Public Safety Minister Bill Blair was a career politician long before he ran for public office in the 2015 federal election. It was as a member of the Toronto Police Service, and eventually as its chief, where Bill Blair mastered the art of deception as a means of pushing forward his personal ideology.
After five years in government, one question about Bill Blair desperately requires an answer.
Through his repeated failures in every aspect of the Public Safety portfolio, was Minister Bill Blair promoted past his level of incompetence a long time ago?
Paul Wells, senior writer for MacLean’s, put it this way in his column, “Another farce on Bill Blair’s Watch”.
“I’ve got my journalistic obsessions, Lord knows. But the notion that Bill Blair, the minister of public safety and emergency preparedness, is in way over his head was not something I brought to this game.
It’s a learned response.
Lately it’s kind of getting locked in.”
Failure #1: Eliminate “Systemic Racism” from the RCMP
Early this year, Minister Blair was ordered to eliminate RCMP abuse of Black and Indigenous people – all minorities, really.
“Far too many Black Canadians and Indigenous people do not feel safe around police. It’s unacceptable. And as governments, we have to change that,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters after the violent arrest of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam in Fort McMurray became public.
“This is something I’ve already discussed with RCMP Commissioner Lucki. But reforms are needed at all levels of policing, and these reforms need to happen quickly,” Trudeau said.
Since then, what’s happened on the RCMP reform front?
Nothing.
Both Bill Blair and the RCMP seem far more focused on hiding evidence that the Nova Scotia mass murderer was an RCMP agent or informant.
Bill Blair’s complete and utter failure to eliminate “systemic racism” from the RCMP comes with real consequences.
One of those consequences is that Carleton University’s Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice (ICCJ) cut all ties with police and prison institutions because “these institutions have demonstrated their imperviousness to reform.”
The ICCJ’s formal statement goes on to say:
Beginning in the 2021-22 school year, we will be ending all student placement opportunities with policing and prison authorities.
Recent comments from RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki are illustrative — her initial denial regarding the existence of systemic racism in Canadian policing, and then, after revising her position following public and political outcry, her inability to articulate a basic definition of systemic racism in what became an awkward and illustrative display of the practice itself.
Commissioner Lucki is not an outlier. RCMP Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki echoed the same sentiments in early June when he told CBC: “I don’t believe that racism is systemic through Canadian policing. I don’t believe it’s systemic through policing in Alberta.”
Even in the context of widespread public scrutiny and claims to be reforming, Canadian police are on pace to kill a record number of people in 2020, many of whom are racialized, Indigenous, and/or suffering mental health challenges.
Despite the climbing death toll, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair still hasn’t lifted a finger to do anything about it.
Failure #2: End Solitary Confinement in Prisons
Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government introduced and passed Bill C-83, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and another Act, which received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019.
Bill C-83 amends the Corrections and Conditional Release Act to, among other things, eliminate the use of administrative segregation and disciplinary segregation, better known as solitary confinement, because of the damage it does to already-vulnerable individuals.
- In 2010, 24-year-old Edward Snowshoe committed suicide after spending 162 days in solitary confinement.
- In 2007, 19-year-old Ashley Smith proved women are tougher than men. She survived over 1,000 days (three years) in solitary confinement before she finally lost all hope and strangled herself.
One of the key recommendations in Bill C-83 was the creation of the Structured Intervention Unit Implementation Advisory Panel. This panel was supposed to “monitor and assess the progress of SIU implementation, ensure greater transparency, and identify and report on any challenges.”
In 2019, Ralph Goodale, arguably one of only three adults to ever sit at Justin Trudeau’s cabinet table (Jody Wilson-Raybould and Dr. Jane Philpott being the other two), created the Advisory Panel and appointed Dr. Anthony Doob as its chair.
Dr. Anthony Doob’s credentials are unassailable but even the best people cannot pry information from a bureaucracy that isn’t interested in playing ball.
On August 19, 2020, Dr. Doob announced the Structured Intervention Unit Implementation Advisory Panel no longer exists because:
- Appointments were for a 1-year term, which had now expired, and
- the lack of cooperation by both Correctional Services Canada (CSC) and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair’s office made it impossible for them start their work, let alone finish it.
