Re: 'Fantino will beef up Caledonia's OPP squad' (Jan. 10)
So OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino thinks his officers have been "badly maligned" and that "they shouldn't have been criticized the way they have been by far too many people?"
Before Fantino bullies police critics or "pushes back," perhaps our thin-skinned provincial police commissioner should be less reactionary and defensive and more intelligent, thoughtful and empathetic to the endless plight Caledonia residents have had to live through for the past year.
I wonder how our criticism-sensitive police commissioner would have been if he had been an actual Caledonia resident living under the same conditions? Somehow I have trouble believing he'd be less than a quiet, passive observer.
If Fantino is really interested in setting the record straight and getting more involved, perhaps he can use part of the additional $20 million in provincial police funding to purchase one of the residents' homes bordering the disputed development lands and move in with his family until the dispute is settled.
Or perhaps the town of Caledonia could offer free accommodation for the commissioner and his family. Somehow I doubt Fantino would even remotely consider such an offer.