SASKATOON (Staff) – Three anti-free trade activists were arrested on charges of mischief after a debate on the wheat dispute between Canada and the U.S. at last week’s Crop Production Show.
David Orchard, Marjaleena Repo and Rose-Marie Larsson of Citizens Concerned About Free Trade said they will plead not guilty at a provincial court appearance Jan. 24. They also said they planned to launch a lawsuit against the people involved in the incident.
Tension first flared between the activists and organizers of Crop Production Week during an afternoon session at the Saskatoon Inn Jan. 11. Two members were passing out leaflets that advocate Canada’s withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement to a crowd assembled for a debate on the Canadian Wheat Board.
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Roy Bailey, chair of Crop Production Week, said he and a hotel staff member told the activists to stop.
“Our rules state that no organization is allowed to come in and do any of that sort of thing. It’s nothing against whoever they are, it’s simply that this is not allowed,” said Bailey, who farms near Milden, Sask.
“…we wouldn’t allow an implement dealer to come in here and start peddling tractors,” Bailey said.
The activists stopped handing out pamphlets, but the tension continued.
Later, following an evening session that went smoothly, Bailey said the activists began to distribute pamphlets again.
But Orchard said he did not give anyone a pamphlet, and Repo and Larssen only gave information to people who requested it.
Orchard said when an American graduate student asked him for information on NAFTA, a hotel security guard told him that he wasn’t allowed to hand out information. At this point, Repo complained to Bailey about the restriction.
Bailey said the group was causing a disruption and police were called.
Saskatoon Inn manager Dan Choy would not comment on the incident.
When Saskatoon police arrived, Orchard left to call his lawyer while Repo and Larssen allegedly argued with the officers. They were both charged with obstruction of justice and mischief. Orchard was charged with mischief when he returned.
Orchard, who farms near Borden, Sask., and chairs the organization, said in his nine years of involvement with Citizens Concerned About Free Trade, he has never experienced anything like this.
Freedom of expression
The three maintain basic rights, including freedom of association and freedom of expression, as well as legal rights, such as the right to retain a lawyer without delay, were breached. They said the meeting was advertised as public and they had the right to be there.
Bailey said everyone was welcome at the meeting, but the organizers of Crop Production Week did not want information from either end of the political spectrum to be distributed. He said farmers who attended the session “did not come here to watch some exhibition of attention-getting. They’re not interested in that.”
