Letter to Nanaimo Mayor John Ruttan & Nanaimo City Council

by Pepper Cat posted on the Boycott Nanaimo Facebook page on May 11, 2011.

Attention: Mayor John Ruttan & Nanaimo City Council

Re: 2011 Nanaimo RCMP Motorcycle Campaign

I am writing today in regards to the reported 2011 Nanaimo RCMP Motorcycle Campaign. I respectfully request that you actually read this correspondence as it may have information not previously brought to your attention and I hope that you will not respond with the “form letter” sent to others. This is a serious matter that could open precedent setting doors that at a later date may not easily be closed, doors that could expand outside of this year’s target of motorcyclists to other minority groups.

Nanaimo RCMP have an established history of this type of harassment of motorcyclists, in particular those who ride a Harley Davidson. In a previous roadside motorcycle “safety” check in Nanaimo the RCMP pulled over ONLY Harley riders while bikes of another brand zoomed by. When I questioned this I received no response from the officer. The RCMP took each and every person they pulled over demanded they remove helmets and sunglasses, interviewed them with questions regarding residence, employment, are you affiliated with any clubs etc and took pictures of them. NO we were not under arrest just on a Harley. Sounds like profiling to me and this new campaign appears to be of the exact same nature except not only may they have roadside checks set up, I understand, and please correct me if I’m wrong, the RCMP plan to simply pull over motorcyclists in Nanaimo at random for no apparent reason except they believe they can. Since when is just cause not necessary to pull someone over? I do not believe a mode of transportation is just cause. Are we to believe that Nanaimo City Council supports this type of terrorism on their citizens and tourist! This “just because they can attitude” violates our rights!

Should Nanaimo now be referred to as a police state? This is NOT about loud pipes it’s about targeted discrimination and harassment of a minority group. If the true reason is because of motorcycle accidents then they should focus their efforts on an education program at those who cause the majority of them. That would be the drivers of the vehicles making the left hand turns when they don’t have the right of way, that would be the driver who’s tunes or cell phone conversation has them so distracted they don’t see the motorcycle in front of them and drive them into the car next to them, that would be the driver zooming over the speed limit because they are late and who just ran a motorcycle off the road or nailed them. If a motorcyclist or anyone for that matter is breaking the law then they should expect to be pulled over. However the RCMP or any police officer should not have the right to pull someone over “just because”.
Roadsides are not the place for a safety check, they do not provide the proper environment, they appear to be done by those of a bias nature and create the possibility of skewed results. This just gives too much power to a group of employees know as the RCMP and just opens the door to so many possible violations of citizens rights. If it were any other minority group about to be subjected to this kind of harassment and profiling would the Mayor, politicians and general public sit back and allow it, I think not.

I submit that you as Mayor and the Nanaimo City Council take more of a vested interest in the RCMP campaign and look at the big picture. It appears that you are listening only to the media release the RCMP have issued you, rather then at all the statements made by RCMP officers released in the media over the last couple weeks. In those statements they are not cohesive in what they say and the overall perception of those reports is not about loud pipes as they have lead you all to believe. I realize that as in any walk of life there are the few who create problems however it is not the job of the RCMP to punish the whole for the deeds of a few. That is not what I believe tax dollars for policing are earmarked for. Please reign in your employees, the RCMP, and assure us that you will not allow profiling and discriminatory harassment to happen in your jurisdiction.