A TIME TO MOURN

Many reasons have been advanced for the brutal slaying of four Mounties in
northern Alberta last week.

Everything from federal marijuana laws, to the gun registry, to lack of
social intervention in the killer's youth, to RCMP oversight in training,
equipping and protecting the police have been advanced as causes why these
brave young men were killed.

Some of the theories seem wrong at second glance, as new pieces of
information about the crime scene become public knowledge. Other facts are
now known only to RCMP investigators and cannot be disclosed yet.

Some of the answers they are seeking will never be known, as the five
principals are now dead.

Their diligent inquires must continue. All the hard questions about how and
why a gun-loving, cop-hating pedophile was able to be free, to terrorize a
small community for years, and to ambush four officers must be addressed
and - in due course - be shared with the Canadian public.

But the time for that is not now. Now is the time to grieve the loss of
these magnificent Canadians, to understand and celebrate their lives, to
support their families.

The extent of family goes beyond the blood relatives of Brock Myrol,
Anthony Gordon, Leo Johnston and Peter Schiemann.

The RCMP is a family as much as it is a police force. Officers in the force
are stunned by the loss of their four colleagues and reeling further from
suggestions that their colleagues are to blame.

A massive memorial service will be staged in Edmonton on Thursday for all
four officers. Separate funeral services have already begun. A semi-private
one will be held in Red Deer for Gordon on Friday and a public one for
Myrol on Saturday.

Now is not the time to grandstand, to score political points, to rush to
judgement.

Now is the time to honour the memories of the four Mounties, to reflect on
their courageous determination to protect us, to draw close to those we
love, whose precious lives we take for granted.