Trudeau and company put on an hours-long masterclass in delivering a droning, legalistic message whose technical accuracy aimed to divert attention from the latest and most important controversies damaging their aging Liberal government.
The status quo cannot go on. As things stand, a beleaguered, poorly structured RCMP leaves Canada a sitting duck to foreign interference, ideologically motivated violence, and global organized crime.
Suggesting that citizens simply give up and make it easier for car thieves to steal their property reads like an admission that the police have lost control over a dangerous and costly problem.
There will be disagreement about the reform road ahead for policing, intelligence, federalism, and the content of the Emergencies Act. But government silence only delays a public debate we cannot avoid on these difficult matters.
Faced with an intelligence culture of reticence and a political culture of winking at ethics, producing a set of reports that will serve the dual interests of reducing public anger and withdrawal from the political processes will require all the legal savvy and personal mettle Justice Hogue can muster.
Intelligent investments in policing can do more to enhance public safety and maintain public order than simply reduce crime rates. Success requires restructuring the institution, not defunding or abolishing it.
