Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Video Documentary - RCMP Gun Grab in High River, Alberta

Keith, it just doesn't matter how society has changed. The laws concerning unlawful entry, theft of private property and willful damage have not.

Here's what's wrong with what happened, and I realize that this has not been investigated yet. I am hopeful, but not convinced, that an inquiry will get to the bottom of this.

To begin, who issued the order for the officers to kick down the doors, enter 1900 homes and seize all the firearms? And of course, for what reason were they ordered in? I see no evidence that RCMP upper echelons even questioned what amounts to thousands of illegal acts.

When the order was given, why didn't anyone question it? Why didn't anyone say, "Hey, your telling us to kick in doors and steal private property!" Did anyone - from a supervisor to a constable - say, "I don't think we can do this. It's illegal."

In the military, being ordered to commit an illegal act is not a lawful command. It can be refused, without any sanction or disciplinary action taken against the member who refuses. The RCMP and the OPP are governed by similar rules.

Let's leave the RCMP out of things for a moment. Did any municipal, provincial or federal person(s) in a position of authority order a halt to the abuses? I do remember the PM commenting on the situation, but he was told publicly that he was sticking his nose into the RCMP's business, and to butt out. This begs the question, were persons in command positions aware of what was going on? And if so, why the lies?

Because of the confusion for the first couple of days, anyone who might have been able to stop this probably did not know what was going on. After that, sitreps would have started, so that supervisors, politicians and others would be apprized of what was going on. The RCMP would have been bound to report up the chain. An operation of this magnitude would have been watched very closely.

It's also reasonable to assume that the federal solicitor general would have been told, even though it was primarily a provincial affair. Had that happened, I'm confident that phone calls would have been made to have these activities stopped.

So you see, it's not just beat cops who are responsible. There was complicity up and down the chain of command. To the best of my knowledge, not one person, even anonymously, complained about what was happening. Why was that? I find it hard to believe that everyone involved in this operation thought the Mounties were doing the right thing, and not overstepping their authority.

And while the first day or two might have been confused, when the news coverage started, and people were on television complaining about being kept out of their homes, someone should have questioned what was happening.

Someone up high had to have ordered this, and it was supported all the way down to the guys who were hammering in the doors. I do not believe that an operation commanded by competent, experienced people would continue to break the law for weeks without a recorded order in their possession. A document has to exist somewhere. If they investigate it, they will eventually turn something over.

There are many unanswered questions. If justice is to be served, dozens of heads should roll - from the constables up to the commissioner.