RCMP disputes Arar testimony???

Wayne Easter, the former solicitor-general who presided during the Arar ordeal, appeared to contradict earlier testimony from RCMP head Giuliano Zacardelli today when he answered questions at a commons committee.

“I was not informed that the RCMP had provided inaccurate information to the U.S.,” Easter told the MPs.

Easter said the issue was never raised with him by his American counterpart Attorney General John Ashcroft. Presumably when American investigators learned they had false information on Arar, Ashcroft would have been briefed on that information, Easter said, and he believes Ashcroft would have shared that with him.

“Attorney General Ashcroft…would have undoubtedly raised that point with me,” Easter said.
Asked whether he would have acted differently had he known earlier that Arar had no terrorist links, Easter said he didn’t want to answer hypothetical questions.

The committee is planning to recall Zacardelli to clarify his initial testimony and he will likely be asked about the contradictions provided today by his former political boss.