Editor:
I read with sadness recent news that one of our best, an RCMP member who served on the Coast, Kim Hall, has passed.
While it is a sad thing for family, lovers and friends when anyone goes away, the passing of a soul who dedicated her life to the best of public service makes this a wholly solemn time.
As your columnist for mental health and social issues, I feel that I have neglected the role played in our community by our Mounties.
So many things do not happen because of the diligence, hard work and belief that our Mounties embody.
In the dark of night and in lonely, scary places, our Mounties resolve the troubles that stalk our community. And troubles there are! You just don’t know about them because women like Kim Hall deal with them, while you slumber in peace.
When we put on our clothes in the morning and drink our tea, we expect so little. When a Mountie puts on her uniform and gets ready for work, she expects everything. And at work, she gives everything.
Years ago, I was a pup newspaper reporter on the police beat in a small Alberta town, reporting crime, court and dealing all the time with the Mounties.
This experience caused me to understand three things: a community must take care of itself. Here on the Coast, we are doing maybe OK. Business development isn’t everything. A community must have a social commitment to itself.
Every person in a public position (that includes me) must give all her/his resources to education. And be accountable. Law enforcement is a bad term. The Mounties in our community do enforce the law, but they also mediate and guide uncomfortable situations and bear a burden I think is intolerable.
I did not know Const. Kim Hall, but if she was anything like the Mounties of my acquaintance, then she was a fine and tough Canadian.
Hugh Macaulay, Sechelt
