Guest Column: The law is not negotiable

By Medicine Hat News Opinon on July 21, 2018.

There is no doubt that every time our legislators pass a law a little bit or our freedom disappears and most of us have agreed to that compromise in order to ensure our safety and the orderly existence of life on our planet.

We must have universal understanding of what the law is and an understanding that there will be consistency and fairness in the enforcement and execution of the law. The difficulty arises because we have politicians that are our lawmakers and political views frequently are reflected in the laws that are passed. When government change, there is often a desire to change a law. That is OK but problems arise when politicians choose to ignore a law on the books and not enforce it. This can create confusion, uncertainty and even chaos and violence. Then if the government changes again the “policy” on enforcing the law can change again.

The most obvious example of this issue right now is in the U.S. with their immigration laws. They have poorly drafted laws, many of which have been poorly or sporadically enforced for decades. The result is that there are millions of illegal and undocumented immigrants that are now facing a change in enforcement policy and major disruption of their lives. Although government policy compounds the difficult issues, it is always the responsibility of the law breaker to know the law and accept the consequences if it is broken.

The pipeline protests in Canada over the years have been poorly policed and people have frequently gotten away with obstructive and illegal acts due to a lenient or non-existent enforcement policy. The protests at the Kinder Morgan site in B.C. have been the subject of some enforcement but it appears that will need to get far more vigorous as construction begins and protesters become more emboldened. There is right to disagree but not to interfere with or obstruct lawful activity.

There have been many examples of speakers at universities being shouted down by protesters who did not want to hear the speaker and felt it was their right to make it impossible for them to express their views. In many cases, the speakers where shut down either because the police did not wish to engage the protesters or the university took the easy way out. The proper enforcement of the law would ensure that the protesters who were preventing the expression of free speech, be dealt with for their violations.

It can also go the other way. There are occasions, like the 2013 flood in High River where the RCMP far overstep their authority under the law, entered homes and searched for and seized weapons. Unfortunately, we were never privy to any corrective action that was taken against the individuals responsible for that choice. The law should never be the subject of political whims and should never be enforced or ignored as a matter of policy or convenience. If there is a law on the books, it should be enforced in all cases and at all times. However, that does not precluded, discretion in the enforcement, and assessment of penalties for minor matters. Police officers have some enforcement discretion and our courts have a wide range of discretion within the provisions of many statutes.

Sometimes, enforcement of the law is compromised through bad practice and bad habit. Hatters can get lulled into believing that it is OK to make an illegal U-turn on Eighth Street N.W. while westbound and turning into the angle parking spaces on the south side of the street. It is not. That is an illegal “U” turn and subject to a fine and liability in the event of an accident. Getting away with this in one place may make one think that it is something that is permitted everywhere.

Inconsistency, political whims, favouritism and poor enforcement practices have no place in law enforcement no matter how serious or minor the law is. If there is an outdated or impractical law in the books, it should be repealed not ignored. If protesters are allowed to break the law or intimidate without consequences, we give up our freedom. If police or courts overstep their bounds, we give up our freedom. If we lose our respect for the law through poor practices and neglect, our freedom is in pearl as can be seen by many recent examples in our society today.

The rule of law is the back bone of our democracies and if it is allowed to erode and decay, our societies can be in peril.

Paul McLennan moved to Alberta more than 20 years ago as a member of the RCMP. He remained in Alberta after retirement in 2002, taught driving part time and settled in Medicine Hat in 2011.

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