Oh, RCMP

Really, a stapler scared you? I hope never to be in that kind of situation myself but I think with everything that's coming out of the inquiry it's clear that things are at a laughable stage when staplers are seen to be frightening weapons to people who may very well be shot or stabbed any day they go to work.

Could we have avoided this embarrassment with an apology and admission of error at an earlier stage, possibly even before the damning video became public? Perhaps.

Does the video of the death and the constant contradiction of statements from the RCMP officers Tasering Robert Dziekanski affect police officers right across the country? Likely.

Their evidence in court will, or should, not hold the weight it may have before. Ignoring the allegations of coverup right now this inquiy proves officers are as fallible as all witnesses and their testimony cannot be given precedence at a trial. Maybe one of the tough parts about the inquiry is the fact we have to accept police may put their lives on the line for us but they are also just as human and error-prone as you and me.

Is "better than Mexico" good enough?

If you're looking for a place to throw out your love/hate police comments why not check out Matt Klein's post over at SomethingTV.

He has a personal connection to one of Alberta's darkest days, of which today is the anniversary.

He also brings up some interesting points about police in Canada that could easily get lost right now with daily reports coming out of the Vancouver Airport Taser inquiry.

If you don't feel like going there just yet, you can read what I had to say below. It might not make a whole lot of sense out of context though.


While it’s too simple to slam the RCMP or any police service for their mistakes, or the mistakes of one or more of their officers, and say that they are all corrupt and everything needs an overhaul I think it’s also too easy to fire back that we are just lucky to be here in Canada.

Canada certainly has a higher standard of living than all or most of the places referenced above but much as John has alluded to we can’t simply be happy to be “better than Mexico.” As a First World nation we have to strive to set the standard and accept nothing less. There will always be human error but if people can learn from those errors and improve training or systems we will be in a better place. If we can strive for that we will set the example for other countries and be in a better place to go there and teach them how it’s done.

Learning and adapting is the biggest step but there also has to be open dialogue between those that serve the public and the people. An example of this comes from the Vancouver Airport Tasering.

People were told by the RCMP to wait for everything to come out through the usual investigations. After the airport video was released and after recent testimony from the inquiry it’s beginning to feel like there were things that might have been kept from the light of day. I’m not saying that’s the case or would definitely have been the case but there’s a feeling of that coming out of testimony that includes references to Robert Dziekanski wildly swinging and coming at police when the video shows nothing of that kind.

People who clamour for constant overhaul when something goes wrong might be a little more on board to wait for change if the other side (in this case, the police) were a little more willing to be open from the get-go that a mistake might have occurred and they seemed willing to accept change. It can’t be all or nothing on either side.