H/T to Neo over at Halls for this great column by Christie Blatchford detailing the ordeal of Dave Brown and Dana Chatwell as their court case begins against the Ontario Government and the OPP.
Christie started telling their story back in September of 2007. Those who read her column Their Caledonia house is no longer their home, may remember this poignant paragraph:
…Finally, early on the morning of April 20 last year[2006], the OPP raided the property to enforce the order, but were ultimately overrun and forced to leave Douglas Creek Estates.
That was the day Mr. Brown, watching from his house, realized that he and his family were on their own, that, as he says, “When the sun goes down behind my home, I don’t live in Canada, I live in Beirut.”
Two tier government is clearly still alive and well in Ontario.
OPP Inspector Brian Haggith seems to be one of the few voices brave enough to criticize the way things were handled in Caledonia:
“…But what happened was that as time progressed, I could see that the – I could see as a police officer that the natives on that site were becoming more bold and that laws were being broken, and a lot of discretion was being used by us to deal with it.
“And I understood it at first, but as I said, as [the occupation] progressed, it became bolder and bolder and more things were occurring. So at one point, I started to suggest instead of investigating and charging later, which is not conventional policing, I suggested maybe we should start arresting some people while the offence is being committed.”
He raised that novel concept with his superiors; he was “disappointed” by their response.
Insp. Haggith also believed that the OPP’s failure to make arrests in a timely way, as they would in the normal course of duty, was empowering the protesters…
Just another McGuinty disaster as our once proud province continues to self-destruct.
And isn’t it funny how Dalton’s Nanny State mentality doesn’t extend to issues of real danger?
* * * *
eHealth Update:
Three senior officials resign over eHealth, more expected to go – Globe:
…Tory Leader Tim Hudak said Mr. Sapsford is just the latest figure to be “implicated” in the eHealth scandal.
“The only senior eHealth figure who has not lost his job yet is Dalton McGuinty,” he said, referring to the Premier and his involvement in the hiring of former eHealth CEO Sarah Kramer…
* * * *
Lost revenue
$2 billion in tax revenue up in smoke – Star:
One in two cigarettes smoked in Ontario is illegal, robbing provincial and federal coffers of more than $2 billion a year and raising concerns about children gaining easy access to tobacco…
What will McGuinty do?
* * * *
Tuesday Update:
Native crates may have held AK-47s: Caledonia man’s testimony - Post
Kelly McParland: ‘Policy implications’ and law enforcement in Caledonia – Post
Caledonia resident testifies he was ‘in panic mode’ – Spectator
With a shotgun and his dog, he tried to defend his Caledonia home – Christie Blatchford:
“When the barricades went up and we had no police,” Mr. Brown said, “I really thought I was going to die. I really thought they were going to do something to us.”
Sad and deplorable. This situation, a symptom of a much larger problem, has gone on in this country far too long. No government wants to take responsibility. Political hot-potato that it is, it would be a chance for a precedent-setting event to ensure “equal equality” for ALL Canadians simultaneously. Nobody ever seems to want to assimilate the U.S.A. in any way, but I believe how they would handle this one would merit our envy. They would never let any segregational or special interest group even get to 1st base.
This is the number one reason to not vote for the Ontario Libs.
However, this was an issue last time, and nobody seemed to care.
And so Dalton-do-nothing will sit around like a deer in the headlights, hoping that nothing blows up too bad on his watch. But hey, it worked for him the last time!
The Liberal government is quaking in their boots over the prospect of another Ippwerwash or an Oka.
This is what happens when you get a government is absolutley bereft of spine and leadership.
If the politicians had never got into the special rules for certain groups game this never would have happened. Replacing equality under the law and personal responsibility with multi-level social justice and group rights quite quickly leads to unintended consequences like Caledonia. These are not native problems, gay problems or Muslim problems but government-created problem.
