Mounties assigned to protect Conservative Leader Stephen Harper have turfed young voters with suspect partisan leanings from campaign events, putting the national police force at the centre of the most disturbing incidents to emerge so far in the federal race.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police admitted Wednesday that the phalanx of officers assigned as the Prime Minister’s bodyguards overstepped their bounds to enforce Harper’s closed-to-the-public re-election bid. Their transgressions include blocking and ejecting those whose only crime is to seek out the Tory chief’s election message without advance notice or sufficient party glee.
“The RCMP assisted the party organizers in restricting access to persons not registered for the private event,” the Mounties said in a written statement. “This was not in accordance with the RCMP’s mandate and RCMP members have been reminded of our responsibilities.”
But the force pointedly refused to say whether it was pre-screening those who registered to attend rallies, as at least one subject of the inappropriate aggression was explicitly told.
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