OUTRAGEOUS, SENSELESS LOSS

Anguish and sorrow run deep in Alberta this weekend. The terrible loss
of four RCMP constables in senseless violence cuts deep and shakes our
world to the core.

Brock Myrol, Peter Christopher Schiemann, Anthony Gordon, Lionide
Nicholas Johnston - four young men in the prime of life, young
officers working to make the community safer, servants of the public
devoted to their policing duties - simply put, four good men cut
down in a deliberate act of violence by an unbalanced James Roszko who
ran a marijuana grow operation.

The shock is all the worse perhaps because the tragedy happened in
small-town Alberta, near the village of Rochfort Bridge about 110
kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

Such events shatter the comforting illusion that rural communities are
somehow immune from conflict, tensions and the presence of plain bad
people.

The truth is, no place can make itself crime-proof and no place
deserves this kind of devastating loss. In the communities of
Mayerthorpe, which lost three officers, and Whitecourt, which lost the
fourth, the grief is profound.

That the shooter, Roszko, was a violent man, known and feared in the
community, just makes us all the more angry. The four officers were
involved in a raid on Roszko's farm and they turned out to be his victims.

The four young men accepted, as all police officers do, that their
work is often dangerous. But they all believed they could make a
difference in the community and worked diligently to that end in the
RCMP's proud and long-standing tradition in rural Alberta.

Our hearts go out to the families of the four officers and to the
RCMP, a close-knit community across the country suffering its greatest
loss in decades.

There are many questions about this dreadful incident and as the pain
of loss turns to rage, the community will need answers.

For now, perhaps the words of Brock Myrol's family in Red Deer provide
some comfort.

"Canadians are wonderful, caring, loving people. Brock knew that and
dedicated his life to preserving that tradition," said his mother.

In that tradition, caring people will reach out to the grieving among
them. Our communities will rally to take whatever action is necessary
to prevent such a tragedy from recurring.