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Apr. 8th, 2009
the value of life
Apr. 8th, 2009 09:50 pmIt's not very often current events get to me, but right now I'm so angry. Incredibly angry.
I'll start off by acknowledging a genuine tragedy has happened: a woman--wife, mother, sister, neighbour, activist--was murdered in one of our major city parks. I offer my sincere condolences to Wendy Ladner-Beaudry's loved ones. From all reports she was one of these people who tried to make the world a better place.
But really, how skewed--how perversely skewed--are the priorities of our public officials? Since Ms. Ladner-Beaudry's body was discovered last Friday, over 70 police officers have been on the case. In terms of the crime scene, the park area--and the major roads near it--were closed until day.
This is not anything like standard operating procedures for the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). Over about 15 years 26 (or more) women were murdered here. It took over a decade for the police to acknowledge these women were missing, despite numerous reports by their friends and loved ones of "a pig farm in Coquitlam" where many were last heading before they disappeared.
The remains of these 26 were eventually found at the pig farm of Robert Pickton. Last year Pickton was convicted for 6 of these murders: currently both he and the Crown are appealing his conviction (he for an aquittal, they for a first degree conviction rather than second). There are still over a dozen more still missing. Eventually the VPD created a task force to investigate these cases.
These women apparently don't count as much as one Wendy Ladner-Beaudry though. Because they were sex workers, drug addicted, and often Aboriginal. Ms. Ladner-Beaudry was white, affluent, and from an influential family on Vancouver's West Side. Her brother Peter was a city councillor and just ran for (and lost) the Vancouver mayoralty race. He's also the publisher of Business Vancouver magazine.
At its peak the Missing Women's Task Force had about 40 VPD members working on the cases of over 50 missing women; at its peak this week, over 70 VPD were working the Ladner-Beaudry case. That's less than one cop for the Aboriginal women versus 70 for one white one.
One would think there would be someone at the VPD--or City Hall--mindful of the optics here. Since clearly the principle of equality before the law--for victims as much for the accused--doesn't seem to apply here.
Shame on the VPD. Shame on the Vancouver media lapping this up. Shame. You disgust me.
I'll start off by acknowledging a genuine tragedy has happened: a woman--wife, mother, sister, neighbour, activist--was murdered in one of our major city parks. I offer my sincere condolences to Wendy Ladner-Beaudry's loved ones. From all reports she was one of these people who tried to make the world a better place.
But really, how skewed--how perversely skewed--are the priorities of our public officials? Since Ms. Ladner-Beaudry's body was discovered last Friday, over 70 police officers have been on the case. In terms of the crime scene, the park area--and the major roads near it--were closed until day.
This is not anything like standard operating procedures for the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). Over about 15 years 26 (or more) women were murdered here. It took over a decade for the police to acknowledge these women were missing, despite numerous reports by their friends and loved ones of "a pig farm in Coquitlam" where many were last heading before they disappeared.
The remains of these 26 were eventually found at the pig farm of Robert Pickton. Last year Pickton was convicted for 6 of these murders: currently both he and the Crown are appealing his conviction (he for an aquittal, they for a first degree conviction rather than second). There are still over a dozen more still missing. Eventually the VPD created a task force to investigate these cases.
These women apparently don't count as much as one Wendy Ladner-Beaudry though. Because they were sex workers, drug addicted, and often Aboriginal. Ms. Ladner-Beaudry was white, affluent, and from an influential family on Vancouver's West Side. Her brother Peter was a city councillor and just ran for (and lost) the Vancouver mayoralty race. He's also the publisher of Business Vancouver magazine.
At its peak the Missing Women's Task Force had about 40 VPD members working on the cases of over 50 missing women; at its peak this week, over 70 VPD were working the Ladner-Beaudry case. That's less than one cop for the Aboriginal women versus 70 for one white one.
One would think there would be someone at the VPD--or City Hall--mindful of the optics here. Since clearly the principle of equality before the law--for victims as much for the accused--doesn't seem to apply here.
Shame on the VPD. Shame on the Vancouver media lapping this up. Shame. You disgust me.