I feel for Ontario. I spent most of my years under a NDP governments. Economic stagnation, infrastructure deterioration and depopulation is the visible effect. The unseen one is the widespread pessimism and cynicism felt by the remaining taxpayers (freeloaders love it). The only known cure is voting out the socialists. Unfortunately taxpayers and youth will leave while the freeloaders multiply, making it harder to restore sanity. Given your Toronto problem, Good Luck.
Caledonia is a policing problem. Fantino is not exactly a Law and Order cop.
These situations fester until someone “goes postal” and then the blame game begins.Politicians are responsible for these actions and ultimately they have to be accountable for the present situation and the resulting fiasco.How would we feel and how would we react if this was happening in our backyard ?.At one time I saw Fantino as a policeman’s cop, a hard nose take no crap type of guy but as we have all witnessed,pensionable time becomes the driving force behind all these liberal political decisions
It may be a little strange to say, but I think Doltoid is waiting till some locals have had enough and ‘go postal’.
Then he’ll step in and do the typical liberal squishyness, and condem the locals as racist.
At that point he’ll give up the bank to the squatters, to the resounding clapping from the socialists.
This concept was posed to me by an OPP officer who works in the area.
Makes sense, in a sick kinda liberal way
McGuilty’s Ontario = Banana Republic
Just wanted to let the group know that I was blindsided by a “Tripper302″ who posted 4 hours after me in the Ottawa Citizen…
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Once+rogue+always+rogue/2225130/story.html
I don’t know this person, but by this sampling they appear to be my exact polar opposite, maybe in a parallel universe or something. To me, it’s a bit invasive, but I guess it’s still a free country. If you see anything posted that doesn’t make any sense, be sure to check the “number”… It’ll be 302.
I hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else, as in some weird “troll shadowing” scheme to confuse our worthy message. I’d hate to see a batby, Squiggy1, Maz1, Bubba10, bec5, or whomever. It seems to transgress upon the honour of decent literary duelling in the blogmire.
Tripper523 – I’m really glad you mentioned that. I think I saw a comment by some ‘Tripper’ at ChuckerCanuk’s and it was really rude. I was hoping that wasn’t you.
Thanks Joanne. I have the potential to be rude, but I try not to be. If I ever am, be assured I had the best of intentions!
lol! Tripper, I’ve never noticed you being rude here.
Thanks JOANNE! You’re the coolest. It seems I’ve made some enemies over at the Ottawa Citizen. I use it as a gauge of our effectiveness, so I guess we’re doing okay. However, I still can’t get accustomed to such tripe coming out of somebody called “Tripper”…
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Once+rogue+always+rogue/2225130/story.html
The OPP should be disbanded since it has become a political tool of Queen’s Park. Cities and towns should demand their own funding for law enforcement which would be more responsive to locals rather than Liberal politics.
Philanthropist, I’m with you.
I’m a law-abiding, law and order gal and have always been very supportive of the police force, in my case “Toronto’s Finest.”
Lately, however, I’ve begun to feel like I’m living on the edges of a third-world country, aka a Banana Republic, where the police are just another arm of the corrupt elites and are definitely NOT to be called if your house has been robbed. ‘Chances are, if you do call them, someone will come to investigate, aka case the joint, and you’ll be robbed again.
It saddens me that I feel this way, but the only places I see police officers these days are standing around construction sites talking to the indolent city employees (who NEVER seem to be working — another story) or at the local Tim Horton’s picking up their morning brew.
Under Moron Miller and Duhlton McGuilty, the police have become tools to forward the leftard agenda: punish law-abiding citizens, protect the criminals.
In short Miller and McGuilty’s modus operandi is to hug a thug. Good Lord, deliver us.
[...] The National, he did a great piece questioning the Ontario Liberal Government’s treatment of Dave Brown and Dana Chatwell’s plight in [...]
[...] Dana Chatwell’s testimony yesterday paints a picture of a beleaguered and psychologically abused family that has given up. They have been totally abandoned by the OPP and the Ontario Government. [...]