RCMP hat policy far from ‘radical’

Re: Tories overturn RCMP move to trade muskrat hats for winter tuques, Sept 29

The announcement that the Ministry of Public Safety will overturn a decision by the RCMP to replace muskrat hats with woollen toques is yet another indication of the absurdity taking over Ottawa these days.

The RCMP decision was made after considering decades of concern from both its employees and the public and conducting extensive cold-weather tests of alternative hats. The “iconic” fur hats were not to be eliminated completely; rather their numbers would be reduced by issuing them only in extreme winter conditions.

While most Canadians would consider a significant cost reduction by replacing expensive and unnecessary fur hats with woollen toques to be a sensible move, Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq dismissed the move as a plot by “radical animal rights activists.”

Reducing government costs is not radical. Reducing unnecessary animal suffering is not radical. A Conservative government overturning cost-saving measures? That’s emotionally charged rhetoric trumping dollars and sense. SHERYL FINK Director, Canadian Wildlife Campaigns, International Fund for Animal Welfare

The government should give the RCMP more credit than to make operational decisions by bowing to the whims of animalrights activists.

If I may speak for my RCMP family, I’m sure they don’t give a muskrat’s patootie about animal-rights activists, any more than they do about whether or not they’re supporting Canada’s fur trade. They just want more serviceable duds. Maybe something that, once snow-laden, doesn’t smell like a wet animal perched on their heads. At the same time, in this day and age of rampant lack of respect for authorities, how insane is it to mandate police officers wear fur (a bone of contention to many) on their heads?

To use government’s train of logic, next they’ll be lobbying for the bison-farming vote by mandating the RCMP bring back the winter buffalo coat they used to wear. LIZ STONARD Port Alberni