Hello everybody

[Asher]

Wow, I had no idea the RCMP did local police work. That is kind of strange. I thought they were basically the Canadian FBI/Federal Marshals.

They do local police work in areas not large enough for their own police forces.

[Asher]

I find it strange Asher would consider policing run by Ottawa to be better than a force run by his own province. At least when something goes wrong with the OPP (as it will in any police force) we don't have to look to Ottawa for redress.

I never deal with the RCMP. Urban voters never do.

The Wildrose got most of their support in rural Alberta, so they obviously feel more inclined to switch.

I don't think going to Edmonton is any better or worse than going to Ottawa for redress. Politicians and bureaucrats are inept no matter which sad city they live in.

[Asher]

The OPP are the people who pulled me over while moving to Ontario with a carload of stuff and essentially forced me into having them rip apart my car to look for drugs (they said they'd give me a ticket for a legal license plate cover I had, and if I wanted to fight it I was welcome to come back to thunder bay to contest it....). On the side of the TransCanada, they unloaded all my stuff (which was meticulously packed for optimal space usage), even the suitcases. Then they left it all there when they found nothing and I spent a couple hours repacking it on my own.

I filed a complaint with the OPP, and they didn't even bother responding.

[Wezil]

I never deal with the RCMP. Urban voters never do.

So? You're not the only resident of the provice.

The Wildrose got most of their support in rural Alberta, so they obviously feel more inclined to switch.

Which I also find strange. I would have suspected the hard-c party to be more inclined to stick with the RCMP (tradition, opening of the west, yada yada). This isn't a left vs right issue to me but more one of responsible government.

I don't think going to Edmonton is any better or worse than going to Ottawa for redress. Politicians and bureaucrats are inept no matter which sad city they live in.

The closer they are the more control you can exert. There is a reason Calgary has it's own police force and doesn't contract that to the RCMP as well.

[Wezil]

The OPP are the people who pulled me over while moving to Ontario with a carload of stuff and essentially forced me into having them rip apart my car to look for drugs (they said they'd give me a ticket for a legal license plate cover I had, and if I wanted to fight it I was welcome to come back to thunder bay to contest it....). On the side of the TransCanada, they unloaded all my stuff (which was meticulously packed for optimal space usage), even the suitcases. Then they left it all there when they found nothing and I spent a couple hours repacking it on my own.

I filed a complaint with the OPP, and they didn't even bother responding.

At least they didn't beat you to death in an airport then try to cover it up.

[dannubis]

Since you don't know what he has had to deal with, perhaps you shouldn't act like a dickhead yourself?

If he had shown compasion towards those he doesn't understand, he would have had my consideration.

Now, I don't give a flying **** about what he feels or went through. You can't have it both ways.

[notyoueither]

It's just pointless. The OPP is no better than the RCMP.

In fact, my experience with them is far worse.

The RCMP only applies to rural areas, so why bother?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/top-rcmp-officer-process-for-firing-mounties-is-madness/article2404993/

Top RCMP officer: Process for firing Mounties is ‘madness’
Terri Theodore
Vancouver— The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, Apr. 17, 2012 11:19AM EDT
Last updated Wednesday, Apr. 18, 2012 5:58AM EDT

The man in charge of the RCMP in British Columbia says the laborious process of firing or even suspending Mounties without pay after serious misconduct is “absolute madness,” but making changes requires a commitment from the force’s political masters.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner Craig Callens said the RCMP Act is long overdue for change to allow local management to hire and fire like other employers in the country.

For example, Mr. Callens said an application was made years ago to suspend Cpl. Benjamin “Monty” Robinson without pay, but the request was rejected at RCMP headquarters in Ottawa.

Mr. Robinson was convicted last month of obstruction of justice in the death of a young motorcyclist in Delta, B.C. He admitted to taking two shots of vodka to “calm his nerves” after the accident and before he gave himself up to investigating officers, but the court heard testimony that Mr. Robinson would have known those actions can be used to cover up drunk driving.

A year before the traffic accident, Mr. Robinson was the senior officer in charge when Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski was jolted several times with an RCMP Taser and died at Vancouver’s airport.

Mr. Robinson and three fellow officers still face perjury charges, accused of lying under oath in that case.

Commissioner Thomas Braidwood concluded in his final report into Mr. Dziekanski’s death that the officers deliberately misrepresented their actions during the investigations and during their testimony to his inquiry.

“I want him (Robinson) dismissed from the RCMP,” Mr. Callens told a forum at the Radio Television Digital News Association annual provincial gathering on the weekend.

“Now he’s convicted of obstruction of justice and so I say to myself, a reasonable-minded Canadian, a British Columbian, is outraged by that. I’m outraged by that.”

The RCMP Act gives Mr. Callens the power to suspend an officer if he considers the officer’s actions serious misconduct. He must get approval from headquarters in Ottawa if he wants an officer suspended without pay.

But Mr. Callens said the process becomes adversarial, similar to the criminal justice system.

