Toronto - Outcries of public rage met the announcement that Michael Bryant would not be charged in the death of Darcy Allen Sheppard, a Metis bike courier from Toronto.

Richard Peck, the special prosecutor assigned to the Bryant/Sheppard case, says that the public interest could not have been taken into account in his decision not to prosecute the former Provincial Minister.

“It doesn't work that way,” said Peck in response to claims that he should have proceeded with charges in the public interest of accountability.  “The responsibility on Crown Council is to review the case and see if it meets the threshold for prosecution.  The public interest cannot trump the fact that case does not meet the threshold for prosecution...it's in the Crown Council policy manual.  If you don't have a provable case, you can't proceed.”

Peck has remained a popular appointment with Provincial governments. He has now been appointed to asses whether charges should be laid against the officers who killed Robert Dziekanski, the Polish immigrant killed after police tasered him five times 30 seconds after confronting him.

A previous statement from the BC criminal justice branch released by Stan Lowe, stated that they unanimously believed that criminal charges against the 4 officers were not necessary. Lowe was appointed as the BC Police Complaints Commissioner two weeks later.

Bryant's car can be seen on public surveillance video (see below) striking Sheppard and then driving off with Sheppard attached to his car, yet the defendant claims that Sheppard attempted to attack him before he drove off in his car, killing Sheppard.

While Peck maintains that due to "the accident reconstruction evidence, the reconstructed video, witness testimony and people that came forward" he could not proceed with charges, other disagree.

Bob Mionske, a cycling lawyer and author believes the video evidence of the Sheppard killing makes very clear what happened.

"Bryant hit the gas, pushing Sheppard forward into the intersection, knocking him off his bike. As Sheppard struggled to get to his feet, Bryant backed up, stopped, turned his wheel and began to drive past Sheppard as he sped away.

"Sheppard gave chase, grabbing onto Bryant’s car as it sped by. Witnesses reported hearing shouting, and noted that Bryant was “very, very angry.

"The camera shows that on the night of August 31, Michael Bryant used his car to ram Darcy Sheppard out of his way, before fleeing the scene as Sheppard gave chase on foot."

Other witnesses also claimed that Bryant intentionally tried to knock Sheppard off his car (see video below).

While Toronto Star journalists, Peck and witnesses interviewed by the Toronto Media Co-op all claim that they were never contacted by Michael Bryants PR firm, concerns about the firm, Navigator LTD. have also been raised. Their slogan is “When You Can’t Afford to Lose.”

Navigator is headed by Jamie Watt, the mastermind behind the Mike Harris Conservative campaigns in the 90’s.  Watt plead guilty to 13 counts of fraud in 1984.

Joe Friesen writing in The Globe and Mail pointed out that Navigator, an extremely high-end and well-connected firm, was very openly working to spin Bryant’s image through press releases, coordinated statements and the narrative of the events of night Sheppard was killed.

Navigator met with Bryant immediately after Sheppard's death before he was released. They crafted his statements and set up a website and twitter account to get their messages out to the public very quickly.

Navigator has been involved with a number of high-profile, right-wing political events recently. Watt is one of the key campaign managers of the George Smitherman campaign for mayor.  He or his firm has also been involved in ‘crisis communications’ work for Helena Guergis after she was removed form the Conservative Cabinet and Brian Mulroney during the Karlheinz Schreiber affair.

Less well known is that Navigator was also the firm that was conducting focus groups for Pride Toronto looking at whether the group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QUAIA) Could Participate in the march.  Speaking in XTRA, Cathy Gulkin, a member of one focus group, stated that the groups were stacked against QUAIA.  She also stated that Navigator-rep Chad Rodgers was spreading the false claim that swastikas were being worn by QUAIA members at the 2009 Pride Parade.  The claim made by lawyer and Israeli-supporter Martin Gladstone was later debunked as being an anti-swastika symbol not even worn by a QUAIA member.  

An original verison of this story appeared in The SPOKE.  Geordie Gwalgen Dent is a contributuing and sustaining member of the Toronto Media Co-op.