You Must be Joking Mr. Elliott

The Harper appointed RCMP Commissioner William Elliott asked us all a few days ago not to jump to conclusions about the actions of the officers the day Robert Dziekanski was tasered, and died. That is fair, and I like many Canadians have been trying to do just that.

What we have heard was that all four of the RCMP officers were afraid when Mr. Dziekanski grabbed the stapler. If that wasn't frightening enough, even worse, at least one of them testified that staples started coming out of that office implement of destruction.

I am not sure what happened in between the time that the four of them swaggered through the airport, loaded for bear, all decked out in bullet proof vests, batons, guns and tasers. There was so much testosterone in that group of four that I am sure if we looked at the video again, we'd see it dripping off them, onto the floor and leaving a trail behind them. So what happened between their arrival and the tasering that caused that sudden fear? Surly it would take more than one disoriented man with a stapler to signifigantly change the dynamics in the room.

So Mr. Elliott, I have thought about it. In fact I thought about it alot. I even went back and watched that awful video again but, to be honest, I still don't get it. Were they just lazy? Is it that it is just easier to taser someone than to try and talk someone down or, if things go wrong to try and wrestle someone to the ground, four on one?

We most likely won't ever know. To be frank, I don't have a great deal of faith in Government Inquiries so I don't have any hope that anything will come of it. Lets face it, there wouldn't even be an enquiry if the RCMP had their way. They assumed the "Deny, Deny, Deny" stance from the outset. If it wasn't for the fact that someone had a video camera and the foresight to record the actions of those officers that day, we probably would have forgotten poor Mr. Dziekanski by now.

So, I'm going to leave it to the court of public opinion to decide and frankly, I think the judge and jury within that process has already made a decision. Mr. Elliott's comments may play well within the RCMP but, to the Canadian public he just looks like another of Harper's hired fools.