The Advisory Panel’s final report, if you can even call it that, ended with this statement, unanimously agreed to by all active members of the panel until the panel was disbanded:
In conclusion, then, this panel is powerless to accomplish the job that it was set up to do without cooperation from CSC. Furthermore, the issues raised by CSC’s apparent inability to monitor and evaluate its own operation are not issues solely about its cooperation and support for this panel of unpaid volunteers.
Much more important is the fact that CSC is telling us that it does not have systematic information on the operation of its Structured Intervention Units and apparently never made the gathering of this information a priority.
As we pointed out in the first paragraph, our panel no longer exists. That is the result of decisions made by Public Safety Canada. We sincerely hope that the Ministry and CSC will allow some external body access to information about the operation of the SIUs.
We were willing to be that external body and regret that we were not given the opportunity to do the work we agreed to do.
The Correctional Service of Canada ultimately blamed their refusal to comply with the panel’s request and the Minister’s order on computer software.
“We cannot equate the fact that CSC cannot give the data with that there was no compliance or, or there was ill motive on the part of the service to provide the data,” said Correctional Investigator of Canada Ivan Zinger.
Once again, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair knew Corrections Canada failed to provide the data early on yet, as appears to be his modus operandi, refused to lift a finger to do anything about it – not even after the existing panel gave up in frustration.
Failure #3: Botched Inquiry into Nova Scotia Mass Murderer
In the wake of the Nova Scotia mass murderer’s killing spree, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair stalled for three entire months before he finally announced an “independent review” would look into “the tragedy.”
As the Canadian Shooting Sports Association correctly stated:
When Minister Blair finally did announce his colossally stupid ‘Independent Review Panel’ – something nobody in Canada ever asked for – the Liberal government claimed it was to “protect the families” of the 22 murder victims.
Only one problem with that statement.
It’s a bald-faced lie.
Family members of all 22 murder victims have, since Day One, called for a full and open public inquiry.
They insisted upon it.
They don’t want protection. They want answers.
A week after after his “colossally stupid” announcement, Minister Blair promptly reversed his decision and announced a full public inquiry.
Minister Blair then had the audacity to claim a full public inquiry was his intention all along.
“This was entirely about the families and their advocacy. We listened to them and that’s why we’ve made the decision to hold an inquiry.”
“We’ve listened to Nova Scotians,” Minister Blair proclaimed on Twitter – his favourite place to conduct government business.
The Globe and Mail‘s Robyn Urback wrote what the rest of us thought.
“Good. But, man, the gall of writing “we’ve listened to Nova Scotians” after decidedly ignoring them a week ago.”
Was Bill Blair Promoted to His Level of Incompetence?
The short answer is “Yes.”
The longer answer requires asking another question.
Why do Canadians in general, and Liberal Party supporters in specific, have no issue with this?
Can they seriously be satisfied with being told what they want to hear at every opportunity, despite the fact no action ever follows those grandiose virtue-signalling pronouncements?
Unfortunately, as far as I can see, the answer to that question is also a resounding, “YES!”
John Jensen says
Sadly, it is clear now that the only way to get rid of the dead wood in Trudeau’s cabinet is to have another election. Bill Blair leads the list of useless cabinet ministers that should be kicked out of their seats, including the health minister.n You can thank the NDP for keeping this three-ring cirucus going in Ottawa. What a total crock!
Joe says
The Libs only need one of NDP or Bloc. To lose a confidence motion, the CPC would need both the NDP and Bloc as neither one or the other would give enough opposition votes. So as much as I hate the orange commies, they are not the only problem.
John Doe says
It’s not that he’s incompetent. It is just that he is one warped overlord full of hostility toward any semblance of individual freedom or self-reliance.
William Sheppard says
The Level of Liberal Incompetence has made me ashamed to admit that I am Canadian. Target or Punish the innocent and ignore the Guilty.
Tax us to the maximum and then Tax us some more.
