From Mark Vandermaas:
I think the best indication that Strickland and the University of Waterloo were not merely running a PR campaign (aside from the fact that they took a strong stand to protect the right of students and the public to hear what Blatchford had to say) was his statement to McHale and me that he had read Helpless three times. This caught me by surprise as did his depth of knowledge about us. When I mentioned the fact that native people were also victims of racial policing in Caledonia, he knew our position on the issue because he had reviewed at our presentations to Mount Royal University - among other things. When I expressed my astonishment at his research, Strickland explained that he wanted to know who was coming to his university.
Now compare that man’s open-mindedness to this closed-ranks mentality:
Would you believe…the present commander of the Haldimand OPP detachment has NOT read Helpless! We know because Gary wanted to interview him about it, and offered to provide a copy, which he refused. This is the same guy who [...] denied there was two tier justice in Haldimand County.
Added bonus: Listen to Mark Vandermaas and Gary McHale interviewed by CHRW.
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UPDATE: For more details on Caledonia and the practice of race-based policing, follow Gary McHale’s columns for Caledonia’s Regional News: Archives. The latest one is here: “Fantino admits the truth in court”.
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Well we now have one university that indicates they will be doing it right going forward. I truly hope they are not snowing us. Thanks to them for getting this one right the second time around. Now… How do we get the other universities across Canada to follow suit? Their records of allowing free speech is atrocious! Unless what is being said is what they want to say. We will find out how serious they are the next time a Pro Life organization plans a function or asks for the same considerations that all the other groups on campus enjoy.
I don’t have much faith in other universities, but I was impressed with attitude shown by Waterloo in this case. I think they were pretty ashamed the first event went down like it did.
But compare Waterloo’s media relations guy (Strickland) to the present OPP commander for Haldimand — the guy absolutely refuses to read Helpless, even though he was offered a free copy.
As I get further into the book, it’s astounding to me how the OPP not only practiced two-tier policing, but they also ignored their own officers in trouble. Cops stood by while other cops (plain clothes) were carjacked (one officer was badly injured). In another instance, a cop responded to a call about an impaired driver (native, no licence, no insurance, no plate on the car). He was surrounded by at least a dozen thugs, so he called for backup — Nobody came; they left him on his own. He filed a formal complaint and was disciplined — this became the typical story for other officers who spoke up. If it were me, I don’t think I’d want to be a copy any longer.
Natasha, has it occurred to you that the current head of Haldimand OPP has probably been -ordered- not to have contact with McHale, Blatchford, Vandermas and a bunch of these guys?
I was here in Caledonia when it was all going down, talked to a few of the cops, got pulled over for taking pictures, the works. There was OPP guys from all over Ontario down here, from Barrie, Orrilia, Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Toronto, you name it. From my contact with them they were PISSED at the way the whole thing was going down, and not the least bit shy about telling a perfect stranger (me) all about it.
Even the kid that pulled me over said it was all bullshit. When was the last time you got pulled over and the cop said his orders to pull you over were bullshit?
Just following orders long enough to get the hell back home and away from Caledonia, is what that all was. They were told not to interfere with the “demonstrators”, and that’s what they did. You need to look a lot farther up the food chain than the head of Haldimand detachment to find the guilty parties.
I’d have quit, myself. Especially after they let the Indians have that guy from the traffic stop, and they let another one try to run an OPP officer down. You’d think a mass resignation would have occurred, but it appears the fix is in with the police union too. Very, very high up the food chain you have to look.
Yes, I agree. Everything you say is true. As I get further into the book, what you say is quite clear. I don’t think any of that excuses the attitude of the current head of Haldimand OPP, but it does explain that he’s probably just “following orders” as you said — which is pathetic, IMO.
Many cops were brought in for seven-day shifts from all over Ontario. To them, it became known as “Cashadonia” for all the overtime money they made. But, though they were disgusted with the way it was all going down, they had no personal investment because they’d do their stint and leave.
One interesting story was the head of the OPP there and his instructions to a room full of his officers. This occurred after the judge ordered his injunction to be carried out to remove the occupiers. The raid was a total disaster with the cops having no choice but to retreat. The idiot in charge stood there and told them it was a success, and anyone who didn’t agree could leave the room now. One officer said they should have all walked out en masse at that very moment. I think they didn’t only because they were shocked into total disbelief at what they were hearing. But the most shocking thing followed. The officers were told their new mission: Protect the native occupiers from the non-native residents of Caledonia.
So many stories… The native barricades/checkpoints where they’d demand random body searches of residents wanting to return to their homes — including the women, especially young women. If they refused to submit, they weren’t allowed to go home.
The attempted murder of one officer’s wife (a resident of Caledonia — not located in DCE) — and, yes, IMO it was attempted murder. The lug nuts on one car wheel had been tampered with — they were all loosened. The wheel came off when she was driving and she crashed the car. I think it’s a very lucky thing that she wasn’t killed.
How about the first arrest of Gary McHale for the crime of — get this — faxing his MP. That was actually somewhat humorous to read — except that it indicates the degree of government control we live under here in Canada. As McHale said (and I paraphrase), in Canada we don’t live in a democracy — it’s a dictatorship of approximately 4 yr stretches interrupted by brief periods of democracy (election time). The story of why he got involved in Caledonia is very important.
You really have to read Helpless to believe it. But if you were there, you already know a lot of it.
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