Source's name remains secret

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David LaChance said his family will continue to participate in the inquiry into his brother Leo's murder by white supremacist Carney Nerland.

Although the Saskatchewan Court of Appeals upheld the RCMP request to keep the name of the Aryan Nations informant secret, there is still much to be learned, he believes.

Nerland, Crown Prosecutor John Field and RCMP officers have yet to testify before the three-member commission in Prince Albert.

LaChance has questions he wants answered by these witnesses.

Leo LaChance died after being shot by white supremacist Carney Nerland Jan. 28, 1991, in Prince Albert. Nerland pleaded guilty to manslaughter so no trial was necessary and no evidence heard. Nerland, the Saskatchewan head of the Church of Jesus Christ Aryan Nations, is serving a four-year sentence in Stoney Mountain Penitentiary in Manitoba.

The tribal council, the LaChance family and outraged citizens, Native and non-Native, demanded to know why LaChance died, if the criminal justice system had acted

in good faith and how involved the Aryan Nations are in Saskatchewan.

A commission of inquiry, led by Ted Hughes, Deli Opekokew and Peter Mackinnon began public hearings in May. However, the commission was asked at the outset to rule that the names of RCMP informants would be kept secret. The commission refused.

In July, when city police detective Peter Mesluk told the commission an RCMP officer from Regina had told the crown prosecutor and police officers the name of the informant, Mesluk was ordered to reveal the name.

Immediately, RCMP lawyer Martel Popescul asked for an injunction to stop proceedings until the Saskatoon Court of Appeals could consider the commission ruling.

On Aug. 6, the court ruled in the RCMP's favor, saying the Supreme Court has upheld the law protecting informants in three decisions in the past 10 years.

Gerald Morin, lawyer for the LaChance family and the tribal council, is upset

and dismayed by the ruling. He insists the inquiry cannot determine if the criminal justice system acted in good faith without knowing who the informant is.

The media suggested Nerland himself might be the informant, which throws into question the criminal justice system decisions that Morin wants examined.

Morris Bodnar, lawyer for the commission, agreed the question of the informant

is crucial to the whole inquiry, which is charged with examining the actions of the system.

In his presentation to the court of appeal, Bodnar suggested the RCMP might be raising the issue of privacy for informants to cover what he has termed interference in the investigation by city police.

RCMP lawyer Popescul disagreed. He maintains the protection of informants is not a cover-up, it is essential to the protection of society. The RCMP and other police forces depend on informants who would no longer inform if their safety was threatened

by their public identification, Popescul said.

The RCMP are upholding the law by keeping informant's names secret but are willing to give the commission information gathered in Saskatoon on the Aryan Nations, Popescul said.

LaChance family lawyer Morin will meet with the tribal council, the LaChance family and Bodnar as soon as possible. The matter has to go to the Supreme Court, he said, but he is not hopeful the highest court will hear it because the three Saskatchewan justices were unanimous in their decision.

Meanwhile, Morin questions whose interests are being served by the appeal court decision.

David LaChance said new information has come to light recently. People afraid to speak before have approached him with their knowledge of the Jan. 28, 1991 shooting death of his brother.

The Aryan Nations are slowly beginning to swing their weight around, LaChance said, and he wants to know why the RCMP appear to be protecting them.