On April 13, I had been home for only a matter of minutes from a business trip in Ottawa, when I found vandals damaging my property. I confronted them and told them — loudly — to stay off of my property. I called the police in order for them to give the vandals a talking-to and not have charges placed against them. To avoid the consequences of vandalizing my property, these people concocted a story to the police that I had threatened them and — outrageously — even chased them with a shotgun. What they claimed was a shotgun, was in fact my walking cane, which I have used since a motorcycle accident in September. Because these people could not tell the difference between a walking cane and a shotgun, they believed I threatened them.Relatives of the vandals came to my house and threatened to assault me. And while I do not know these people, they seemed to know who I was, making clear their hatred toward me because of my political beliefs and as a public figure, screaming “you right-wing wacko!”, and believing that I was still in elected office. I was nonetheless repeatedly, and on multiple occasions, denied the basic right to have a lawyer present for any questioning. But the truth of the matter will be established in the justice system.It was decided that I had somehow been in the wrong to yell at vandals to get off my property, simply because they could not tell the difference between a walking cane and a shotgun. What was not wrong it seems, were the vandals destroying and stealing my property, and those that threatened to attack me in the presence of my family. The last time I dealt with vandalism against my property, the Calgary police did nothing and led in large measure to my near-fatal motorcycle crash. In September of last year, an addict pushed my motorcycle over for fun, causing thousands of dollars in damage and destroying the front handbrake lever. I located the criminal myself, called the police, and had to trail him for nearly 45 minutes through the downtown core before officers showed up.The criminal was charged with mischief and released on the spot. He never showed up for court, and the police informed me that they would do absolutely nothing to enforce the warrant against him. He was simply free to continue terrorizing downtown Calgary as he pleased until he fell into their lap again. At which point, he would again be released. And days after that criminal broke my brake lever, I had a catastrophic motorcycle crash because I could not brake fast enough in an emergency. As a result, I had a broken neck, a broken femur in two places, a broken hand, and a host of smaller injuries. I am still walking with a cane that these vandals — incredibly — told police was a shotgun. And because they believed it was one, they felt threatened it seems. When my property was under attack, I did what every citizen has a right to do: loudly tell them to stop, call the police, and non-physically confront them.
On April 13, I had been home for only a matter of minutes from a business trip in Ottawa, when I found vandals damaging my property. I confronted them and told them — loudly — to stay off of my property. I called the police in order for them to give the vandals a talking-to and not have charges placed against them. To avoid the consequences of vandalizing my property, these people concocted a story to the police that I had threatened them and — outrageously — even chased them with a shotgun. What they claimed was a shotgun, was in fact my walking cane, which I have used since a motorcycle accident in September. Because these people could not tell the difference between a walking cane and a shotgun, they believed I threatened them.Relatives of the vandals came to my house and threatened to assault me. And while I do not know these people, they seemed to know who I was, making clear their hatred toward me because of my political beliefs and as a public figure, screaming “you right-wing wacko!”, and believing that I was still in elected office. I was nonetheless repeatedly, and on multiple occasions, denied the basic right to have a lawyer present for any questioning. But the truth of the matter will be established in the justice system.It was decided that I had somehow been in the wrong to yell at vandals to get off my property, simply because they could not tell the difference between a walking cane and a shotgun. What was not wrong it seems, were the vandals destroying and stealing my property, and those that threatened to attack me in the presence of my family. The last time I dealt with vandalism against my property, the Calgary police did nothing and led in large measure to my near-fatal motorcycle crash. In September of last year, an addict pushed my motorcycle over for fun, causing thousands of dollars in damage and destroying the front handbrake lever. I located the criminal myself, called the police, and had to trail him for nearly 45 minutes through the downtown core before officers showed up.The criminal was charged with mischief and released on the spot. He never showed up for court, and the police informed me that they would do absolutely nothing to enforce the warrant against him. He was simply free to continue terrorizing downtown Calgary as he pleased until he fell into their lap again. At which point, he would again be released. And days after that criminal broke my brake lever, I had a catastrophic motorcycle crash because I could not brake fast enough in an emergency. As a result, I had a broken neck, a broken femur in two places, a broken hand, and a host of smaller injuries. I am still walking with a cane that these vandals — incredibly — told police was a shotgun. And because they believed it was one, they felt threatened it seems. When my property was under attack, I did what every citizen has a right to do: loudly tell them to stop, call the police, and non-physically confront them.
