2006-06-05

Oh, Canada! What a feeling

Oh, it felt good. To listen to NPR interview Assistant Commissioner Mike McDonnell of the RCMP regarding the 17 people arrested this weekend was refreshing and proud-making. Lines of note follow.

Q: Why move now?
A: It got to the point where for public safety... It got to the point where we could no longer control the risk.
...
Q: How does it add to the challenges that you face that you need not only monitor recent immigrants but people who are actually citizens if you're worried about this kind of thing?
A: Well, actually, we don't monitor recent immigrants. We don't monitor citizens. But we're always looking for indications of criminality and pursue that. This is not a police state. ... I've never worked in a community that didn't exhibit some level of criminality... We practice community policing. The community is the eyes and ears of the police force.

And he signed off with a typical Canadian phrase... "take care" which I hadn't realized was so Canadian.

Okay, so this is a bit disingenuous with the existence of Echelon but still... The difference in tone was obvious. Painfully obvious. Another up-tick of exiting Americans coming to Canada? Perhaps.