Obfuscated Thoughtlessness Inversed

It isn't that the provincial police used in Ontario, Newfoundland and Quebec are any better than the RCMP. However, the enforcement of the criminal code is jurisdictionally a provincial matter in Canada. Why is it that the BC Attorney General continues to pretend he has no control over the policing of our province.

The BC office of the Police Complaints Commissioner has had a rocky ride since its inception nearly ten years ago. A limiting budget and a more limited mandate from the start got much worse when the courts over ruled the first significant Public Hearing into the riot at the Hyatt. I remember the police's actions that night vividly and a public hearing was absolutely warranted. The courts however, stated that the commissioner acted without jurisdiction in calling for a hearing. Although Commissioner Morrison was eventually successful in overturning this ruling, 4 years had now passed since the incident. Morrison himself was finished as commissioner long before there was a final outcome. Now, a series of suggestions for improving the complaints process have been brought forward by Justice Wood.

From Opininon 250:

• Strengthening the oversight powers of the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) to ensure that serious complaints are properly investigated and resolved.
• Shifting from the current model where the OPCC oversees a complaint after police have investigated it, to contemporaneous oversight where the OPCC can be involved throughout the handling of a complaint. This would involve the use of new software to track complaints across all municipal police departments.
• Increasing the police complaint commissioner's powers to include the ability to provide advice or direction to a police department during an investigation; the power to issue guidelines that are binding on police; and statutory responsibility to monitor non-lodged or oral complaints (complaints made by a member of the public who does not want to commit the complaint to writing).
• Compelling police by law to co-operate both with internal and external investigators, including providing a statement and submitting to an interview. Failure to co-operate would constitute a new category of discreditable conduct under the Code of Professional Conduct regulation.

Of course, no Canadian can forget how much worse the RCMP's Public Complaints Commission is. Their handling of the complaints related to the injured protesters at APEC will go down in history as a massive blunder almost as bad as the actions of the RCMP in the first place.

For those of you who don't live in British Columbia, or who do and don't follow policing jurisdiction closely, I should give some background. The RCMP is a federal police force reporting to the federal government. The BC Government and all but a few BC municipalities contract the RCMP to provide policing. This arrangement is used instead of provincial police forces in much of Canada. Cities like Surrey, Kamloops and Kelowna don't have their own police forces. Many smaller cities, districts and municipalities do, like Central Saanich and the District of Oak Bay. It gets weirder though, districts like the UBC endowment lands and the Naval Base at Esquimalt are policed by the RCMP on contract but surrounding areas like the Esquimalt municipality and the City of Vancouver have their own policing arrangements that don't include the RCMP. Federal legislation stops any kind of real oversite of the RCMP by the provincial governments, civilians or municipalities. However, the option exists to negotiate a new policing regime or simply do away with municipal and provincial policing duties by contract with the RCMP.

Today's call from the BC NDP Opposition that all communities should benefit from improvements to police complaints requires extending a new kind of civilian over-site to the majority of the province is one I hardily support. The RCMP can no longer operate by a different set of rules than the rest of the police in BC.

If Stockwell Day and the RCMP continue to insist they should have their own set of rules; then we should simply call their bluff and stop using the RCMP in BC.

Labels: alternatives, bc blogs, bc ndp, cons, copwatch, day, democracy, human rights abuse, link, ndp, opinion, rcmp

With the recent and long overdue apology to Maher Arar finally issued, it is time for arrest warrants to be issued against those responsible.

This style of warrant issued by prosecutor Christian Schmidt-Sommerfeld of Berlin, Germany has issued against 13 CIA agents is a spectacular step forward for democracy. Although, we may never see a trial or any kind of a conviction in this case.

In Canada we have had a public inquiry, we allocated blame, we apologized, we compensated and we simply cannot leave out the last steps on the stairs to justice. Those steps are charging and potentially convicting those who are criminally responsible. Mr. Arar and our entire country deserve to know that our government will prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law. I suggest we start with US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who still will not clear Mr. Arar's name and have been involved in this illegal policy of rendition from the start.

It is likely we can not gain jurisdiction over the American agents who broke international law and deported Mr. Arar to be tortured. However, we can at least ensure these people understand they are being sought and will be arrested if they do happen into our country's jurisdiction. The Canadian's responsible should be charged as well.

At the very least we need to ask: Where's the contrition for rendition?

