Satire
It's Tuesday, November 20th. The RCMP is facing increasing hostility since the tasering death of a Polish man in an airport last month. Officers are being berated, and someone threw eggs at a police cruiser.
Currently, instead of throwing eggs, the RCMP is asking people to first consider speaking rationally and calmly to an officer. Ask them to put the Taser down. And remember that the officer may not actually pose any threat to the public.
This the Current.
RCMP - Critic
British Columbia's Solicitor General, John Les, has announced a full public inquiry into the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski. Mr. Dziekanski died last month at the Vancouver airport after being tasered by RCMP officers.
It's the fifth inquiry to be launched in the wake of his death, but it's unclear if any of them will stem the tide of anger being directed at Vancouver's Mounties. Recently, a volley of eggs was launched at an RCMP cruiser in Vancouver; RCMP officers at the Vancouver airport and the nearby Richmond detachment have reported verbal assaults from passersby; and the mood on the airwaves isn't any more charitable.
The controversy surrounding the death of Robert Dziekanski comes on the heels of two young Mounties being killed in separate incidents in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. And of course there are the ever-lingering memories of Maher Arar, the Air-India saga and the original Airbus investigation.
For Paul Palango, these controversies add up to an organization in dire need of change. He's the author of The Last Guardians: The Crisis in the RCMP and Canada and he's in Halifax.
RCMP - Association
We tried to arrange an interview with a representative from the RCMP, either from British Columbia or the head office in Ottawa; we even tried past RCMP commissioners and sergeants, to give the police force's perspective on this, but all requests were sent to one communications officer, who told us that in fact no one would be available to speak on the program.
This communication strategy -- or lack thereof -- is no suprise to Pat Capponi. She travelled across Canada and observed RCMP detachments to write her book Bound by Duty: Behind the Lines of Policing in Canada.
For another perspective on the future of the RCMP, we were joined by Pete Merrifield. He's an RCMP officer himself and with the Mounted Police Association of Ontario, an independent employee organization.
Listen to The Current: Part 1
(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)
The Current: Part 2
Fuel Cells - Ballard
Jeremy Rifkin, speaking on The Current almost five years ago, told us about the brave, new, hydrogen-powered world he foresaw in his book, The Hydrogen Economy. He was hardly alone in his enthusiasm for hydrogen's promise to spur a third industrial revolution and change the world.
The search for a fuel-cell that could power an environmentally sensitive, affordable car that would emit nothing but clean, even drinkable water even inspired President George Bush in his 2003 State of the Union address.
Here in Canada, Ballard Power Systems has been synonymous with making the hydrogen dream real. But the company has sold its automotive research division to car companies Ford and Daimler. Ballard will continue to hold an investment interest in the new Ford and Daimler-owned company. But the idea that Ballard would itself stop funding its fuel cell car research has put a dent in the romantic vision of the water-emitting car of the future.
John Sheridan is the President and CEO of Ballard Power Systems and we reached him in Vancouver.
Hydrogen Hype
Doubts about the short-term promise of hydrogen cars are nothing new to Joseph Romm. He was the Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy during the Clinton Administration, and author of The Hype About Hydrogen and we spoke to him from Washington. We were also joined by Dennis DesRosiers, an auto industry analyst and the President of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants in Toronto.
Listen to The Current:Part 2
(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)
The Current: Part 3
Mother Antonia
For years, the road that runs outside La Mesa state penitentiary in Tijuana, Mexico has been known as "Los Pollos," or "The Chickens." That is until last week, when it was re-named Madre Antonia after an unusual nun who has been living voluntarily inside the prison for decades.
The Current producer Joan Webber went to the prison to meet Mother Antonia, and joined us from Vancouver to tell us about the experience.
Listen to The Current:Part 3
(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)
CBC does not endorse content of external sites - links will open in new window
|
