Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Where Does the Buck Stop?

Very disturbing report in the Toronto Star, "OPP Chief Breaks Silence". OPP Commissioner Gwen Boniface denies that the native protestors were exempt from the law.


Boniface said her force tried to deal with the situation "in a way that's reflective of 2006."


What the heck does that mean??? For some reason, it sends chills up and down my spine.


While several unidentified officers blame Boniface for bringing 'shame' to the force, she insists that she "gave no special directions to officers for dealing with native protestors."


She also said she received "absolutely" no direction from the provincial Liberal government, which was quick to call a public inquiry into the 1995 shooting of native protestor Dudley George at a dispute in Ipperwash Provincial Park.



This was the same Liberal government, you may recall, who ignored the Legislature's demand for an inquiry into Caledonia.

So will someone please tell me who is running this zoo we call Ontario?


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UPDATE: One (albeit biased) source puts the total cost to date at over $250 million!!!!

Yet, we can't look after autistic kids in Ontario after age six.

(Note: Don't bother looking for the link. Shut down. So much for freedom of speech).

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THURSDAY UPDATE: Does this sound familiar? (Logging Protest Blocks Ontario Trans-Canada Highway) Note: No response from McGuinty.


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Just came across this quote by James Freeman Clarke: "A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation."


28 comments:

Anonymous said...

She is an absolute disgrace and her statement shows clearly that she is not fit for the position. It contains outright lies and a bunch of socialist doublespeak. We all know that if I set up a blockade at Casino Rama I'd be in the crowbar motel within the hour. We have a provincial leader buying out hoodlums and a totally oblivious police commissioner, Ontario has officialy become the bizzaro world.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Ontario has officialy become the bizzaro world.

Exactly. Apparently Dalton didn't tell the OPP to just sit there and do nothing, according to Boniface, and she says the rule of law was not ignored, and yet it was shown right on the news that people were attacked and the police just watched. So were the individual officers just taking it on themselves to ignore their oath to protect the public? If so, shouldn't they be disciplined?

It just makes no sense at all.

trustonlymulder said...

So will someone please tell me who is running this zoo we call Ontario?

Yellow Bellied McShifty

Joe Calgary said...

Blame the monkeys Joanne... blame the monkeys. Dalton is merely a handpuppet to crazed monkeys that escaped from GM's central management unit.

Ever notice how Dalton always looks tense... that's the monkey behind him with a monkey hand up his ass, pulling Daltons mouth strings.

All you have to do is listen to Dalton, and you know it's a monkey. "Yip, Yip, Bleek,Bleek, Scream"... sounds like a Monkey, looks like a Monkey... I'm telling ya... it's the fricken monkeys man.

Anonymous said...

What an ignorant woman, she's saying that because it is 2006 the rule of law no longer exists. Is that the platform McLiar campaigned on? Or is it one of the lies he forgot to tell? Or is it a lie of omission?

This is getting confusing in a Liberal way - McLiar did not promise to get rid of the law and start a violence ruled society, but that is what he is delivering, so if he meant to allow some people to beat up other people but didn't lie about it before - how can he deliver now?

How do Liberal voters keep all the lies, deception and corruption straight? And why do they vote for it?

Red Tory said...

It seems you have quite the pickle here, don’t you? On the one hand upholding the rule of law as interpreted by those nefarious liberal activist judges you so despise and on the other condemning the inaction of the valiant police force that don’t feel that enforcement of the law in practicable under the circumstances. Let me guess... The Liberals will be to blame.

Anonymous said...

Yes, RT, that seems to be about the size of it.

The OPP does choose not to enforce vigorously in other cases, such as labour disputes, and the larger the number of people involved, the less likely they are to do anything but try to get everyone to peacefully disperse.

I am pleased to see less name calling of contributors here, though we are told our Premier is yellow and has no balls. Not a real man apparently. And our police commissioner, not much of a man either. There's been a lot of gunning for her since she became commissioner.

Our premier certainly doesn't seem like a good sheriff to those who think this is some kind of cowboys and indians game.

And nobody continues to have been killed in this episode...

Anonymous said...

You partially right, RT, although you're blowing smoke and pointing to the mirrors as usual.

The natives feel empowered to take such radical action in provinces with liberal governments especially those with liberal courts filled with liberal judges.

Why? Why not!! The natives figure the chance of significant punishment is slim to nil and they might push the judges into interpreting native rights even more loosely.

To put it bluntly, if the courts were upholding the rule of law instead of trying to play social worker, the natives would be less likely to try this kind of tactic. When was the last time you saw a native blockade in Alberta?

