Gazette Editorial on RCMP Report
I am glad to see The Gazette weighing in on the RCMP report, but enough of the calls for a civilian oversight board. It didn't happen with the Poitras Commission Report, and it won't happen here.
The solution is not more oversight by the public. We hire government management to do a job. The public shouldn't have to then turn around and hold their hands. Hire the right people, hold them accountable. Replace them if they falter.
Accountability is what is lacking here, not more public involvement. That's why we pay taxes. People have enough to worry about right now just making it through the end of the month. Is it too much to ask that the government relieve us all of the burden of worrying about Federal public safety? Work the problem, and give the public what it pays for: an accountable Federal police force.
THE GAZETTE
JANUARY 10, 2009
It won't have come as a complete shock to the ordinary citizen in this province to learn that the RCMP's Quebec division is rent with toxic divisions, its management and operations structures in need of a complete overhaul.
Evidence of RCMP incompetence has been thick on the ground in the province for decades. To take three memorable examples, there were the 1971 infiltration of FLQ cells and the fraudulent "manifesto" released by the RCMP, urging greater violence; the 1972 barn-burning by the RCMP security service; and the 1973 RCMP break-in to steal a list of Parti Québécois members.
Those incidents might seem like history, of no relevance to today, but as a report by The Gazette's William Marsden shows this week, the force's current failings look a lot like a continuation of that history: poor communication, careerism run amok, management that turns a "blind eye to mediocre performance, incompetence and especially reprehensible actions when it suits them."
This latest report, by three Université de Montréal professors, is just one in a series. In recent years, there have been two other major internal inquiries into what is wrong inside the RCMP. These exercises in hoped-for self-improvement usually follow egregious instances of incompetence.
To take, once again, just a couple of highlights: Four RCMP officers were murdered in Alberta by a man the force had known was dangerous for decades. In 2007, four RCMP officers left Robert Dziekanski writhing on the floor of the Vancouver International Airport within 30 seconds of their arrival. He died after being Tasered by inexperienced officers.
The RCMP at its best is a world-class organization, capable of carrying off complex assignments. It was instrumental in bringing an end to Quebec's biker wars. And Project Colisée, another enormous success, resulted in a series of spectacular arrests of Montreal mobsters, including Nicolo Rizzuto.
A federal police force should be the most sophisticated, skilled and competent law-enforcement body at our disposal. The RCMP's job is key to the running of a democracy such as Canada's. The agency enforces federal laws, including drug-trafficking, terrorism and domestic security.
We might have greater confidence in the RCMP's effort to remake itself, if it was monitored by an independent civilian oversight body. But instead of a tough, independent monitor, we're given sporadic reports promising long overdue changes. It's not good enough. We need to see the changes.
It won't have come as a complete shock to the ordinary citizen in this province to learn that the RCMP's Quebec division is rent with toxic divisions, its management and operations structures in need of a complete overhaul.
Evidence of RCMP incompetence has been thick on the ground in the province for decades. To take three memorable examples, there were the 1971 infiltration of FLQ cells and the fraudulent "manifesto" released by the RCMP, urging greater violence; the 1972 barn-burning by the RCMP security service; and the 1973 RCMP break-in to steal a list of Parti Québécois members.
Those incidents might seem like history, of no relevance to today, but as a report by The Gazette's William Marsden shows this week, the force's current failings look a lot like a continuation of that history: poor communication, careerism run amok, management that turns a "blind eye to mediocre performance, incompetence and especially reprehensible actions when it suits them."
This latest report, by three Université de Montréal professors, is just one in a series. In recent years, there have been two other major internal inquiries into what is wrong inside the RCMP. These exercises in hoped-for self-improvement usually follow egregious instances of incompetence.
To take, once again, just a couple of highlights: Four RCMP officers were murdered in Alberta by a man the force had known was dangerous for decades. In 2007, four RCMP officers left Robert Dziekanski writhing on the floor of the Vancouver International Airport within 30 seconds of their arrival. He died after being Tasered by inexperienced officers.
The RCMP at its best is a world-class organization, capable of carrying off complex assignments. It was instrumental in bringing an end to Quebec's biker wars. And Project Colisée, another enormous success, resulted in a series of spectacular arrests of Montreal mobsters, including Nicolo Rizzuto.
A federal police force should be the most sophisticated, skilled and competent law-enforcement body at our disposal. The RCMP's job is key to the running of a democracy such as Canada's. The agency enforces federal laws, including drug-trafficking, terrorism and domestic security.
We might have greater confidence in the RCMP's effort to remake itself, if it was monitored by an independent civilian oversight body. But instead of a tough, independent monitor, we're given sporadic reports promising long overdue changes. It's not good enough. We need to see the changes.
posted by John Allore @ 1/10/2009 11:14:00 AM
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home