CKOM radio is reporting that an update on the condition of the two officers is expected at this morning’s upcoming news conference at 10:30 AM local time. You can listen live here.
Speaking of CKOM, a few days ago a commentor criticized the accuracy of reporting from the Rawlco station. I didn’t reply then, but will here – on the whole, their local coverage seems good, and often, well ahead of the curve. But on international reporting, they seem to draw primarily from CNN, and as one can imagine, the quality of information can be dismal (this morning’s reporting on the escalations in Southern Lebanon a discouraging case in point).
On the other hand, some of the hosts and commentary people seem to have worked in recent months to expand their source material beyond CNN and CTV – it’s fairly obvious that the internet is playing a role in that, and the result is a slow, but general improvement on the quality of commentary they’ve been delivering. (David Kirton, in particular.)
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From the briefing:
Officers are still in intensive care, no change in their condition can be reported on. Families are not prepared to speak to media at this time.
Search of the area is largely finished.
Since Friday night, the 8 by 10 mile area has been searched extensively. Between 30 and 40 buildings (including shacks, graineries, hunting blinds, etc.) have been searched.
No sign of Curtis Dagenais has been found. There will be a representative updating media and area residents at a meeting at the Spiritwood Civic Centre at 1 pm.
Listening to the questions from media, it’s clear some are becoming frustrated at the near total lack of information coming out on the case. I can’t say I blame them. There seems to be a complete lockdown on just about all information, including the most basic of facts.
I may have been the commentor critizing CKOM. They were the only media outlet to use the term “grave” when discussing the health status of the RCMP officers. My concern was sparked by another CKOM story about a “stocker” (they were discussing a “stalker”, but I guess it sounds fine on the radio, their main medium). However, today, the SP has a story about the two being in “dire” condition. The SP also reports that there were three bullet holes in the window of the cruiser, that the injuries are head injuries and Cameron is on life support. And the RCMP now says, “no change.” We can all read between the lines and put two and two together, but some real information would be helpful.
RCMP Sgt. Brian Jones spent 15 minutes saying nothing during that news conference. The RCMP Code of Silence again.
I’d rather have Sgt. Jones spend 15 minutes saying nothing at this point than to speak for 15 minutes and tip Dagenais off as to their next move.
Remember the board game “Risk”? It was a game of strategy. You never, ever gave away your strategy to your opponent if you had any hope of winning.
On a much more serious note, you don’t give away pertinent information regarding the search in case the animal being hunted can hear you.
And, regarding the health of the police officers, why can’t we all just get past this. Yes, we are all praying for them and hope everything turns out positively. But, we have to remember that the families have the final call as to how much information is made public about their respective conditions.
If they do not wish to have that information released, I for one can respect that. I put myself in their position and I would probably do the same.
Shot in the head with a .308 (7.62)- hardly surprising that the msm does not want to report their injuries.
It’s this secrecy thing that bothers me most about the RCMP as well as the courts. Canada is OUR country and WE are paying the bills. It’s time that ordinary Canadians are kept in the loop about these things. I am fed up with the attitude of those in government who think they know what’s best for us. There is way too much secrecy in Canadian government on all levels. Once again, it’s OUR country, dammit.
I know several Mounties and have great respect for them. Their job is a tough one, especially in small communities where it’s hard to shed the RCMP image when doing things like dining out for the evening. They agree with me about the secrecy. You should hear what they say about juvenile crime and the long gun registry. But as they say, that is another story.
God bless the RCMP and my thoughts are with these two.
ya, cops expect full cooperation from the public but wont tell us a bloody thing whats going on, ever. tight lipped as ever. what are they afraid of ?? there must be SOMETHING of consequence they can reveal. but we get stonewalled every time.
I dont think Ms Cameron is going to make it. sounds like dagenais is a very good shot. they need to be vewwy cawfow tracking that dude.
armed and dangerous as they say.
can anybody explain how alan rock’s precious gun legislation was supposed to prevent this? I was at the big rally in ottawa where he spoke on the steps of parliament hill back around 95 or 96. I pegged it then that the gun registry was *actually* going to later be his ticket to the PMO visa vie ‘see whut alan rock can do for canadians’. it didnt work as intended nor did the registry.
Robert, the long gun registry was never supposed to be about citizen safety. It was all about disarming the public. One of the UN’s major objectives is to disarm all of North America. The previous administrations of Trudeau, Mulroney, Chretien and Martin all supported the UN and every one of its objectives. This is the main cause of all of Canada’s problems today. I could list them but I’ve done so on my Website.
Is this cop killer still in the area? Maybe he got away.
They found no trace of him at all. They’re starting to scale back the search in that area.
I’m having second thoughts about the need to know issue. As much as I would love to know the RCMP’s search strategy, I don’t really need to know. Perhaps things would be better if the RCMP knows the strategy and I (and more importantly, the perp) don’t. I can wait. As for the condition of the officers, the perp knows that he faces an attempted murder charge. Maybe that’s all he needs to know too. While the perp may be wiley, I suspect he may be several sandwiches short of a picnic and the RCMP may be able to outwit him. Idle speculation on a stinking hot Friday afternoon …
CBC reporting this morning that the officers, 26-year-old Marc Bourdages and 29-year-old Robin Cameron, have died.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060716/mounties_dead_060716/20060716?hub=TopStories
Unfortunately, we don’t have the death penalty in Canada for the perpetrator, only the victims.
You don’t need the details of the search. It’s none of our buisness. Also the freedom of information act only gets what’s given.