Labels: anti-war, copwatch, day, democracy, human rights abuse, rcmp, spy-watch

"Douglas has been known personally by and has associated with leftists, peace movement workers and (Communist Party of Canada) members for years. He has allowed his name to stand publicly on many occasions in relation to support of issues sponsored by leftist groups. On the basis of information contained in this file, it is difficult to determine the full depth of sympathy and involvement or influence, if any, these groups or their philosophies have over him. It is felt, however, there is much we do not know about Douglas and the file should be maintained in order to correlate any additional information that surfaces which might assist in piecing this jigsaw puzzle together." - A late 1970s RCMP memo suggesting Douglas's file be kept active.

Today's story from the Canadian Press that Tommy Douglas was spied on by the RCMP from 1939 until his death in 1986 will come as no surprise to RCMP watchers out there. The fact that much of the file is still a state secret, has not been released combined with the revelation that a Justice reviewed the file in the late 1970's and allowed the spying to continue are all of serious concern.

This does beg the same question I started to ask in a personal way with my Dear Commissioner Zaccardelli letter. I wonder, if I will ever receive a reply to my freedom of information request now that the Commissioner has resigned :-) ..

I'll let you the reader(s), know if I do. If I don't, it might be left to you to file the request for twenty years after I die (when the fun secret files might get released).

Labels: annotation, copwatch, leftist content creation, opinion, rcmp

Dear Commissioner Zaccardelli

Please excuse me if my letter to you today is not 100% accurate. You see I have been reading more than 1200 websites in the last few days and I am in a rush to clear my name before I am deported to be tortured in another nation within Canada.

I am concerned that there may have been some transfer of knowledge from what I have read to what I now know. I want to say upfront that I may not be clear on when, I learned what or how. Like you, this lack of clarity in my knowledge concerns me and I am writing to you at this, the first possible opportunity, to clarify what happened when and why.

The thing is, I'm not the commissioner of the RCMP. I am at this time a private citizen and it is ok for me to not know what I knew when. But commissioner your admission today that you did not know what, about who (and particularly Mr. Arar), when, makes me very concerned that: you are the commissioner of the RCMP. What you or your force may know about me or may incorrectly think they know about me, could result in me being asked questions in another nation's prison, within Canada.

You see, I was born in Victoria, British Columbia. I have also recently visited Victoria, Australia. I am concerned that the complexity of my travel history and birthplace may result in me being deported against my will to Victoriaville, a town within a recently recognized nation within Canada, where I may find myself tortured by the agents of a recognized nation within Canada or said newly recognized nation of Canada.

Now, this fear may seem bordering on paranoia, but our country has been gripped by paranoia before. So, please keep in mind that my testimony may change in the future, particularly after consultation with the Minister of Public Safety, who unlike yourself before your last public testimony in September, I have not had the opportunity to consult.

Let's review the transfer of knowledge at this point:

a. You didn't know what you were talking about when you testified at the end of September. You are the top cop. The folks in serge below you look to you for leadership and direction.
b. You guys have the guns.
c. You guys have the connections with the guys with the guns south of the 49th.
d. You tell the guys with the guns south of the 49th what you know.
e. The guys with the guns south the 49th don't necessarily follow international law.
f. You don't know what you know.
g. Your organization surveilled the former leader of my political party, David Lewis, for 53 years including during the entire time he was an Member of Parliament.
h. I have been detained for my political activities and held against my will.
i. Your force doesn't understand legitimate public dissent (heard of APEC?).
j. You don't know what your force is doing, when they are doing it or why.
k. Your organization has publicly bragged that it kept extensive files on dissidents within Canada leading and up to the APEC meetings in 1997 in Vancouver and the 2001 FTAA meetings in Quebec City.
l. Your organization or members of it have on a number of occasions made it known to me that you were concerned with my legitimate political activities. An example of this is when on a date in 1997 an officer identifying himself simply as an undercover RCMP officer approached me, showed me his gun and badge and asked me, by name (believe me, I hadn't had the opportunity to introduce myself), what I had planned for a protest at a Liberal Party rally at the Stratchcona Hotel in Victoria, BC.
m. I know a guy, who talked to a guy who was convicted of blowing something up (albeit 30 years ago). I'm not saying that guy did it and in case you don't know who I'm talking about I'm not going to tell you who I know who knows this guy. But, at the time your guys said he did and this resulted in him being convicted, he's served his time though. Now, I'm not related to this guy (nor was I born when the thing blew up), but he has the same last name as me and I know that sometimes the RCMP has trouble telling names apart. I think you do a lot of keyword searching in order to facilitate transfer of knowledge. Today, this appears to be more than Mr. Arar was suspected of. He just knew a guy, who talked to a guy, who you guys thought might might blow something up in the future. To sum up, I know a guy who talked to a guy who was convicted of blowing something up.

