Enough of this mealy-mouthed graciousness, already! They are getting rid of Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair and good riddance to him. It is surprising that he had the gall to ask for an extension to his tenancy at Police Headquarters. Enough is enough. Mind you, just letting him go solves nothing. He remains culpable for the worst civil rights infractions in Toronto’s history at the G-20 in June 2010.
While some people complain about Julian Fantino, Blair’s predecessor being a loud mouthed bully but he just might have been more aware of when he was being used than Blair. And sure Bill McCormack, Fantino’s predecessor might have had his weaknesses but he was liked and at least understood that citizens have rights in this country. Blair blew all his credibility and support in one disgusting weekend.
It has always seemed that Bill Blair had some dislike for the people of Toronto. The running battles he had with carding could have been handled but it seemed as though he was reluctant to actually stop the practice. The incident last year with the unfortunate Sammy Yatim on a Toronto streetcar speaks volumes about Blair’s management. Who the hell were those officers afraid of when they repeatedly shot and then tasered an obviously disturbed young man with a small penknife?
But Blair is not the only problem here. People need to question the entire process. Start with who is in charge. Why do we not have a system where the head of our police force is a civilian? The police work for the citizens. They are not a pseudo-military organization given dominance over the public. They are civil servants who provide an important service to the public and have to learn to think that way.
And the Police Services Board is a joke. These people are appointed by politicians and are quickly co-opted by the police to handle their liaison with the politicians who pay their salaries and buy them their big kids’ toys. When the head of the police services board goes to the politicians with the police budget requests, you quickly recognize just who is running who.
And please do not get us going about the idiocy of provinces that have to use poorly trained Royal Canadian Mounted Police fresh out of Regina to act as though they are a provincial police force? Red coats can look spiffy but you really need sentient humans to wear them in public.
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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