Saturday, November 18, 2006
Canadian Professional Police Association
Tony Cannavino, President of the CPPA claims the Judicial Advisory Committees are "private clubs" responsible for secretly picking our country's top judges. "It's like scratch my back, I'll scratch yours..."* Mr. Cannavino strongly supports Justice Minister Toews' proposal to put police representatives on these committees. Does this mean Mr. Cannavino is looking for a little back scratching himself?
Mr. Cannavino doesn't seem to get it. The judiciary need to be independent of political and police influence for reasons that should be obvious to Mr. Cannavino, but apparently not.
If the government follows through with its idiotic proposal to allow police on these committees, what about other special interest groups? Perhaps representatives from victim groups, civil liberty associations, feminists, minorities, environmentalists, and senior citizens should also be included. Where does it end?
Before the CPPA gets involved in matters outside its purview, its' members might want to look after their own back yard first. Mr. Cannavino preaches transparency and objectivity, yet police are the first to decry transparency and objectivity when it comes to civilian oversight. Mr. Cannavino wants to hold other professions accountable, but not his own.
*Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service, as reported in the Vancouver Sun November 16, 2006
Mr. Cannavino doesn't seem to get it. The judiciary need to be independent of political and police influence for reasons that should be obvious to Mr. Cannavino, but apparently not.
If the government follows through with its idiotic proposal to allow police on these committees, what about other special interest groups? Perhaps representatives from victim groups, civil liberty associations, feminists, minorities, environmentalists, and senior citizens should also be included. Where does it end?
Before the CPPA gets involved in matters outside its purview, its' members might want to look after their own back yard first. Mr. Cannavino preaches transparency and objectivity, yet police are the first to decry transparency and objectivity when it comes to civilian oversight. Mr. Cannavino wants to hold other professions accountable, but not his own.
*Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service, as reported in the Vancouver Sun November 16, 2006
Labels: accountability, judiciary, police
