Stern action needed

By Letter to the Editor on February 11, 2021.

Editor:
The issue of illegal surveillance of then Environment Minister Shannon Phillips by two Lethbridge police officers has been reopened. Comment in the press and by MLA Phillips has focused on questions of public trust. That, to me, misses the most important point.
The officers spied on Phillips and those meeting with her, posted photos and hostile comments on Facebook, improperly looked up licence plates and plotted traffic stops to harass attendees.
Every citizen pursuing lawful activities has the right to protection from such police actions. But Shannon Phillips was no ordinary citizen — she was a Minister of the Crown. These uniformed policemen sought to harass and intimidate Ms. Phillips and those meeting with her because they disagreed with environmental policies of the NDP government the people had elected.
Their actions were petty, unauthorized by superiors, and likely aimed mostly at impressing their pals in the off-roading “right to ride” community. (One does wonder if the offenders would have been so comfortable harassing a politician, and so casual in boasting about it online, had the Minister not been female, in a government led by strong women.)
However, it is actually a dangerous thing when members of our armed and uniformed forces start to think it’s OK for them to try to subvert government decisions. That’s the start of an erosion of democracy that must not be tolerated.
It’s a slippery slope, an attitude that we the police (or the army) are the true representatives of the “real” people, not those elected by them. In various places it has led to police resisting civilian orders, disdaining women in power, choosing to protect some types of people more than others, harassment of candidates, intimidation of voters, rioters storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 while some elements of law enforcement stood aside, and ultimately coups to oust elected governments entirely.
I don’t mean to read too much into this seemingly small incident, but stern action is called for. A clear message needs to be sent that police must be neutral upholders of the law, and not act to subvert the people’s democracy they serve.
Tony Pargeter
Lethbridge