I am surprised half of the Liberals can get dressed by themselves each morning?
Print Money like it grows on Trees. Everything will be fine. Will it not?
What this Country needs is a Political Party with some “Spine”,” Honesty”, “Integrity” & no “Bullshit”
Punish those who commit Crimes with Firearms to the max. They must make it so no Criminal wants to use a Firearm in any Crime.
I say we need more Solitary Confinement, not less. If Criminals can’t be reformed and wind up there repeatedly, am I going to miss them? Hmmmmmmm?…….not really.
In Canada, it is a more Serious Crime to Drive while Impaired then to commit Murder?
I could go on & on….
Joe says
agree 100%.
Regarding solitary confinement, I have a intermediate idea that will reduce the need for actual solitary: one prisoner per cell and no contact between cells. You can talk to your neighbours but not interact with them. No yard time (chain gang time would be ok). Food in your cell (just enough to survive on, not thrive on). No gym time (work out in your cell). No DENTAL and no better medical than the avg person. No drugs including cigarettes (cold turkey). Prison needs to be a deterrent, not a vacation.
peter bolten says
Thanks for the story line Chris,
too bad the NDP didn’t have the balls to call no-confidence upon Trudeau and the throne speech and get an election going. I’ve given up on my NDP MP, seems they just wanted to hang on to acquire enough ‘service’ to get that second term for many newbies and the minimum needed for a tax-payer funded Pension.. My riding was until the second last election a fairly secure Conservative holding until Harper’s rhetoric of fear and anti-climate blasphemies unseated the incumbent.
The NDP also, it is reported, are near-bankrupt and an election would have pushed them off the lemming cliff.
As for Blair and the lot preceding his ilk, I’ve always believed that a legislation is required that 1/ no former Police officers, and no Lawyers and no bankers, may hold any federal MP or cabinet posting 2/ anyone vying to be a MP or MLA MUST demonstrate at least six years of having any kind of minimum wage career under their belt to show that they might be able to empathize with the general population and financial inequalities that permeate most modern modern nations and that subject matter obviously ignored during the pandemic and the WE Charity wrongdoing.
Pipe dream, marijuanna, for good or bad, is something that Trudeau legalized to make us more complacent and less coherent when we need to think clearly. He is an insidious person. Playing a few rounds of chess games with him would be an interesting experience.
peter
Dale Townsend says
1. Your daily message is not uniformly dark. The indented parts are very light and difficult to read.
2. It is a problem to see a countervailing argument to your assessment of Blair. His statements are silly and it is impossible to believe him.
3. I do disagree with your assessment of Ralph Goodale. I rather think he was behind the utter stupidity of Staphane Dion in shafting David Orchard after Orchard’s delivery of the party leadership to Dion. The two women were definitely adults at the table.
4. I would not be happy with either the Liberals or the Conservatives in a majority position. Singh has not been a success in his role but his party is helping to keep the worst tendencies of the Liberals down a bit. After Harper we should all fear the return of the eyes that glow in the dark.
Clive Edwards says
The Nova Scotians among others are dead because they believed a cellphone was a more important tool than a firearm. When a cellphone will do the job, fine. Think of it as a backup to your firearm. Taking a cellphone to a gunfight is just plain stupid.
peter bolten says
i’ve been pondering other things about the Wortman slaughter event, a good chance no one even had time to raise their cellphones . No defense in that … better odds to grab that axe or make a military zig-zag retreat and lesson # 1… be suspicious of any ‘officer’ you do not know personally.
As for the victims in this shooting and to go along on your note, I wonder how many victims had dashcams and or surveillance cameras? These things only document crime, they do not prevent it nor deter a planned criminal action. As in this wortman event, burned out cars and homes was his weapon and neatly wiped out the cameras.
Gord says
3 years is not the record in Solitary. There was a native man Adam Capay who did 4 years and started the process to end seg. He was in there because he killed a fellow inmate with a pencil. He was out for just over a year before he sexually assaulted a woman with a weapon. It is quite the story
Christopher di Armani says
Sounds like it. Thanks Gord.