A Hamilton cop's online rantings about the Caledonia native occupation are under investigation after a formal complaint by the OPP commissioner.
Constable David Hartless, who lives next to the disputed land site, is the subject of a discreditable conduct investigation under the Police Services Act. The probe began after Hartless wrote an open letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty blasting him and the OPP for their lack of leadership in Caledonia.
The scathing letter was distributed by e-mail to about 20 recipients -- including politicians and journalists -- on Saturday. By Wednesday, OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino had complained to the Hamilton Police Service and a probe had been launched.
I'm not surprised Fantino is ticked off. Hartless has been a thorn in the OPP's side since things heated up in Caledonia last February. He has been a vocal activist who has railed against the natives' land claim and the disruption it has caused in his neighbourhood.
He has blasted the OPP online, in the local media and at citizen rallies for the role it's played in the dispute. He believes the OPP is incompetent. That it is operating a "two-tiered" justice system that favours natives. He called for the OPP to be replaced.
Hartless signed an online petition asking for former OPP commissioner Gwen Boniface to be removed. He commented on a website that she was a disgrace to the profession and failed in her duty as a police officer. She wasn't his boss, of course. And by the time Hartless signed the petition, 1,000 others had already done so.
He authored a "residents response plan" that called for his neighbours to honk their car horns if they needed help defending themselves against native protesters.
Hartless also became part of a class-action lawsuit launched against Haldimand County, Boniface (who has since left the OPP) and Haldimand County OPP Inspector Brian Haggith after a confrontation between residents and natives in his neighbourhood. Hartless claims he was punched by a native protester.
But this investigation, according to those involved with it, is about the letter Hartless wrote to Dalton McGuinty. The two-page missive is angry. Blunt. Rude.
He calls the premier "a coward who hides from his responsibilities and avoids his duties as a leader." He says McGuinty has "disparaged and downplayed the people of this community and that of Six Nations of the Grand River." And he tells Ontario's leader that "you have displayed a cowardice in the execution of your sworn duties."
As for law and order in Caledonia, he writes that the premier has "allowed the OPP to operate outside of not only their mandate, but the laws of this country."
The letter ends with this message to McGuinty: "I shall celebrate the demise of your party and your cowardice in the upcoming months as I would the arrival of Christmas Day, and then after that day I shall celebrate you no further."
Poorly written perhaps. Over the top, almost certainly. But it is not threatening. It does not incite violence. And it is signed simply, "David Hartless."
Not Officer David Hartless.
This is a letter written by an angry homeowner in Caledonia. Not unlike many other letters written by angry homeowners in Caledonia over the past 12 months. Our paper has printed many.
Despite his volume and posturing and rhetoric that sometimes drifts into the zone of conspiracy theories, Hartless never advertises the fact he is a police officer. Everyone still knows it though. On blogs and in newspapers he's frequently referred to as "David Hartless, a Hamilton police officer ..." But when it is his letter, he doesn't make mention of his job.
So what's the issue here? What has this letter got to do with the Police Services Act? Or with accusations of discreditable conduct? Is this a witch hunt to quell a critic who happens to be a veteran cop? Is this the easiest or only route Fantino could think of to do that?
Calls to Fantino's office were not returned. OPP spokesperson Angie Howe says she is aware of Hartless's letter to McGuinty, but would not comment on it.
Neither Hartless, who continues to perform his regular duties as a uniformed officer, or the Hamilton Police Association would comment.
And Hamilton police said it cannot comment on any ongoing Police Service's Act investigation.
Since nobody cares to talk about it, let's go right to the crux here -- the Police Services Act itself.
Under the heading "Political Activities of Municipal Officers," it says that "a municipal police officer who is not on duty and who is not in uniform may engage in the following political activities: expressing views on any issue not directly related to the police officer's responsibilities as a police officer, as long as the police officer does not associate his or her position as a police officer with the issue or represent the views as those of a police force."
To me, that means that off-duty cops are still citizens. They are not owned by the state. Or their chief. Or, more to the point, somebody else's commissioner. They still have some rights. They can still be angry at politicians.
They still have the freedom to speak.