As for how the OPP are handling this situation, I don't understand it but hopefully Gwen Boniface will be called on to explain her decisions. In the meantime, I feel for the rank & file cops because I know standing by passively isn't easy or pleasant. Cops are "take control" people and standing there with their hands tied by upper management must be driving them nuts.

Anonymous said...

Liberal Supporter you are just plain showing your ignorance and exemplifying exactly the kind of misguided logic that has brought us to the type of situation in Caledonia. LS, the Indians are breaking the law, plain and simple and they are terrorizing the population of Caledonia. If it were the Bandidos the OPP would have been all over them. If it was the Mafiosa same thing. No pal this is true and blue Discrimination in the form of racism by the Ontario government and the OPP. They are racists because in their attempt at being Politically Correct they are treating the Indians differently then the rest of Ontarians. The Indian thugs as well as any other thugs involved in the Caledonia affair should be arrested and jailed. Simple as that. Discrimination is being demonstrated before our eyes in Caledonia and the Government of Ontario and the OPP should be charged for dereliction of duty and the Commisioner of the OPP needs to resign as well as the Premiere(sic) of Ontario.

Anonymous said...

Liberal Supporter you are just plain showing your ignorance and exemplifying exactly the kind of misguided logic that has brought us to the type of situation in Caledonia. LS, the Indians are breaking the law, plain and simple and they are terrorizing the population of Caledonia. If it were the Bandidos the OPP would have been all over them. If it was the Mafiosa same thing. No pal this is true and blue Discrimination in the form of racism by the Ontario government and the OPP. They are racists because in their attempt at being Politically Correct they are treating the Indians differently then the rest of Ontarians. The Indian thugs as well as any other thugs involved in the Caledonia affair should be arrested and jailed. Simple as that. Discrimination is being demonstrated before our eyes in Caledonia and the Government of Ontario and the OPP should be charged for dereliction of duty and the Commisioner of the OPP needs to resign as well as the Premiere(sic) of Ontario.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Cops are "take control" people and standing there with their hands tied by upper management must be driving them nuts.

Thanks, Mac. Your perspective on that is especially relevant regarding this topic. It must also be hurtful for the OPP to have to endure the bad press, and the wrath of the non-native residents who feel betrayed.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Anonymous, while I agree with much of what you just said, I think we need to be careful not to put the rank and file officers in the same category as their boss.

Clearly, when officers are dispatched to a location they have orders of some description. For Gwen Boniface to suggest that they weren't given any 'special directions' is disingenuous and perfidious (to borrow one of Red Tory's favourite words).

Anonymous said...

Yes, anon, and there continues to be nobody killed in this. I disagree with the way it is being handled, but fact remains, nobody has been killed.

You can minimize that all you want, rant about laws being broken, dereliction of duty, but the protest area is hardly a war zone.

And the Mafioso and biker gangs you cite as "evidence" of reverse discrimination, are alive and doing well thank you very much. They aren't fighting for land so they don't occupy it. They simply fight over "turf", and there are people being killed in that fight, about 35 so far this year in Toronto.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Having some major technical difficulties at this end. Please be patient. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

RT and LS...the role of judges is to interpret the law, the role of police is to maintain law and order...serve and protect...'upholding the rule of law'

Red Tory said...

Anon: Thank you for stating the obvious. As I said... A bit of a pickle.

Mike said...

Nobody's been killed, nobody's been killed!
That's fine if these people were health services, but they are LAW ENFORCEMENT.
Their primary role is to enforce the law.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

That's fine if these people were health services, but they are LAW ENFORCEMENT.

Now there's a good line! That must be the "2006" way of handling a native protest - As long as nobody killed, they can do what they want. My, how we have evolved.

the role of judges is to interpret the law, the role of police is to maintain law and order...serve and protect...'upholding the rule of law' And guess what? Judge Marshall ordered the natives removed from the property in question and they're still there! Why? Because the police are not upholding the rule of law as interpreted by the judge!

Anonymous said...

Bring in the Army and move on...this has no end in sight...

Remember the Oka standoff in Montreal? Like it or not, that is where this is headed, and the sooner we get there the better...

Indians have proven time and again, that they do not use common sense and negotiate, they resort to confrontation. Unfortunately it will take force to get them to go back to ther Tee Pee's and eventually try to be neighbours again to their non-native Caledonia habitants...and the sooner the better...

McWhimpy must be getting pressure from some his back-benchers to get this resolved in the next couple years, or at least before the next election...

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Gerry, can you imagine how hard it will be for a Liberal candidate canvassing during the next provinicial election in Caledonia? Or Dalton coming out to show support? I wonder how the non-natives would react.

