Juno News - The RCMP is not systemically racist

00:00:00.000 In the space of just a few days, the Prime Minister has managed to declare the iconic RCMP,

00:00:11.440 the country's storied national police force which has served Canadians since well before Canada

00:00:17.520 existed, as the harbour of systemic racism. While Commissioner Brenda Luckey was busy fending off

00:00:25.980 the baying media, Trudeau doubled down saying systemic racism permeates most of all of our

00:00:32.520 national institutions. He intimated that racism permeates all of Canadian society. Well, that's

00:00:41.900 rich coming from the guy who has appeared publicly at least three times in blackface.

00:00:46.960 Every Canadian should be outraged. On a personal level, I was. I was raised in a small town suburb of

00:00:57.580 Montreal called Greenfield Park, a town of about 15,000 or 16,000 people, of all denominations,

00:01:05.780 colours and creeds. As kids, we gathered on weekends at the local park. At the baseball diamond, football

00:01:14.080 field or outdoor hockey rink, we all met and played pick-up games of the sport of the season.

00:01:21.760 Regardless of ethnicity, all were invited to play.

00:01:27.700 I suspect my experience mirrors that of most Canadians. Those experiences formed us as we

00:01:34.700 grew up and took our place in those quote racist unquote industries and organizations. I joined

00:01:43.080 the RCMP in 1975, moved on to the Vancouver Police Department and ultimately to build a company that

00:01:50.920 now employs 10,000 people. We employed folks from all demographics, even into senior management. Any

00:02:00.040 hint of racism was quickly nipped in the bud and repeat offenders were bid farewell. So where do these

00:02:10.280 claims of systemic racism come from? It seems most likely that it is yet another knee-jerk reaction by

00:02:18.920 the Prime Minister to whatever else may have been going on in the world. In this case, the death of George

00:02:26.760 Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer who has since been fired, charged with second degree murder.

00:02:34.280 However, we do not possess enough information to date to describe all police organizations, let alone the

00:02:41.960 venerable RCMP, which may have many faults, but systemic racism is simply wrong. For True North, I'm Leo Knight.

Juno News - June 14, 2020