By arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,
Thursday, august 17, 2006
Ontario's poor excuse for a provincial police force shouldn't be taking sides at all — they should be doing what they are paid to do — keep the peace and enforce the law. But the prime directive seems to be to protect Dear Fearful Leader ( a.k.a. Premier Dalton McGuinty) who as the Toronto Sun's Joe Warmington put it, "looks like he's seen the ghost of Dudley George".
Last week, Ontario Superior Court Justice, David Marshall, ordered once again that the occupation of the land in Caledonia end and that the police enforce the law on the disputed property. Like his previous orders which don't seem to mean much, it fell on deaf ears.
During the evening of the day that the last order was handed down minor skirmishes broke out in Caledonia between the natives and the residents. as perhaps more of a sign of the times than anything else, the OPP took immediate action by issuing news release.
Sounding like something that came out of the United Nations, the release called for calm and said, in part, "The OPP is committed to working through the occupation to achieve a peaceful resolution and are asking everyone to do their part in committing to the peace process." Much like what is now happening with Hezbollah in Lebanon, the OPP is hoping that the natives will just "disarm" without anyone in authority having to take any action. Well, major cities like Toronto may have problems with guns and gangs but at least our police act like police officers and not peace activists or diplomats who urge disarmament and calm while disputes continue to escalate.
There were two items in the news release that were disturbing. The release says, "Last night, august 8, 2006, protesters confronted First Nations occupiers at the main entrance of the Douglas Estates". The residents of Caledonia; the ones who were leading peaceful lives and minding their own business before the occupation began, are now "the protesters". To call the residents the protesters, even if some of were committing criminal acts is absurd and is perhaps the best illustration of an out-of-control police force whose major concern is carrying out the wishes of the government.
We're all familiar with small children who, after being caught accidentally breaking something, will confess to their parents by saying, "it broke" rather than admit that they broke it. In that same childish way the news release speaks about some incidents that took place in Caledonia the evening that Judge Marshall's last order was handed down. The release says "pebbles were thrown, a water hose sprayed and insults hurled back and forth".
So the water hose, to take one example, just happened to spray. Media accounts of the incident all report that it was the native protesters who turned the hoses on the residents and, not that they seemed the least concerned about it, the police. But the police were obviously too afraid to say who was doing what, lest they anger the natives and more importantly, upset Dear Fearful Leader.
The conduct of Ontario's provincial police force during the entire occupation has been deplorable. OPP Commissioner Gwen Boniface handled the crisis by getting herself a brand new job in Ireland. Perhaps she should take the rest of the force with her when she goes. after hundreds of years of Irish people emigrating and joining North american police forces, that would only be "fair".
and being fair is what it's all about — it certainly isn't about the rule of law or keeping the peace.
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