No sympathy for RCMP pay

Dear Editor: Here we go again raining tears like falling rain!

Member of Parliament Richard Cannings after visiting most of the RCMP detachments in his riding writes “Mounties deserve a fair wage” (Herald column, April 4).

Richard failed to mention what the basic wage upon recruitment and training is at this present time. Richard did mention that RCMP top brass were rewarded $1.7 million in bonuses.

So Richard, what’s new, top brass that are seldom out on the front lines and heaven forbid if shift work was mandatory?

Nobody I have ever known has ever said life is fair and I am quite sure thousands of Canadians would love to have the pay, pension and benefits Mounties enjoy in their chosen career.

Being a rookie MP Richard, do you feel cheated with your place on the pork chop pay scale?

I spent many working years inside the razor wire of a federal institution interviewing, hiring, firing and counseling many inmates incarcerated for executing deadly crimes. This work and pay scale was my choice to accept and certainly it was not for everybody, as unknown danger lurked in this dangerous environment 24/7.

One other thing. When I joined the RCAF being a17-year-old child in today’s way of thinking the basic pay rate was $88 per month, but eh ,I got the chance to serve a country I loved but years later found out there was no record of my existence or exile to Canada.

If one can’t hack the career they choose to do, then perhaps quit and take up bird watching, sewing, politics or dumpster diving. Tom Isherwood Olalla