While all the mothers stand and wait

“More airport security needed, says CBSA” (Canada Border Services Agency).

I am starting this post by saying that it should NOT be read.  By anyone.  Ever.

The following rant is not meant, in any way, to be disrespectful of Mr. Dziekanski, or his family.  That being said, I must point out that although his death was not entirely his fault, his circumstances leading up to it was.

Inasmuch as I would like to put all of the blame on the Taser … oh, sorry, mass reprogramming almost made me believe it … the blame on the RCMP, their abilities, tactics, equipment and accountablilities do not seem to be at issue with Monsieur Jolicoeur.  In fact, the RCMP is mentioned twice in this report about the RCMP-concerned death…”RCMP taser” and “RCMP stunned”.  No joke.

So … just like every other nation in the world, Jolicoeur’s best solution is to do like everyone else and put a U.N. in every international airport in Canada.

Let me say it again…

So … just like every other nation in the world, Jolicoeur’s best solution is to do like everyone else and put a U.N. in every international airport in Canada.

OK, what other country does this?  I believe it is Switzerland that has four official languages, but I am skeptical that Polish is one of them.  In fact, English isn’t even one of them.  German, French, Italian and Romansh.  I wonder how many of the Swiss Border Guards speak Farsi, or Hangugeo?  Yes, that is the best answer when you truly fuck up … bend over to make it right.  Forget the fact that Canada already has two “official” languages (you see all those French signs in London, Ontario, mes amis?) but now I guess the answer to letting someone walk around the international airports is to make sure that there is an employee of the CBSA who can converse in any language that any person getting off the plane might speak.

Another recommendation … have more people, potentially with tasers, batons, guns.  Ya, because three RCMP officers can’t kill someone fast enough.  Why not just shoot people as they get off the plane?

Yet another idea Jolicoeur has … reviewing the procedures for international travellers and the people meeting them.  Brilliant.  That will stop immigration, eventually.  If you don’t know someone, you can’t fly in.  Doesn’t matter, since whatever procedures put in place will be in English and French, not Polish.  Oh, right … ALL languages are going to be covered, I forgot. 

And my favourite…

The CBSA will review its procedure to ensure all people referred for further examinations report to the secondary examination areas within a reasonable amount of time.  

What? 

OK, if you decided to slack, and not read that news article…do it.  Here is the link again:

“More airport security needed, says CBSA“

OK, if you haven’t read this thing yet, you might not see anything wrong.  I do.

Let me just “point-form” this a little bit.

1600h – Polish immigrant arrives.   Primary Passport Check.  How do you check someone out without speaking a word to them?

1900h – Stepfather calls to see if they know where he is.  Visual inspection of airport does not find him, and he is not on the detainee list.  Cameras are blocked due to construction.  Since CBSA are the only people able to just move in and out of secure zones, and none of them bothered to check where the cameras could not see, no visual contact was made.

2230h – Polish immagrant is escorted to Secondary Passport Check.  Why?  How did they know he wasn’t a Canadian citizen?  How would they know he was arriving and not waiting?  How did they identify him?

2240h – Assissted by CBSA with limited Polish, secondary passport check is completed, his checked baggage is retrieved.

2330h – Mother leaves to return to Kamloops.  Son didn’t call.  She didn’t wait.  There is a ball here, not sure who is dropping it. 

2340h – CBSA pages mother in airport, with no luck.  Leaves message on cell phone.  I am guessing that cell phones do not work in cars when you leave people you are supposed to meet stranded at an airport knowing that they do not speak the language of the country you just told them to emmigrate to.  Or something.

0015h – Visa is completed, and he is freed to leave the airport.

0045h – CBSA sees he has been sitting at the doors, waiting for his mother, and confirms with him that he understands he is free to go.

0115h – RCMP arrive, taser the belligerent man twice (among other things) and he dies.

0210h – Mother calls the CBSA at the airport, unaware that her son, now deceased, had been waiting for more than 12 hours for her.

*****

OK, so, I can tell you, I am a very patient person, but if I was told to fly somewhere to meet someone so I could start a new life, and had left everything behind to go there, even though I didn’t BOTHER to learn the language of the place I was going, ’cause I trusted the person who finally got me to emmigrate, I would be pretty fucking pissed off after 13 hours of waiting.

Is there something else going on that we don’t know?  I have no idea.  But it seems that no problems arose until after he was finally ready to go, and his mother STILL hadn’t bothered to show up.  You know she was there.  I know she was there.  He had no idea where she was.

I always felt bad for Mr. French, when Kristen was taken and killed by Paul and Karla.  Before I found out that the Mahaffy parents locked Leslie out one night to “teach her a lesson”, I used to feel bad for them.  Now, as far as I am concerned, they gave her to Paul and Karla.

Do I feel bad for the fellow who died?  Yes, it was tragic, regardless of the cause.  His mother, though…