This letter is a formal request for a complete copy of all information held by the RCMP about my person. Because of the danger of me being detained elsewhere in the world because of this information this request extends to all information held in any format by the RCMP (you might not even know you are giving this information to a third party, given the way transfer of knowledge seems to work, see patriot act). It also extends to any information the RCMP may have held in the past and knowingly transfered with to any other police force or security force elsewhere in the world.

I have a legitimate concern this information may be incorrect or may be found in the future to have included "transfer of knowledge" that would lead to determinations based on this information that could be incorrect. I deserve the opportunity to correct any information held by your force and in order to do that I need a copy of that information.

In particular, I would like a copy of any threat assessments that name my person or relate to a position I have held. Let me give you an example: During my tenure as Chairperson of the University of Victoria Students' Society, an organization of more than 15,000 students, your force recommended to the current Minister of Public Safety's political party that both myself and the entire membership (all 15,000 of us) of this organization be prevented from entering a rally at the Victoria Conference Centre. This decision having been made is not at question, your officers briefly detained a member of this organization on the grounds of his membership within the UVic Students' Society and his intent to purchase a ticket to this rally.

What I would like is a copy of all documents relating to me, whether they name me directly or refer to me using a name relevant to a position I held or a position your force assumed I was holding. (ie: if your force decided I was in a class of people determined to be pacifist terrorists or whatever it is you call NDP members and then made a decision to arrest all pacifist terrorists and I was arrested, I want a copy of all documents relating to pacifist terrorists that directed your force to arrest them). I am seeking to know What motivated your force's course of action. I want a copy of any and all notes taken, any and all background files prepared and any and all documents be they electronic or paper. As I have stated, this is because of current knowledge transfer and is to protect myself in case this information is shared with a foreign government's agents.

This is a formal request. Please provide me with a copy of these documents within the timelines prescribed by law. Any failure to do so may be referred to the Public Complaints Commission.

With true patriot love, may some other son command the RCMP soon,

Morgan Stewart
Address withheld pending further transfer of knowledge

By e-mail: giuliano.zaccardelli@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

Labels: copwatch, leftist content creation, opinion, rcmp

This just in. . . Terrorists have been caught red-handed counterfeiting clothing.

Well, that's the impression you would get from Sgt. Patrick Webb if he provided any evidence for this ridiculous assertion: "The funding for this is just like drug deals where the funding has to come from somebody with deep pockets, and that normally is organized crime and/or possibly terrorists."

Sgt. Webb has said some other zingers in the past like: "Whether this was a factor in this collision still needs to be determined but it probably was." In relation to the death of a British Soldier on Canadian soil. Rob Huck on the blog WesternStandard.ca has Sgt. Webb jumping to the conclusion that a group of teens randomly committed this assault.

Back when Sgt. Webb was only a Corporal he defended the $100 million dollars spent on the G8 summit's security in Kanaskis like this: "We have to communicate back and forth with our command centre. It's all part of our security requirement and we're not about to tell you why we're going to use it." [source]

I think it is worth wondering out-loud if the kind of logic that Sgt. Webb uses above, is the same logic they teach at RCMP school in Regina. That might be the reason why the RCMP purchased $28 million worth of equipment for the G8 Security during the Kananaskis summit in 2002. The outcome? A few charges against members of the RCMP for acting inappropriately during the summit.

Anyway let's have some fun stringing together some of these comments:

"The funding for this is just like drug deals where the funding has to come from somebody with deep pockets, and that normally is organized crime and/or possibly terrorists. Whether this was a factor in this .. still needs to be determined but it probably was. We have to communicate back and forth with our command centre. It's all part of our security requirement and we're not about to tell you why we're going to use it," Sgt. Patrick Webb as reported in the media with only one word left out.

Ok, seriously, I'm sure the guy is just doing his job.

However:

1. if you ever end up on a jury,
   
2. listening to wiretap evidence,
   
3. with your job to determine,
   
4. beyond a reasonable doubt,
   
5. just take a moment and wonder,
6. if a word might just have been left out.

Labels: anti-war, historical, leftist content creation, opinion, rcmp, spy-watch