As a crime reporter, I have had a lot of dealings with RCMP communications officers. It is sometimes a little frustrating. I am certain I frustrate them, as well.
They have a job to do and sometimes that job is to try to present bad things in a positive light.
I have a job to do and sometimes that job is to expose bad things “communications” officers are trying to present in a positive light.
I put communications in quotation marks because sometimes the intent is to not communicate at all or to miscommunicate. I’m not just talking about the RCMP here, all organizations have professionals whose job it is to present them in the best light.
Those of us who have chosen to continue being paid poorly to be journalists rather than getting a good job spinning things for corporations, governments or other organizations sometimes jokingly refer to it as the “dark side.”
Although we sometimes find ourselves at odds, for the most part, the relationship between the RCMP and the media is a congenial one. I am just as happy to write about their successes and community work as I am to expose their transgressions.
As a journalist, first and foremost, I am all about truth, as subjective as truth might seem at times.
Fortunately, the former aspect of the RCMP, that being success and community work, is the more prevalent.
Unfortunately, the latter is much more newsworthy. What I have never able to understand is why people resort to the coverup. After all, people do bad things. Whether they are police officers or accountants or prime ministers or journalists or anyone, they should be held accountable. It doesn’t necessarily reflect badly on the organization until it becomes apparent that on top of the bad thing that happened in the first place, they add a coverup.
Sometimes I feel bad for the frontline people who have to offer the “no comments,” obfuscations and, sometimes, outright lies for their employers.
I was very saddened on the weekend to hear that former “E” Division (B.C.) RCMP spokesperson Pierre Lemaitre committed suicide. It was actually two years ago, but just last week, Lemaitre’s widow, Sheila Lemaitre, launched a lawsuit against the Mounties. In the statement of claim, Sheila alleges that it was “intentional infliction of mental suffering” related to the Taser-induced death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport by the RCMP that compelled her husband to end his own life.
I first encountered Lemaitre when I was working on a statistics piece about Smithers having the worst crime rate in B.C. I later dealt with him more extensively during the aftermath and inquest into the police shooting of 22-year-old Houston, BC resident Ian Bush.
Lemaitre always seemed to me a fairly straight shooter. He kept a lot of stuff from me, obviously, but he also gave me access to a lot of stuff I was surprised he let me see.
Now, these are just impressions. Perhaps I was naive. Perhaps he was just manipulating me, but we got along pretty well.
According to the lawsuit, it was not the Ian Bush case that did him in, though, it was Dziekanski. As we all now well know, the original press release issued under Lemaitre’s name was full of misinformation. Sheila Lemaitre alleges that her husband petitioned his superiors to allow him to correct the record, but was denied and demoted.
The suit also claims this was not the first time Lemaitre got demoted for trying to do that right thing. In 2003, it alleges he was transferred to Chilliwack after filing a sexual harrassment claim on behalf of a female officer.
Ultimately, being ostracized within the force and the subject of public contempt was too much for Pierre to handle, the statement claims.
Although I had considerable interaction with the man, I obviously don’t know for certain whether Lemaitre was unjustly treated or a poor employee who deserved to be demoted. Either way, or anything in between, however, the fact the RCMP was unable to find a way to help a depressed and suicidal member is something that needs some serious attention.
As citizens we should not not expect the force itself or individual members to be perfect, but we should expect them to be honest, transparent and accountable when things go wrong.
