Clarity Sure Would Be Nice

There weren't many contentious issues during the 2013 floods in Alberta, especially in Calgary.  Considering the disaster upon the city, it wasn't like we were mired in any kind of controversy.  Yet, just down the road in High River, it was a totally different story.

I had a chat with Roy Green over the weekend, reflecting on the one-year anniversary and when asked about any "ongoing issues" still needing to be addressed, I said the RCMP's handling of guns in High River is still going to be front-and-centre for many in that neck of the woods.  We've waited for a year now for a report and analysis to be done, which many people hope actually give us some answers on who called the shots on that one and why.

We could probably argue until we're blue in the face about what exactly happened.  But I'm willing to let that discussion wait until we get all the facts from the powers that be.  I can say that I've heard plenty of rumours and rumblings and I have a few working theories in place.  If I get anywhere with them, I'll let you know.  But for now, all it would be is speculation and rumours.

I do find some of the arguments interesting though from those who can't believe the RCMP would even step foot in residential homes to begin with during the flood.  One particular comment I saw really irked me though.  "There was no good excuse to kick people's doors in and walk around their homes in muddy boots."  Normally I'd say just one person is probably thinking this, but I've seen more than a few of them.  So, being that I like playing devil's advocate, I'm going to respond to this one (even if some of you think this is just "feeding the trolls").

I'm going to give you a hypothetical situation.  The RCMP decide not to go door-to-door as it's not safe to go back into the community as the flood waters are really rushing in.  They have decided they will not enforce the mandatory evacuation that's been ordered.  And after the flood waters subside, everyone goes back in to realize that several people have died inside their homes as they either ignored or were not aware of the evacuation order.  Who do you think is going to get the blame for that one?

Here's another story: winter storm paralyzed the Trans-Canada Highway a few years back yet people still tried to drive between Medicine Hat and Calgary.  A young man in shorts hit the ditch in his vehicle.  The car died and he was left freezing with no emergency kit/blanket/etc.  He tried to call RCMP who were being called out to several other people being stuck and they told him they'll get to him when they can (even though they can't see 10-feet in front of the hood of their vehicles as they're trying to find stranded motorists).  He was finally saved, everything was good, yet he still had the audacity to blame RCMP for not getting to him sooner.

Is it wrong to connect these two to a certain extent?  

In a state of emergency, is it not the authorities who are looking out for everyone's best interests?  Let's forget the guns for a second.  A door or a muddy carpet can be replaced.  Can a life?

By no means am I giving any policing authority a blank slate to do whatever they want.  But should we not be looking at the overall picture (aka context)?  We were in a state of emergency and is it not likely that decisions made were to make sure as many people as possible were safe?  Even if that meant they would have to "kick people's doors in and walk around their homes in muddy boots"?

Maybe I'm way out in left field on this one though.  Maybe policing agencies use natural disasters as a cover to break into homes to dig up some dirt on their residents so that they can implement their grand master plan of world domination and a complete police state.

Just some thoughts to ponder.

Again, I really look forward to seeing what happens with that federal report into what happened in High River.  If the RCMP or the town or anyone else overstepped their boundaries, you know we'll be reporting on it.  But there is that possibility that no one overstepped boundaries and everything was done with public safety in mind.  And we'll be reporting on that too.  I just hope we can get some answers sooner rather than later, so that we can finally move on from that part of the disaster and allow some people to finally move on and deal with the real tragedy here, that being people losing their homes and, in some cases, their lives.