National Featured

Given the long association of the Force with equine companions and in common cause with other Canadian Police Forces it was felt that we should recognize and sympathize with the Toronto Police Service in the death of a unique horse from their mounted unit. A special member of the Toronto Police Service’s (TPS) Mounted Unit has died.

A close friend of Ron Wesner, Bob Harriman, crafted this beautiful painting of our Drive By at Airdrie Detachment. Bob wishes to donate the painting to the Members of Airdrie Detachment and arrangements are currently underway to do so.

I would like to first express my appreciation for your service, and for the commitment demonstrated by law enforcement officers across Manitoba to their respective communities.

As anti-police rhetoric in Canada has intensified over the past weeks, I confess that the Mountie in me has been stirred to anger. Not because of what one might assume – that I refuse to acknowledge that serious mistakes have been made, or that I am eager to let police leadership off the proverbial hook – but rather, because of the volume of quick, easy and short-sighted criticism from our politicians and pundits, much of it proffered without any balance or nuance.

There seems to be some confusion about what ‘systemic’ actually means with some journalists even using the term as a synonym of ‘systematic’. Systematic is anything done methodically, according to a plan, or utilizing a system. Systemic means involving the whole body or organization. To be systemic in the RCMP, racism would have to permeate the whole organization, be part of the both administrative and operational policy, and be universally and consistently pursued by the organization’s management.