they can't hide the truth from the Canadian people, just as U.S. President Clinton couldn't hide the truth from his own people. Yet, the Liberals might want to forego the fanfare of an independent counsel's investigation, for who knows what horrors could be unearthed from such a probe?

A judicial inquiry would absolve the Liberals of tampering allegations, and may be the only way to get the whole truth for all to see. Included in that viewing list should be new Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay, who seems to know little about the issue.

Ultimately, Canadian taxpayers are paying for this investigation, and it looks like the current inquiry will only lead to the need for another one. Let's skip it, save a few bucks, get the whole truth in court and deal with it.

Through this process, some may have to pay dearly, but it's much better than going ahead with a half-assed inquiry that only serves to implicate a few of those involved.

And maybe, just maybe, if those who are blamed pay a personal toll, more open democracy and less autocracy can be shown to our political guests, who will see a free people who trust their government.

A little.