The RCMP's Reputation Problem

I was in a small town in Saskatchewan.  My head was itchy and since the land was flatter than North Dakota and there was no vegetation, I figured it would be a safe place to ride without a helmet.

But before I could fire up my motorcycle one of the locals came running out, yelling,

"What are you doing!!!???"

Confused I asked, "what am I doing???"

He then continued on to explain to me that you could NOT ride in Canada without a helmet otherwise you'd get pulled over.

I said, "Really?? boy that kind of sucks."

He said, "Yeah, I know.  They'll confiscate your bike if you don't."

That seemed a little harsh.  I dismissed him as a local yokel hick who just didn't like the cops.  Probably had a run in with them where he was belligerent and got what he deserved.  And so I said,

"No way!  They're not going to confiscate my bike!"

He contested saying, "They sure as hell will!"

His adamancy was compelling to the point I didn't believe him, but didn't NOT believe him either.

For the rest of my travels I inquired about the RCMP with locals and to my surprise they all agreed the RCMP WOULD INDEED confiscate my bike if I was not wearing a helmet.

This made me a little weary of the local law enforcement of Canada.  Unlike the US, they don't have local sheriffs or constables.  The RCMP is basically the national police force.  And given their sparseness on the road and the stiff penalties for speeding, I started developing a concept of their law enforcement model.

Fewer cops + stiffer penalties + badassery = low cost law enforcement that can cover a wide area.

I can appreciate that model.  You don't have a ton of resources, you have a large unpopulated land, and so it may be of economic benefit to the tax payer to have stiffer penalties to compensate for the lack of manpower.

But then this happens.

And now the cops, who I normally side with, are frankly my enemy.  And the reason why is that they are nothing more than nazis.

Understand I enjoy the benefits of free speech in America.  I am not Canadian and therefore I can speak freely about matters in other countries with no retribution whereas local Canadians can't.  So to all you RCMP "members" (that's what they call their officers) who think you have the right to violate the rights, let alone, property rights of law abiding Canadians, go to hell.

Normally conservatives and libertarians have a favorable view of law enforcement.  Normally, we like the cops and have this implicit understanding that we abide by the law and you don't get an attitude or go on a power trip. But based on what I've seen, heard, and this scam going on in Calgary, I just want to let the RCMP know that they are not the "Dudley Doo Right" red coated Canadian mounties media portrays them as, but are rather goose stepping nazis.  It needs to be pointed out and I think a little threat from people who are allowed to speak their minds without the Canadian Human Rights Commission coming down on them will do a lot of Canadians some good.

Now, again, I am pro-law enforcement. I for the most part have a favorable opinion of cops, sheriffs and law enforcement here in the US.  But I get the distinct impression that the RCMP is getting a little strain of SS in it and a little too big for its britches.  Of course, in all intellectual honesty, I am more than happy to post any response to this piece from members of the RCMP or Canadians who are pro-RCMP.  But based on my experiences, conversations and recent confiscation of weapons by the RCMP, they need a little international attention from the media and maybe need to be bitch slapped down a bit.

Again, any time you want to legitimize/defend your actions, your comments are free to be published.