Union's anti-PM banner plane ordered down

OTTAWA, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A major Canadian union alleges a plane towing a banner critical of the Conservative prime minister was ordered to land in Ottawa for political reasons.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada, with more than 172,000 members, commissioned a plane to fly the banner over the capital Saturday towing a banner in French that said (in English) "Stephen Harper hates us."

News began emerging Monday that the pilot was ordered to land by the Royal Canadian Mounted police, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said.

RCMP Cpl. Lucy Shorey told the broadcaster the PSAC plane was flying in restricted airspace, which the union denied in a release.

Shorey said the pilot was told he was wanted for questioning, which the union also challenged in a release.

"Had the RCMP been concerned about the plane's potential route, it could have easily communicated with the pilot via radio and sought clarification [on airspace] rather than ordering it back down to the airport," the union said.

However, in interviews with Postmedia News, the Mounties said it was Canada's aviation regulator, Nav Canada that was responsible for ordering the plane to land.

A spokesman for the agency told Postmedia that wasn't the case.

"We have looked into this and can confirm that there was no instruction from Nav Canada air traffic control to land that plane," Ron Singer said in an e-mail.