Friday, July 06, 2007

William Elliott to Head the RCMP


I do not know enough about this man to really determine whether or not appointing him Commissioner is a good move. I know he was national security advisor for both Mulroney and Martin, but that's about it.
I did read this though: (it's from a statement issued by Sue Barnes, Lib Public Safety critic)
Newly-appointed RCMP Commissioner William Elliott was the senior public servant who met with Mr. Zaccardelli between his two conflicting appearances before the Public Safety Committee in the fallout from Justice O'Connor's report on the Arar affair. Canadians are still waiting for answers about when the government became aware that Mr. Zaccardelli had misled Canadians and what steps have been taken to evaluate which version of his testimony was the truth.
"Mr. Elliott's involvement in Zaccardelli's testimony and his past experience as a political insider will raise some doubts among Canadians about the legitimacy and impartiality of the overhaul of the RCMP management culture at a time when the credentials of the Commissioner must be unquestionable," said Ms. Barnes.
She's also calling on the government for him to appear before the Public Safety Committee, before he's appointed. Good luck with that!
All the same, I will wait to see who this man is before passing judgement.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why they couldn't find one RCMP staff that could do the job. Have an experienced RCMP officer as Commissioner and have someone like Elliot re-structure and manage until it is straightened out.

I, frankly, find it suspicious.

Anonymous said...

Because they need someone to hide the fact that Harper and stockboy led the americans to call arar a terrorist and dont forget the goodale trust affair that helped make us lose the last election..they also want someone who will take orders from Harpo to go after the sponsership cons to make the liberals dirty on the front pages...and we just stand there and take it. gramps

Anonymous said...

The above poster seems to be a little paranoid....either way coming from a police family its very strange for the new commisioner to not be a member, but we can always hope that change will bring something better. Refocus the RCMP on federal matters and reserves thats my best advice for this troubled orginazation.

The Mound of Sound said...

Bill was a law school buddy of mine back in the late 70's but we pretty much lost touch after that. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt although, due to the fact of his deep conservative involvement, he deserves constant scrutiny. It's not Bill's political integrity I'd question but Harpo's complete absence of it. Seems like an arm that could be useful to twist every now and then.

Karen said...

he deserves constant scrutiny.

Given how he was reluctant to come before committee during the Zacardelli debacle and when he did, still much was left unanswered, I'm not sure who can do that.