VOICE OPINION COLUMN

ON April 18 and 19, 2020, Gabriel Wortman slaughtered 22 people over 13 hours in Nova Scotia, while the RCMP officers ran around like bumbling amateurs. If you want to learn more about the havoc this madman caused and the disgraceful response of the RCMP, you can Google it. There’s tons of material on this appalling, dismal failure of the RCMP that has the world laughing at it.

And now, the world is laughing at the whole RCMP chain of command that is STILL LOST about what changes to make to deal with any such future incident – EVEN AFTER 28 MONTHS!

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki this week told a public inquiry that there have been no reforms to the national police force since the massacre. All she could offer to the shooting victims was an apology for not being “what you needed us to be.”

EXACTLY!

Surrey does not have to experience such a horrific mass murder and then be lamely told that the Mounties are sorry for not being “what you needed us to be.”

According to news reports, Lucki said she couldn’t directly answer questions about why the RCMP’s national headquarters had failed to act upon requests from the Nova Scotia RCMP for a formal review of the police response to the shooting.

Now, can you see why it is SO VITAL that Surrey has a police system where LOCAL PEOPLE in the police board are directly responsible to Surrey-ites?

“And she also didn’t respond directly to questions about why the force hasn’t made any improvements – particularly in areas such as policy, staffing in rural areas, equipment and cadet training – that could help prevent another tragedy from happening,” reported The Globe and Mail.

Whoa, what can you expect from the Ottawa-based RCMP?!

No, sir!

We must not ‘Keep the RCMP in Surrey” – au contraire, we MUST ‘Kick Out the RCMP from Surrey’!

“The RCMP response was plagued by shoddy technology, inaccurate assumptions about the killer’s whereabouts and delays in warning the public. At one point, in a case of mistaken identity, two Mounties shot up a fire hall with people cowering inside. Officers complained of a confusing and contradictory chain of command,” reported The Globe and Mail.

Man, do we want Mounties to turn Surrey into this kind of mess?!

The SILENT MAJORITY of Surrey-ites has clearly shown that they support a Surrey municipal police force – in the municipal election and then in the provincial election — while the SCREECHING MINORITY has indulged in lies, slander, distortion and fascist behaviour (especially at the Surrey City Hall), egged on by unscrupulous individuals backed by SOME racist elements in the white mainstream media in opposition to the powerful multicultural ethnic media in Surrey.

Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum and his Safe Surrey Coalition were ABSOLUTELY RIGHT to bring in the Surrey Police Service – a force that will be LOCALLY ACCOUNTABLE every day.