Yesterday, the Toronto Police Force announced the arrest of eight people who are now facing charges in relation to the shootout that broke out on Yonge Street on Boxing Day. When the bullets stopped flying, several people were left injured and 15-year-old student Jane Creba lay dead on Toronto's main street on busiest shopping day of the year. The arrests should allow us reflect not only on the fact that we have a good police force but that some Ontarians have police in name only.
In Caledonia, where criminal acts have been taking place under the cutesy title of a "native standoff" (sounds like a dance), the rule of law has all but broken down.
"But what we're saying to them[the natives] is that the Criminal Code of Canada is supreme in this country. It applies to all people and in all places."
David Ramsay, Minister responsible for native affairs.
That shouldn't have had to be said, but unfortunately, in Dalton McGuinty's Ontario, it did.
The standoff, which escalated when the Ontario Provincial Police tried and failed to end it in april, has seen an increase in violent acts in recent days. Last week, U.S. border agents were visiting the area to observe how the OPP were handling the situation. The agents' vehicle was swarmed, they were dragged out, and their car was stolen. We trust their trip was worthwhile and they did learn a lot about how not to handle tense situations.
an elderly couple was swarmed in their vehicle and although they were not physically attacked, the man was taken to hospital because of a pre-existing heart condition.
The most serious incident occurred when two cameramen from CH Television in Hamilton were attacked, assaulted and had their equipment stolen. One of the camera operators needed stitches to close wounds to his head. and a native attempted to run over an OPP officer in a stolen car.
During these incidents, the OPP stood around and watched. What is taking place in Caledonia is a far cry from the type of situation that develops suddenly such as thousands of hockey fans taking to the streets after a Stanley Cup victory (or, in the case of Toronto, after the Leafs get out the first round) and the celebration turns into a mini riot. Police in those situations are overwhelmed and are forced by necessity to allow criminal acts to take place. There has been plenty of time to bring in reinforcements if the current deployment of police officers is not sufficient to enforce the law. But the OPP, to the delight of their political masters at Queen's Park, have made a conscious decision not to protect the law abiding residents of Caledonia and more importantly, not to do anything that would offend aboriginals.
The inaction of the police stems from what had happened at Ipperwash in 1995. In a similar "native dispute", an unarmed native was shot to death as the OPP made attempts to clear the park. The OPP and the McGuinty government are perfectly content to let people die rather than risk a confrontation that could lead to another native death. Other than paying their taxes, the residents of Caledonia don't count for much in Dalton's Ontario.
The police have issued warrants for the arrest of six aboriginals on charges under the Criminal Code (that's the act that we are told applies to all Canadians in every part of Canada). In a rare moment of strength, Premier McGuinty refused to negotiate with the natives until the barricades came down and the natives turned over the suspects for arrest. Some barricades came down and McGuinty did what he's so good at — reversing himself and ordered the negotiations to resume even though the natives are refusing to help the OPP apprehend the suspects.
The OPP should be removed from Caledonia. Their conduct and that of the provincial government is despicable. Let those officers do something that they are capable of doing — put them all on Highway 400 and let them conduct a taillight blitz so they can provide funny little anecdotes to Cam Woolley. Bring in some real cops so that the hard working residents of Caledonia can receive the type of policing that all Canadians deserve and are entitled to.
There have been incidents in the past where Toronto police have been accused of having shot young black men under questionable circumstances. These incidents never stopped them from going right back out and arresting other young black men if they had the grounds to do so. If the Toronto police acted like the OPP are acting, with the blessing of the provincial government, the raids that resulted in the arrest of those alleged to be responsible for the Boxing Day shootout would never had occurred. Toronto would be controlled by the bad guys.
Unfortunately some elderly person or camera operator is going to have to die before things get better in Caledonia. It's shameful.
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