A friend writes:
Honestly, David, you are becoming too cynical. At first I thought it was sadistic humour but every day seems a little more jaded. And what makes you think that you can call people liars and jackboots - totally unsubstantiated allegations?
I think you should take a holiday, as I am tomorrow. I'm off to Chicago and Atlanta for two weeks to see my grandchildren and I hope when I return you are less confrontational and more constructive.
Take care. Barbara.
I reply:
I'm sorry you feel that way, Barbara.
I am not cynical at all, never have been.
I am critical of bad public behaviour and I am glad of that.
An RCMP officer who completely misrepresents the truth that is clearly revealed on videotape is a liar. What is so mysterious about that? To make matters worse he is the first person on whom we should depend for the truth.
And for his massive over-reaction that resulted in this poor man's unnecessary death, he is rightly called a jackboot and a thug.
If you are more angry at me for my comments than you are at the Policeman, then it is you who needs to rethink things.
Don't worry about my bleating. Worry about a once proud police force that has lost its way.
Enjoy your grandkids and trust that the police, who are supposed to serve and protect them, do it more honestly than our Richmond RCMP.
Cheers,
David
Another writer accuses me of being an unworthy reporter because I say that Constable Millington has lied under oath.
This morning I read that Don Rosenbloom, the very capable lawyer representing Poland, accused Millington yesterday of lying under oath.
The honorable officer couldn't explain why he and his colleagues all had the same pat story, which was completely contradicted by the evidence of a videotape.
It is a great curiosity to me why people are more concerned with my credentials or my mental health than they are with the state of police work in this neck of the woods.
If the police are lying and swarming dangerous people armed with staplers, what gulag are we living in?
I continue to live under the delusion that Canada is a democracy guided by certain principles. If I ask uncomfortable questions about the behaviour of public officials, who by the way, have been hired and trained apparently to serve and protect us, than I am fulfilling my vision of what a citizen aught to do.
If you want everything to be nice, take another medication and go back to reading Vogue and Western Living.