And that will probably be the first time we'll see him in Caledonia too.

Anonymous said...

Don’t you see Jo that the Caledonia situation is similar to the situation you found yourself in inside your blog. The law breakers came in and tried to overrun your blog so that you had to install the rule of law and establish civility once again to the land of Joanne’s blog, by carrying it all out under the administration of the house rule of law.
Now the Provincial government could learn a thing or two here where there is a law, act on it and carry it out. But you need courage to do it to govern well and I am afraid that you will have to wait till the next election to get the kind of government that you expect to govern by the rule of law. It seems to me that liberal thinkers haven’t done very well under the rule of law right from the beginning as in the ten commandments and the operation of the U.N. in today’s world.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the government needs courage. They also need thick skins to ignore the "send in the army" hollering.

Hmm, nobody died there yestderday. But in Toronto they have two more shooting deaths.

Maybe the police are concentrating on the place where two people were shot dead, instead of the place where nobody got killed. Nobody even got beat up. They even took down the barricade into the Douglas Creek development area.

They are working on locating and arresting the assault perpetrators, but that's just boring police work, not a big shoot-em-up to show them uppity injuns who's boss.

I am sure the "warrior" thugs (one of the many factions on the natice side) are being watched and investigated. You might recall how long it takes to bust bike gangs, with enough evidence to make charges stick. And you don't hear about it until the bust. Seems the same here.

Peter Rempel said...

Red Tory: "On the one hand upholding the rule of law as interpreted by those nefarious liberal activist judges you so despise and on the other condemning the inaction of the valiant police force that don’t feel that enforcement of the law in practicable under the circumstances."

Except that those "nefarious liberal activist judges" are calling for the police to enforce an injunction and remove native protesters from the disputed land. Something that the police have declined to do.

What's it called when the police do whatever the hell they want to without reference to their orders from the executive or judicial branches of government? Ask someone from Latin America.

OMMAG said...

I had a big argument with my brother in law from Oshawa a couple weeks ago about this. Turns out he's a dyed in the wool bleeding heart liberal and thinks everything is ok just because the cops did not shoot anyone. Of course it does not matter that there are many other scenarios in between cops shooting people and a bunch of thugs running loose.
But in the Libcompsimp mind there is only one or the other and since letting criminals have free reign resulted in nobody getting shot by the police everything is allright!
Well.. "Bullshit" I say.

Time for some OPP brass to be FIRED.
Start with Boniface.

BTW hows that Class Action suit going in Caledonia?

OMMAG

Anonymous said...

Yep, leave it to that damn woman commissioner to screw everythimg up.

As expected, the lack of dead indians (or non indians) is minimized, and twisted as "letting criminals have free reign". They hardly have free reign, they have to stay at the site, they are not roaming around Toronto shooting people. The situation seems under control, as far as "keeping the peace" is concerned and investigations continue. The lack of dead indians does not make everything ok either.

"Harris ordered NOTHING, so jdave can stick it up his Liberal backside.". Yes, the quote that he did has not been proven in court. In fact I believe he did not order anything, but it was on his watch. Boniface made no accusations "on thin ice", she simply alluded to their priority of not ending up with a lot of dead people.

OMMAG said...

If you can't separate the issue of law and order from your political affiliation or sympathy you are probably a liberal.

One thing is not other.

I think that the citizens of Ontario deserve better from their officials and to that extent McSquishy and Boniface have shown themselves to be sadly lacking in brains, guts and judgement.

Substituting BS for action is not taking responsibility and tells that the these people are not qualified or deserving of the positions they hold.

They need to be FIRED!

OMMAG

Anonymous said...

"If you can't separate the issue of law and order from your political affiliation or sympathy you are probably a liberal."

Or a supporter of any party, including conservatives. How does separating or not separating law and order from political views solve this? Political views are how we decide who to vote for. We vote for people to sit in the legislature and pass laws, to be enforced by police. Police do what they can to juggle conflicting priorities and work with the resources they have.

For some reason, different laws have different penalties. Laws are not enforced equally. Why do they have "blitzes" on highway safety? It is ok to have an unsafe vehicle when they are not doing a blitz? Ok to skip the seatbelt except when they are watching?

"Substituting BS for action is not taking responsibility". Call talking and investigating BS if you like, it is not "not taking responsibility".

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Peter, I made that point to Red Tory as well about the OPP ignoring the court orders. I hope he returns to respond.

Ask someone from Latin America.
Exactly. Or Ontario as is "reflective of 2006." - Anarchy.