Justice Paul Rouleau’s inquiry, doesn’t hold a candle to Tim Ralfe of the CBC during the October Crisis of 1970. Justin Trudeau’s father did not suffer fools. Ralfe was lurking with other reporters for Pierre Trudeau’s arrival at the Centre Block of the parliament buildings and he got a clear answer to his question of the prime minister.
Justin Trudeau—ever the actor—was well prepared for his day at the Rouleau inquiry. He was just as clear as his father was when answering for use of the War Measures Act 52 years ago.
I remember my anger at the use of Canadian Army personnel in our airports and on the streets of Ottawa. A senator friend talked me out of telling Pierre how I felt about his use of the War Measures Act. He knew how Pierre and I had exchanged heated words when we first met. Pierre and I laughed at it after the fact but we both felt we had made our point. He had no patience for demanding public relations flunkies and I had less for prima donna politicians. A second set-to might not have had the same ease of putting it behind us.
Mind you, we did not see the War Measures Act stretching out for a year with an inquiry. I think the inquiry has done a service for Canadians in blowing smoke off some of the operations in Ottawa. I never knew, for example, how shallow the operations were at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). I knew there was no ‘James Bond’ BS but CSIS is so bland as to be boring. It was like one time I was doing some work for the police and the RCMP and I found out how they searched millions of photographs of Canadians. It tarnished the colour of those crimson jackets.
I am frankly wondering how the RCMP is going to survive these hearings, no matter how Justice Rouleau sugar-coats his report. And if the justice lays any responsibility on former Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly, we will know the fix is in. Sloly was the slow child being abused in a game of monkey-in-the-middle and he was used as a scapegoat by both the brass of the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It is unlikely that Rouleau would go that far, but no amount of hand-wringing or hand-washing saves Ontario premier Doug Ford from taking the blame for politicizing the situation in Ottawa and Windsor. The hypocrisy of Mr. Ford in this affair was appalling.
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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry
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