Zaccardelli and Conservative Support

[gerryhatrick]

Stockwell Day was expressing support earlier this week until Zaccardelli quit.

The flip flops aside

Are you claiming Stockwell Day is just like John Kerry?

[gerryhatrick]

The man should have been removed for the way he handled the income trust thing.

Of course, after Harper became PM that wasn't too likely.

[betsy]

There seems to be something more going on here...do you have that feeling?

Is Zaccardelli protecting some higher ups? Are there some other things left undisclosed?

Somebody said that if Anne McLellan were still an MP, she would be asked to resign over this.

I think Harper should call an independent investigation. If the blame falls mostly on the Liberals for this, let it happen. If there is blame enough for everyone including Arar, let that happen too.

And to get this topic back on track...

Yes. They really have to get to the bottom of this.

I am assuming Arar is completely innocent, based on what I've heard from the news. What happened to him and his family is so scary.

[jdobbin]

Stockwell Day was expressing support earlier this week until Zaccardelli quit.

The flip flops aside

Are you claiming Stockwell Day is just like John Kerry?

I never made any such statement. You must be referring to someone else.

[Wilber]

There is more than one way to skin a cat and sometimes yours is not the best.

Fair enough but I think it's premature to assume that the best inside candidate would be inferior to someone brought in from the outside.

I meant nothing negative about any of the inside candidates. I'm saying that organizations which have spent their whole existence without having to compare themselves to others become inward looking and often resist change for no other reason than "we have always done it that way". Whenever you find that "we have always done it that way" is the only reason you can think of for not changing, it's time to think about changing. An outside influence might be refreshing and a good thing for a department, it's done all the time in police forces outside the RCMP. Bringing in a new chief from the outside is often a good thing for police departments that find them selves floundering somewhat. You have to find the right person so the people doing the hiring better have the best interests of the force at the top of their priority list.

My son is a municipal cop in a city that is surrounded by RCMP jurisdictions. He has nothing but good things to say about the RCMP officers he deals with on a daily basis but finds their hierarchy a pain in the ass.

[watching&waiting]

I personally think that all police commissioners should not be from the police force at all. In this case there was a definite coverup that was more inline with keeping the RCMP out of the line of fire and that was done because of the attachment of the Commissioner to the RCMP.

All police board reviews should be made up of 50% public and 50% police force as well, because we all know that the police can not effectively police themselves. What we need is public input and all of this will not go very far as once the public side of the boards hear the wrong doing it will stop and those responsible will be dealt with within reasoable time. It is the only way to be sure that this is not repeated again.

[normanchateau]

There is more than one way to skin a cat and sometimes yours is not the best.

Fair enough but I think it's premature to assume that the best inside candidate would be inferior to someone brought in from the outside.

I meant nothing negative about any of the inside candidates. I'm saying that organizations which have spent their whole existence without having to compare themselves to others become inward looking and often resist change for no other reason than "we have always done it that way". Whenever you find that "we have always done it that way" is the only reason you can think of for not changing, it's time to think about changing. An outside influence might be refreshing and a good thing for a department, it's done all the time in police forces outside the RCMP. Bringing in a new chief from the outside is often a good thing for police departments that find them selves floundering somewhat.

But when police forces bring in someone from outside their municipality, they still bring in someone with comparable police experience. I suppose if the RCMP did that, I can see the merits.

[normanchateau]

Zackardelli should have been fired long ago. The RCMP needs to be cleaned out. The top three candidates to succeed him are all collectively known as "Zack clones" and all should be part of the Chretien corruption baggage cleaned out of the RCMP by a new, outside commissioner.

Yes, Zaccardelli should have been fired long ago and one former officer did indeed refer to the top three candidates as "Zac-clones." Story:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/12/06/...ef.html?ref=rss

But does that comment from a disaffected former officer disqualify all three? All three are deputy commissioners who would naturally have interacted with Zaccardelli in their line of duty. What exactly is wrong, for example, with Beverley Busson? Her CV looks good to me.

What was she doing when the mounties were violating people's civil rights out there in BC? Was she involved in that?

If she was involved, that should certainly disqualify her from consideration. However, she wasn't involved. Chretien's orders to the RCMP to violate people's civil rights during APEC occurred, I believe, in 1997. Busson was in Saskatchewan at the time and wasn't stationed in BC until 1999. Source:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/1999/03/23/bc...ency990323.html

[Wilber]

But when police forces bring in someone from outside their municipality, they still bring in someone with comparable police experience. I suppose if the RCMP did that, I can see the merits.

Absolutely, the advantage is that the new guy (or gal) has no favorites and can look at things in a way that those who have spent their whole careers there are unable to. It's not their fault, it's human nature.