RCMP Watch

Rod Mickleburgh (Globe and Mail) - Nice to know Gary Bass, deputy RCMP commissioner out here, is a reader of The Globe and Mail, albeit not a happy one, apparently.

In one of his e-mails to Mountie boss William Elliott in Ottawa as the furor broke over the fatal RCMP tasering of Robert Dziekanski, Mr. Bass wrote: “This is really a tough business these days and really hard on the men and women in the trenches trying so hard to serve well.” He followed up with a heartwarming, pro-police anecdote involving some Langley RCMP members that was, sadly, blacked out by RCMP censors for reasons unknown.

Mr. Bass concluded: “Not likely to see that one in the G and M in the morning.” He was right.

The Mounties also listen to CBC Radio. The internal e-mails, which were obtained by the CBC, disclose a debate over whether an RCMP representative should agree to a request to appear on the well-regarded radio current-affairs show The Current to counter mounting criticism over the tasering of the unarmed Polish immigrant.

They decided against it. “This is entertainment journalism rather than in-depth discussion,” an officer concluded.

The Mounties must have believed that efforts by CBC bosses to dumb down the network’s contents and hosts had already succeeded.

Or that incisive host Anna Maria Tremonti was really Ben Mulroney.

THIS WEBSITE HITS A HOME RUN

I’m not sure what this signifies, but both of my favourite baseball teams no longer exist: the Montreal Expos, of course, and the legendary Japanese-Canadian Asahi team that dominated senior baseball in the Pacific Northwest for several decades until the terrible injustice of war-time internment disbanded the Vancouver squad.

There have been several excellent documentaries on the team, enshrined not so long ago in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and a fascinating book by Pat Adachi. I’m pleased to report that there is now a superb, highlight history of the team accessible to all on the Internet.

Click virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Asahi/ and prepare to be transported back to the thrilling days of yesteryear when baseball thrived at the old Powell Street Grounds in the heart of what was then Japantown. There are scores of wonderful old pictures, newspaper clippings and, as an unexpected bonus, marvellous silent-film footage of Powell Street when it was the centre of the Lower Mainland’s industrious Nikkei community. There is even a clip of several Asahi players posing for the cameras.

But for me the highlight was some incredible colour film of a game between two baseball teams from the internment camps.

The game took place on Dominion Day (remember that?), 1943, on a crude baseball field surrounded by the forests of the Slocan Valley.

It was the first time interned Japanese had been allowed to travel outside prescribed perimeters since their forced confinement began, and hundreds packed the small wooden stands to watch.

I was moved by the sight of so many smiling faces, the crowd clearly revelling in the chance to do something normal again - something that had been part of their everyday life back in Vancouver. Something as simple as watching baseball on a bright, sunny afternoon.

THE 19th CENTURY RETURNS

An amusing headline comes from the cheeky international blog Fark.com, which took note of Vancouver’s recent daze of darkness. Quoth Fark: “Downtown Vancouver, B.C. celebrates ‘1880’s Days’ with no phones, lights or refrigeration.”

Gassy Jack, c’mon back!

IF IFS AND BUTS …

And finally, can we not declare a moratorium on the tired question, whenever anything bad happens in the city such as the power blackout or the recent bridge tie-up: What if this happens during the Olympics?

Now about that asteroid

scare ….