Down the Canwest Rabbit Hole

Yesterday’s Canwest story about supposedly missing ammonium nitrate in the lower mainland was short on details and high on irrelevant fear mongering.  I think it was rushed out. Or maybe a night cleaner got on someone’s computer.

Four quick paragraphs to remind you who to fear and loathe:

VANCOUVER — Up to two tonnes of ammonium nitrate, which can be used to make explosives, has gone missing on its way from Alberta to North Vancouver, the Vancouver Province has learned.

Kinder Morgan, a pipeline and energy storing company, was transporting a huge amount of the chemical compound in one-tonne cubes, but two cubes did not make it to their final destination in North Vancouver.

Ammonium nitrate has been used by the Taliban in Afghanistan to make explosives.

Col. Mark Lee, who heads NATO's effort to stop bomb-makers in southern Afghanistan, was recently quoted in the New York Times saying, "You can turn a bag of ammonium nitrate into a bomb in a matter of hours."

Around the same time the Globe & Mail wrote the same story except they included more facts.  The main fact was that the RCMP and the company believed the missing chemicals to be a clerical error. The RCMP believed they had no probable grounds to believe the stuff was missing, and certainly no reason to suspect a terrorist plot.

Canwest quickly re-wrote their story after the clerical error clarification and over-wrote, with the same URL, the original story quoted above.. Down the memory hole.

It’s not that I trust the RCMP in particular, I just think if I were a journalist I would be skeptical and lean to the clerical error explanation in the absence of any proof whatsoever of a theft or a plot.


But Canwest wasn’t done humping my leg. In the final story they couldn’t resist throwing in a pointless reference to the Oklahoma City bombing. So now in return I get to throw in a pointless reference to white hyper-patriotic opus day Catholics.

We know how dangerous ammonium nitrate is, and the thought of a few tonnes going missing made me very nervous. Especially when you consider that there has been sporadic bombings of oil and gas facilities in Alberta and B.C.  It may or may not be helpful to point out that the so called En Cana bomber is likely a rural land owner, demographically likely to be a Harper voter. (Zing)

I must stop reading these people’s junk.  My left eye has been twitching for two days. Please recommend this post

Mayerthorpe RCMP Murders: Plea Bargains

If you're not familiar with the story, on in March of 2005 four RCMP officers were ambushed and killed north of Edmonton in a small town called Mayerthorpe. The killer, James Roszco, was a life long petty criminal who had a vendetta against the local RCMP and had repeatedly made threats. The killing of the officers raised all kinds of questions about the training and protocols of officers working in rural areas. All four were quite young.

It was really a very black day for Albertans. I remember this cloud of darkness that was over everyone for several weeks. I remembered Ralph Klein making silly comments about gun control.

The investigators always believed that the killer had some type of help and last year layed charges against two local men Shawn Hennessey and Dennis Cheeseman. Charges of first degree murder were laid against the two but in court today they each plea bargained to manslaughter. The Crown is asking for sentences of 10-15 years.

It seems that on the day of the murders the two men drove the killer back to his farm where he hid awaiting the arrival of the officers. I'm sure other details will emerge as to their collaboration with Roszco.

The crime was cited as the single most serious loss of life for the RCMP in over a century, and certainly the most serious crime in Alberta. As the Globe article suggests, getting these charges out of the way may finally permit an inquiry as to how the RCMP management failed these young officers.

However I'm not hopeful as the RCMP have established a pattern of investigating and clearing themselves of blame when things go wrong.

The murdered officers were Constables Brock Myrol, Anthony Gordon, Leo Johnston, and Peter Schiemann. Information about the various memorial projects for the officers is here. Please recommend this post

Local Media Punked (Again)

Or the case of the fictitious yellow bellied yobs.

On 14 Jan 2008 Jason Brunelle was driving near Bassano Alberta. He claimed he stopped to help some people who appeared to be broken down, and then was severely beaten up. The Bassano RCMP investigated but there were no witnesses and no suspects. He claims he fought off his assailants then drove to his home (or a gas station) in Strathmore where he called the police. Brunelle was taken to hospital as he did indeed have injuries to his face and head. Brunelle then phoned his story in to QR77 and the Calgary Sun and they promptly wrote it up as fact. It remains unclear as to whether any journalists actually talked to him face to face. The Calgary Herald also wrote about the incident.

Yesterday a quiet news release came out from QR77 reporting that Brunelle has been charged with mischief and that the Bassano RCMP believe the story was fabricated. He will appear in court in February.

Brunelle, while describing his ordeal, also told the Calgary Sun that he had previously been hit by a truck and survived by holding onto the grill, fell off a roof and was saved by grabbing a power line, and once fell into a bonfire. In professional journalism and police work I think these stories would be referred to as "clues".

I don't entirely blame the media for writing up this story, however they didn't express even a shred of doubt about completely unsubstantiated claims. When I read the story as written by Michael Platt on 15 Jan 2008 (less than a full day after the incident) I actually felt sorry for him. He so desperately believed and wanted it to be true because it affirmed the world view of right wing tabloid journalism, that godly good Samaritans (us) are under constant siege from godless yellow bellied scum (them).

Too bad Platt ran out of real estate in his column. He could have thrown in some bits about Jamaican gang members and the immigration system and it would have rounded it out really well.

And its a good thing that Brunelle's injuries didn't require a blood transfusion otherwise Michael Plett would have had to demand the return of the blood. Please recommend this post