And then they did their best to ensure nobody would ever find out about it.

That’s called deceit.  Intentional, calculated, reprehensible deceit.  There’s an old rule for living that has been forgotten.

When you make a mistake, admit it.

Nobody likes making mistakes. Nobody wakes up in the morning and says to themselves or their loved ones, “I think I’ll go screw up today.”  Doesn’t happen.

But mistakes do.

Officials at Winnipeg’s Headingley Jail clearly made mistakes.  That’s bad.  Then they repeated the same mistake AGAIN.  That’s a lot worse.

Then the tried to cover it up.

That’s the reprehensible part.  They tried to hide their mistake.

And they engaged others to assist them in their cover-up of their incompetence.

That wouldn’t be so horrible if it wasn’t for the fact that the police agreed to help hide their incompetence.

Police and Headingley prison officials did not make any announcement about the “accidental” release of [allegedly] violent offender Brian Moran.  According to the Winnipeg Free Press article, he was being held pending his trial for “discharging a firearm with intent“, after an incident that left a man seriously injured.

And they never made any announcement about a second inmate similarly released the day before, but who was subsequently re-captured.

Trevor Ballantyne, being held on sexual assault charges, among other things.  He’s now being charged with escaping lawful custody to make up for the incompetence of the officials who let him go.  THeir rationale?  He knew he shouldn’t have been released and didn’t turn himself in.

Makes sense.

Some idiot bureaucrats screw up, or in the jargon of the officials, made an “administrative or clerical error”, but it’s not their fault.

It never is, is it?

Instead of hiding the truth, trying to cover up the mistake, lying about it all, wouldn’t it just be simpler (not to mention easier) to say, “hey, I screwed up. I’m sorry.”  ?

We can all forgive mistakes.  It’s much harder to forgive intentional deception and coverups.

Which is why Canadians in ever-growing numbers have no faith in our police forces, court systems and prison officials.

When they continually lie to us, what basis is there for us to have faith in them?