NDP support for cocaine smuggler despicable

A former B.C. union boss serving a U.S. sentence for cocaine smuggling has been denied a transfer to a Canadian jail as a “threat to national security.”

The New Democratic Party wants Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan to reconsider his decision to keep Perley Holmes locked up south of the border — far away from his wife and kids.

NDP MP Alex Atamanenko sent a letter to Van Loan Monday on behalf of Holmes, his constituent before he was nabbed in a cross-border drug probe in January 2007.

“I am deeply disappointed in the minister’s denial of this application,” said Atamanenko, who represents B.C. Southern Interior. “Mr. Holmes made a serious mistake and is paying for it by serving eight years in prison. However, it is cruel to his wife, Sheila, their eight children, his 87-year-old mother and their extended family having him so far away and for so long.”

Holmes was the business manager of the Ironworkers Union Local 97 in Burnaby before his arrest as he attempted to cross into B.C. east of Osoyoos with backpacks containing 57 kilos of cocaine.

He and an American co-

accused triggered an infrared device on a road leading to the border. When agents arrived to investigate, they found Holmes wearing white camouflage gear and hiding in the snow with the cocaine.

He was picked up less than a kilometre from his rural property on the Rock Creek-Bridesville Road. The southern edge of the 64-hectare property runs along the U.S.-Canada border. Holmes admitted he had allowed smugglers to cross the border on his land in exchange for $20,000 a trip.

He pleaded guilty in July 2007 and was sentenced to eight years, though the U.S. attorney said at the time that he refused to provide the names of others involved in the conspiracy.

When the RCMP raided his home after his arrest, they found 43 weapons, including six handguns and an assault rifle. They said Holmes was also under investigation in Canada, though he has not been charged yet.

Atamanenko said he knew about the guns, but still feels Holmes can be managed in a Canadian jail.

“There is an agreement between the two countries and I would like to have that respected,” said Atamanenko, who met Holmes once when the smuggler visited Ottawa with a union delegation.

“He understands that he committed the crime and he is prepared to accept the consequences of it. We just want him to serve it in Canada.”

Christopher McCluskey, spokesman for Van Loan, said he couldn’t comment on a specific case because of privacy laws.

“This government is committed to the safety and security of Canadians, and Canadians who commit crimes abroad should know that they run the risk of facing justice in the other country’s criminal and correctional system,” he said. “What I can tell you is each application for transfer back to Canada is carefully considered and decisions on transfer cases are made in accordance with the terms of the International Transfer of Offenders Act.”

Holmes, 52, is housed at a privately run Pennsylvania correctional centre.

Atamanenko said he was also concerned “for Mr. Holmes’s well-being. Numerous sources of information indicate that terrible conditions exist in U.S. prisons.”

He said Holmes’s application to return to Canada was denied on April 9, though he just got word last month.

Atamanenko did not know how a transfer to Canada affects an inmate’s parole eligibility, but U.S. officials have told The Vancouver Sun that Canadians convicted in the U.S. generally serve much less time if they are transferred back to Canada.

Atamanenko said he has received letters of support for Holmes from family, friends, neighbours and co-workers.

“Even if Mr. Holmes was a genuine threat to our national security, a determination with which I disagree, I think most Canadians would prefer that he be transferred into our system so that he could be monitored and supervised upon release,” Atamanenko said.