For years the so-called leaders of Manitoba's aboriginals have tried to anoint some doped-up, blind-drunk, gang-allied or suicidal member of Reserve X, Y or Z as a champion for getting killed while confronting police. Chief This, Grand Chief That and Superchief Whatsis could always be counted on to declare shrilly that the police had murdered the newly deceased, who, of course, was blameless, pure, and would be greatly missed because he always made people laugh. It was, they would say, proof of how The Man is prejudiced against the irreproachable aboriginals who-- allegedly-- try to shoot, stab, drive into or drive over police officers. But year-after-year the anti-police hate campaign failed to gain traction once the facts of each case proved that the police officers acted properly under the circumstances. So you can imagine how giddy the aboriginal leaders must have been last week when the RCMP announced that a guard at Headingley Jail had been charged following the dea
The origin of the Usher of the Black Rod goes back to early fourteenth century England . Today, with no royal duties to perform, the Usher knocks on the doors of the House of Commons with the Black Rod at the start of Parliament to summon the members. The rod is a symbol for the authority of debate in the upper house. We of The Black Rod adopted the symbol to knock some sense and the right questions into the heads of Legislators, pundits, and other opinion makers.