Sunday, April 10, 2005

Doing what is right

As the Gomery Inquiry uncovers layer after layer of Liberal dirt and it becomes clearer to every Canadian that the word corruption is synonymous with the name of the "Natural Ruling Party," we need to understand there are a couple of other areas of abuse at play in our country also worthy of our attention.
Not the least of which is taking place in Calgary as the Police Chief, Jack Beaton has outdone old Uncle Joe in ensuring voices of criticism are muted. The story from the Calgary Herald on Saturday, featured on the front page of Prime Time Crime, tells how the chief dusted off a seldom used civil court ploy, called an Anton Piller order, to search the private home of the woman believed to be behind two websites critical of him and his administration.
(I will be writing on this subject in a column to be published tomorrow.)
Beaton is doing everything in his power to not only mute the criticism, but, in my view is embarking on a witch hunt to ferret out those members of the Calgary Police who dared cooperate with the webmistress or indeed, ever had any email communication with her or the site.
Rank and file members of the Police Service in that city have long been critical of things like the favoritism shown "certain" members, or the shading of incidents like a police car being fire-bombed by a jealous ex-lover of the officer's mistress, a Sergeant pointing a service weapon at a junior constable as a "joke" and a myriad of other embarrassing events. But more to the point, there were allegations of cover-up involving a substantial fraud perpetrated on members of the service by another, senior officer. (See Police Held to a Higher Standard)
The RCMP were called in to investigate after an internal investigation failed to turn up enough evidence for a criminal charge which has since been filed.
The court order in the website case has been sealed and the webmistress gagged by order on application by Beaton. This ensures no scrutiny is placed upon the Chief's office in this sordid mess. And that is very wrong.
On April 18th in Ottawa, the Federal Court will hear the case of former RCMP Cpl. Robert Read in his latest effort at clearing his name after he was fired by the RCMP for 'Disgraceful Conduct.' His sin? He went to the media to raise allegations of corruption at the High Commission in Hong Kong after the senior members of the RCMP refused to listen to him and, as well did officials in the Department of Justice.
For those who have been following the Gomery Inquiry, it will come as no surprise that the allegations of corruption involved the government of Jean Chretien.
Read was ordered reinstated by the External Review Committee of the RCMP. The Force for its part, refused. Read will take his appeal of the decision not to reinstate him to the Federal Court.
Leo Knight

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

That poor woman. It seems all she was trying to do was help the police when they couldn't help themselves. One good turn deserves another, it's time for them to step up and help her.

God be with her.

Anonymous said...

What a surprise! Overt action to muzzle opposition and suppress the truth. Sounds like somebody's been reading from the little red book.

As for Cpl. Read, I would wager that he will soon be tested by the people pulling the strings in Ottawa. I would urge him to refuse any "buy out" offers.

Stand your ground and "Maintiens le Droit". Heroes don't always have to die for people to salute them. He should be entitled to a Commissioner's commendation for bravery for having the fortitude to expose corruption at it's highest levels.

As for Jean Chretien and his Liberal government, their legacy will no longer be debated. When all is said and done, they will go down in Canadian history as the most corrupt Government ever to have held power.

There's no denying that Gagliano must have felt right at home in the Liberal party. La "Famiglia" Chretien makes Don Corleone look like a school boy shaking down lunch money.

I can't wait for this sorry chapter to end. I just hope the next Government has the guts to undo the serious harm caused by these traitors.

CJ

Anonymous said...

Leo is correct in regards to the raid on the civilians who allegedly created the websites. This is not something that a Police Chief should be doing. There are gang members in Calgary having gunfights on an almost daily basis on Calgary streets and bars, yet the Calgary Chief seems to be more interested in kicking down doors of law-abiding citizens in order to grab computer equipment from someone who simply exercised her Charter Rights. This is unacceptable conduct on the part of Chief Beaton and he needs to be held to account for this ugliness. I hope that the officers, who the stories are based on, have the courage to come forward and blow the whistle.

Anonymous said...

Leo,

Excellent article on this issue, the average person must have a tough time believing that this goes on in a major police service, it appears that the CPS management has forgotten that they are supposed to be the "good guys".

Anonymous said...

I have just seen the CBC National tonight and I am very disturbed by what has happened in Calgary.I have also been following the recent comments by Leo Knight regarding the actions of Chief Jack Beaton. If what I heard was correct, then I think that there may be cause to place Beaton under some form of investigation, maybe even criminal. The Anton Piller order is something that is to be used as an extreme remedy in the civil process. If it is abused in any way, other plaintiffs may lose this course of action in the future. The actions of the Calgary Chief have placed the reputation of his service in grave danger and perhaps will create negative case law.

It is possible that Beaton's actions may backfire on him when future legal proceedings are held. In the zeal to shut down desention in the ranks, he may have just thrown fuel to the fire.

Anonymous said...

I was verbally and physically assaulted by a calgary police officer in 2000.I was struggling to get off the streets since 15, never did any harm, and had a job, subsequently i have lost most feeling/dexterity and use of my left arm. I now have a severe distaste for authority of all types and have stereotyped them as sadists and rapists.I stopped working that year,lost everything, and refuse to contribute to my life or society.I know I am now severely mentally unstable now and dangerous. p.s. Thanx Cslgary!

Anonymous said...

Cst. Robert Mckenzie should have a note to file and is GUILTY of causing permanent injury and crushing a potential life. And I am unstable...
2+2=4

Anonymous said...

Nice to see all the annonymous postings,seems as if everything is going my way, im really gaining momentum.If I was a religious person I'd say we've left christadelphia far far behind

Anonymous said...

What the hell does the above mean?