“That’s the problem with the RCMP Act. What I want to do is have the ability, for me personally, as the deputy commissioner, or for the commissioner ... to say ‘No, you need to be fired from the RCMP.”‘ The current process sometimes seems to overtake the necessity of decisive action, and that’s why he supports its modernization, he told The Canadian Press in a later interview.

“I think what frustrates the community are cases where an RCMP officer is convicted of a serious criminal offence and yet an internal adjudication board must be held, and the delays that are associated to that occur, to determine whether a member should be dismissed from the RCMP,” he said. “And it’s quite obvious, or it is the view of the community that it’s obvious, the individual should be dismissed from the RCMP.”

Neither Mr. Robinson nor his lawyer were available for comment.

In the four months that Mr. Callens has been in charge of the B.C. division, he said he has taken the step to request suspension without pay four times.

But under the act, the RCMP isn’t the employer and federal government statutes and regulations govern the way the RCMP operates, leaving a long and cumbersome appeal process for the RCMP and those fighting to keep their jobs, Mr. Callens said.

“We’ve seen people who’ve been dismissed and who have committed murder while still RCMP officers because they’re in the process of appeal,” he said at the forum, referring to a case other than Mr. Robinson’s.

“It’s madness. It’s absolute madness.”

Mr. Callens told the group he wants to see greater transparency and accountability on issues affecting the RCMP. He acknowledged the force hadn’t done well in those areas in the past.

“Most importantly, I’ve come to understand the importance of public trust and confidence so that we are able to fulfil our duty and successfully meet our mandate to keep the communities we serve safe.”

The Mounties’ image in B.C. has been tarnished over several years by a profusion of bad public relations involving Robinson’s actions, the RCMP-involved shooting death of Ian Bush and allegations by Cpl. Catherine Galliford of sexual harassment and abuse from senior officers.

Mr. Callens said he could see a distinct advantage to being able to hire and fire like other companies.

Fixing the RCMP Act hasn’t been a priority for politicians for some time, but Mr. Callens said RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson is committed to moving the issue to the top of the agenda.

“As election cycles come and go, there’s all kinds of different priorities and there’s all kinds of different pressures on the agenda and fixing the RCMP Act has not been at the top of the agenda,” Mr. Callens said.

“Our current commissioner is committed to having it at the top of the agenda.”

The RCMP has assigned lawyer Kevin Brosseau to review the act and recommend changes to the federal government.

After a request for an interview, the Ministry of Public Safety issued a statement saying the Conservative government is committed to giving the RCMP the tools it needs to keep Canadians safe and ensure appropriate oversight is in place.

“We agree that some change is necessary to deal with what Commissioner Paulson called ‘dark-hearted behaviour’ displayed by a small minority of RCMP members.”

However, the statement said the government hadn’t made any final decisions on changes to the act.

And other problems when the people who oversee the police are not responsible to local, civilian authorities.

[notyoueither]

“Our members have now seen that some of our policies were rejected by Albertans, quite frankly,” she said in an interview. “We will be revisiting some of those. You can’t run a government if you don’t get sanction from the people.”

Asked which policies in particular were up for debate, Smith mentioned the “Alberta Agenda” items that call for the province to establish its own pension plan and to replace the RCMP with a provincial police force. Such ideas were touted by a group of conservative thinkers in a famous letter written a decade ago that called for Alberta to build a “firewall” — a term that was used by the PCs to attack Wildrose during the campaign.

Why is this controversial? Replacing the RCMP with a competent force is a fine idea.

It's more their entire tone. Very insular and naive about how things are run among the provinces in a country that relies on international trade. They struck me as wanting to tell everyone to screw off, we're going to do it our way.

I was reminded of the Little Englanders.

[Asher]

So? You're not the only resident of the provice.

The Wildrose got most of their support in rural Alberta, so they obviously feel more inclined to switch.

Which I also find strange. I would have suspected the hard-c party to be more inclined to stick with the RCMP (tradition, opening of the west, yada yada). This isn't a left vs right issue to me but more one of responsible government.

It's not strange at all. The rural voters who backed the wildrose are more likely to be separatist types. The "firewall" types. No federal government is good federal government, to them.

[Asher]

At least they didn't beat you to death in an airport then try to cover it up.

There are corrupt cops in every force. The Toronto Police have done similar things before, where the "civilian oversight board" always sides with the cops.

[Wezil]

That's like Oncle's answer regarding the marketing boards.

Weak sauce.

[Asher]

It's just not something I care about in any way.

[Berzerker]

welcome back Ben

fantasy football is coming soon

[b etor]

Since you don't know what he has had to deal with, perhaps you shouldn't act like a dickhead yourself?

But really, that's life. Not saying I'll be a total "dickhead" to BK, but I can guarantee that I've dealt with a LOT of **** that I'm not going to post or even mope about, because that's just weak and insulting.

[Elok]

Speak for yourself, B. I know that, when I have a bad day, it's really hard not to vent by obsessively marginalizing and denigrating a largish demographic group. Back when the kid had bad gas pains, I spent whole days writing letters demanding draconian new powers for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.