Rest in Peace: Mr. Robert Dziekanski

It appeared to be just another regular day at the Vancouver International Airport when Robert Dziekanski, of Pieszyce, Poland, flew to British Columbia to reunite with his mother and start a new life as a Canadian. Little did he know that he was never to step out of the airport and walk on the Canadian soil. The last moments of his life, in the hands of Vancouver RCMP, were vividly recorded on a videotape, which has become a hot (and infamous) topic all over the world through the power of the Internet. However, I'm reluctant to look this up on YouTube. At times, I prefer to live in my own bubble, where my idealism gets me through the day. There are a million negative comments I can make about the police based on my personal experience, in addition to this tragic incident. I am unsure where to start. This story reminds me of the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird". In the book, a wrongly accused Black crime suspect attempts to escape from prison, so as a result, the American, white guards shot him 17 times. Is that really necessary? The white, American guards try to justify their barbaric actions by blaming everything on the runner. What do our RCMP officers have to explain their conduct and back it up? "I was expecting to see a confrontation, a discussion and things go sideways, then the tasering," anyone with a brain would know, "That's not what you see." Just because the Polish man was an immigrant? I've run out of trash-talk about the police. I lost my respect for them a long time ago anyway.

The redistribution of the RCMP officer involved in the incident would not be the only impact of their (unspeakably cruel, in my personal opinion) actions. How will visitors and future immigrants feel about coming to our city? How will we boast ourselves upon the arrival of 2010? How will we continue to hold the place as the most livable city in the world? Will this damage on our city's reputation ever be fixed? Will this wound ever heal? Simply reassigning the Mounties is not going to sufficient to answer these questions that I just posed.

Sighs, God bless Vancouver.