MAURICE CONTINUES FIGHT AGAINST CRIME IN RURAL AREAS
Weird.
That’s how Eddie Maurice described standing in front of the Okotoks RCMP detachment with his wife Jessica to discuss rural crime. After all, for the rural homeowner, his arrest at gunpoint by several RCMP officers was almost as traumatic as the middle-of-the night robbery that “turned his life upside down” and turned him into the face of the scourge of rural crime that has gripped small communities clear across the country.
“It’s kind of weird being here outside of the RCMP detachment because my experiences here haven’t been that great,” Maurice said Monday during a media conference put on by John Barlow, the Conservative MP for Foothills.
“That frosted window over there is the cell I was kept in for 36 hours after protecting my family and property from criminals in the dark,” he said, pointing to a thin window located further down the building.
It was the early morning hours of Feb. 24 — Eddie’s 33rd birthday — when the family’s two dogs, Panda and Jackson, became agitated and alerted the machinist, who also helps run his wife’s family farm. Jessica — who owns and runs a doggy daycare — was away in Las Vegas. Her parents were taking care of the couple’s older daughter and Eddie was home alone with their baby daughter.
“When I woke up to the sound of criminals outside my house, I was terrified,” he recalled.
He grabbed his .22-calibre rifle, went outside and ordered the two people breaking into his truck to leave his property. They just ignored him.
“After firing warning shots into the ground, the criminals ran away and I called 9-1-1.”
It took more than two hours for the Mounties to finally show up, even though he lives just a sevenminute drive from the detachment. Three cruisers arrived. With guns drawn, the officers arrested the young father and handcuffed him.
“I was treated like a criminal instead of the victim and that needs to stop,” he said.
What also needs to stop, he adds, are two federal government bills — Bill C-71 and Bill C-75.
“Bill C-71 establishes a back door gun registry and is another attack on law-abiding firearms owners,” said Barlow, who was touting the Conservative Party’s Safer Canada plan instead.
“Bill C-75 reduces sentences on some of our most violent crimes, including drinking and driving causing bodily harm, assault and even kidnapping. What kind of message is this sending to violent criminals?” asks Barlow.
“Instead of taking action to combat rural crime, this bill actually reduces sentences. That is simply outrageous,” added Barlow.
The Maurices say when they first bought their house just south of Okotoks over six years ago, thieves attempted to break into their home while they were sleeping “and after they called, police never came at all.”
“We lost our sense of security at that time,” explained Jessica, who says they became even more jumpy since the incident that got Eddie arrested, charged and transformed into an unwitting poster boy of the fear and anger that is gripping Alberta rural folk.
In June, a ballistics report confirmed Eddie’s version of the events that night. It was proven that a ricocheted bullet hit the man who was attempting to steal from him. All charges against Eddie were dropped to cheers and tears from a large crowd of supporters gathered at the Okotoks court, some of whom drove to each of his six court appearances from as far away as Edmonton.
“Once you are a victim of rural crime, there is no going back to normal life,” explains Eddie, who installed alarmed motion sensors around their property as well as video cameras.
“We’ve become hyper vigilant now,” adds Jessica. “We’re always on edge.”
In March, the Alberta NDP government — in response to the public outcry against how Eddie Maurice was victimized not just by criminals, but the system — invested a total of $14 million in more RCMP officers, civilian staff and Crown prosecutors.
The Alberta government’s Crime Reduction Strategy appears to be working. In September, RCMP said there were 366 fewer break and enters and 648 less motor vehicle thefts this year compared to last.
From January to July of 2018, property crimes excluding fraud, mischief and arson, have declined 11 per cent compared to the same period last year.
But Barlow says those numbers are misleading.
“So many people are not reporting these crimes any more,” he says. “They know the RCMP may or may not respond and they can’t even get insurance, they’ve been hit so many times.”
“They’re just dealing with it themselves because they are afraid the RCMP will arrest them if they scare away thieves with a firearm,” says Jessica.
The Maurices hope that Bills C-71 and C-75 get as much attention as Eddie’s case did, otherwise the proverbial revolving door for habitual criminals will get even faster. That won’t just be weird, it will be gross.