(From MacKay – May 31, 2006 )
Please visit my poll page and cast your vote at one or both of the two polls about Julian Fantino vs. Shawn Brant.
The first poll asks if Fantino should be suspended. Current results sit at 91% saying no and 9% saying yes, out of a total of 55 votes since July 20.
The second poll is more specific, asking whether Fantino should be suspended, fired, given the Order of Canada or none of the above? Only 9 votes have been cast here, but 78% of the respondents have voted for ‘None of the Above". 22% say he should be fired.
The National Post takes a shot at fellow MSM this morning with their editorial, Fantino’s Non-Scandal:
…The only "danger" at issue here is the risk of this country being overrun by native protests in the face of cops who have both hands tied behind their backs.
How exactly did this increasingly wimpy nation get to a point where it is considered "scandalous" for a police officer to use Bmovie tough talk to eject thugs from public property? More to the point: Why are our media colleagues cheerleading this embarrassing phenomenon?
Well, Shawn Brant, his lawyer and NDP MPP Peter Kormos certainly know how to use the media to their advantage. And to his credit, Dalton McGuinty has stood by Fantino on this one. I grudgingly give him a thumbs-up for that. The NDP’s action is shameless and irresponsible.
However, that this is even a story one year after the fact is symptomatic of our weak-kneed progressive attitudes when it comes to applying the law of the land to all citizens equally.
Or as Julian Fantino himself has observed,
"I find the whole thing ludicrous,” the Ontario Provincial Police commissioner said in an e-mail.
"It’s all utter shameful madness that under the circumstances . . . I and the OPP would be portrayed as the villains and Brant the victim. But, then again, some people have no shame,” he wrote.
"Ironically, only in Canada can someone basically usurp the rights and lawful entitlement of tens of thousands of people and obstruct commerce by leading a so-called blockade using criminal tactics (and have) such unlawful actions be made out to be legitimate and its mastermind then the victim. This is insane!” he wrote.
It is indeed insane.
But when you have an Ontario Premier with a long-standing policy of incremental appeasement and an apparent policing philosophy that involves merely ‘keeping the peace’ when laws are broken, then he shouldn’t be too surprised when an alleged perpetrator of a crime is made to look like victim.
It is a logical progression.
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Update: Thanks to Sol for directing me to this excellent commentary in today’s Sun – Apparently Fantino’s an o.k. guy. It seems that the Kangaroo Court comprised of MSM and left-leaning politicians has been less than honest with us regarding the context of Fantino’s comments:
…What you probably haven’t heard is the next thing Fantino said: "I don’t want to do that. I want to help you deal with the suicides (on native reserves) … I’ve travelled to … reserves. I know exactly what you’re talking about. I’ve seen it. I’ve been to Kashechewan and some of these other places. I’ve been there … "
Shawn Brant himself seemed quite impressed with Fantino at the time.
If this is Peter Kormos’ way to get face-time before an NDP leadership race, I think he’s picking the wrong issue.
Neo has more - What percentage of Ontarians…
Another tip from Sol – Christina Blizzard: Shawn Brant vs. everyone.
