tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7141615629701321642.post8891072088671848241..comments2024-01-07T08:41:13.864-05:00Comments on C A I T I - O N L I N E: Google obviously doesn't understand Canada.Brent Fullardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08515599756822506137noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7141615629701321642.post-66327122446329840722009-07-01T22:29:28.315-04:002009-07-01T22:29:28.315-04:00Also this:
http://thetyee.ca/News/2008/10/08/Insi...Also this: <br />http://thetyee.ca/News/2008/10/08/Insite/<br /><br />Paying for "studies" to advance the RCMP's (and most Reform-Conservatives') political views on drug harm-reduction policy.<br /><br />Fake studies are given the same weight by the RCMP and the Conservatives as scientific studies by academics.crfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10726414637021391906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7141615629701321642.post-49936194317100292622009-07-01T22:07:11.209-04:002009-07-01T22:07:11.209-04:00My (late) father was in the RCMP, and despite the ...My (late) father was in the RCMP, and despite the inevitable frustration with the bureaucracy and occasional, sometimes serious, misconduct of some members, his service was always a source of pride for him and the extended family. Atypically he was liberal (CCF/NDP actually) and abolitionist, but he always stood up for "the force". Well, perhaps one caveat. He never explicitly said so, but I suspect he felt the organization was too much concerned about image and not enough about effective policing. He was decidedly against them contracting with Disney.<br /><br />I miss my Dad, but it's definitely a mercy he missed what's happened since his passing. I haven't the slightest doubt he would concur with every one of Brent's judgments, an acknowledgment at which he would have been appalled and ashamed.<br /><br />On a less sombre note, as iconic as it is I think it's time the dress uniform was seriously changed. The stetson and scarlet tunic look terrific on the young men for whom it was designed. Now of course there are many women serving, and it makes them look like dorks.<br /><br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />EhBCAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7141615629701321642.post-46661126416769609372009-07-01T14:42:51.197-04:002009-07-01T14:42:51.197-04:00liberalminute:
Public opinion you ask?
RCMP nee...liberalminute:<br /><br />Public opinion you ask?<br /><br /><br />RCMP needs rebuilding -- in public view<br /><br />June 18, 2007<br />James Travers<br />Toronto Star<br /><br /><br />Stockwell Day is a politician of curious beliefs. Famously confused about evolution and the Niagara River's northerly flow, the federal public safety minister is currently convinced a public inquiry isn't needed to put the RCMP back on its horse after nasty falls.<br /><br />Of those three assumptions, the third, predictably endorsed last week by David Brown's fast study of the pension mess, is most wrong-headed. One of the country's few remaining icons is broken and can be painstakingly repaired only in the full glare of daylight.<br /><br />A replacement for former commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli -- superficially wounded by Brown as a weak and arrogant manager -- is a start.<br /><br />But that and the closed-doors task force Brown recommends are no substitute for full scrutiny followed by a boots-to-brim overhaul of a force now sharing little with its postcard image and illustrious past.<br /><br />That would be necessary if the RCMP problems stopped at pension abuses, its mystery intervention in the last election, the affair or bizarre and deadly operational failures. Sadly, those are only parts of a repeating pattern.<br /><br />With depressing regularity, the RCMP wanders to the dark side. It has burned barns, dipped into federal sponsorships funds, spied on political parties and blinked at internal wrongs.<br /><br />Connect those dots and find two common denominators. One is an unstable relationship with politicians; the other is a cultish, xenophobic cohesiveness that thwarts oversight and reform.<br /><br />At times the RCMP bows to political pressure, more frequently hiding its tracks from its elected masters. Asia-Pacific protesters got the rough 1997 ride Jean Chretien's handlers wanted, and both the Arar inquiry and the 1981 McDonald commission inquiry measured the distance between truth and what ministers were told.<br /><br />The result is a poisonous mix of pragmatism and fear. Sensitive to its power and usefulness as well as keenly aware that the RCMP still commands more public esteem than politicians, parties default to its defence until the weight of evidence makes criticism safe.<br /><br />So Liberals appointed the weak, very political Zaccardelli rather than search outside for leadership strong enough to challenge the status quo. And now Conservatives are perpetuating the comforting myth that all that's really needed is a quick fix at the top.<br /><br />It's not that easy. A new perspective is as vital to RCMP recovery as it is certain that its us-against-them culture will try to reject a transplant.<br /><br />Even that might be manageable if tarnished brass was the only problem. Instead, competence, structure and purpose are all in doubt.<br /><br />Mountie and prisoner deaths in Alberta and British Columbia suggest systemic training failure. Serving as a contract police force in every province except Ontario and Quebec creates organizational conflict and a dual personality. And it's far from clear that the real RCMP lionized by the fictional Sergeant Preston is ready to cope with 21st-century organized crime and security threats.<br /><br />There's appeal in Brown's remedy of a timely task force focusing on modernizing a paramilitary organization out of step with its time, mandate and $3-billion budget.<br /><br />Swift and cost-efficient, it would skirt public inquiry pitfalls while protecting politicians from the potential embarrassments of unscripted testimony.<br /><br />More compelling is his argument that further deconstruction of the pension scandal, beyond an OPP review, won't uncover anything new or startling. After seven probes of varied length and depth, enough is enough.<br /><br />But Brown and Day shortchange the RCMP and the Canadians it serves by not seizing the opportunity to publicly reconstruct an icon, piece by jagged piece.<br /><br />James Travers writes on national affairs.<br /><br />jtravers@thespec.comFilliblusterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06563618107971013947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7141615629701321642.post-66125870025470046382009-07-01T12:50:01.829-04:002009-07-01T12:50:01.829-04:00The RCMP still holds a prestigious reputation abro...The RCMP still holds a prestigious reputation abroad and I would wager that a vast Canadian survey would show the same positive results.<br /><br />That being said some of the points you raised especially the Dziekanski death are tragic and disappointing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7141615629701321642.post-13962118808332418442009-07-01T11:38:03.176-04:002009-07-01T11:38:03.176-04:00Our current concerns regarding the RCMP are intern...Our current concerns regarding the RCMP are internal. The rest of the world still sees then as a proud symbol of Canada. Honestly, our internal politcal and social affairs just aren't that intersting to the good folks in Mountain view, California. That's normal. Can you tell me the current hot issue in Montana? Do you care?Torybaiterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08393437704772426387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7141615629701321642.post-7712078545379993292009-07-01T11:09:39.383-04:002009-07-01T11:09:39.383-04:00Brent, I too have lost my respect for the RCMP (ac...Brent, I too have lost my respect for the RCMP (actually any police) and I don't believe a damn word they say. They are damaged goods just like Harper/Flaherty and the rest of the CON's.Bruce Bensonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7141615629701321642.post-63525016461257128822009-07-01T11:09:05.458-04:002009-07-01T11:09:05.458-04:00Say , whatever happened to the RCMP anyway??
In 1...Say , whatever happened to the RCMP anyway??<br /><br />In 1995 the exclusive rights to the Mounties likeness was sold to the Disney company to aid in the sale of the RCMP image to tourists world-wide.<br /><br />Hmmmmm.<br /><br />RCMP ...... Mickey Mouse.<br /><br />Coincidence??<br /><br />Dr MikeDr Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16915911929286615081noreply@blogger.com