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| Great White North |
| Canadian commissionaire suspended for anti-Muslim Facebook comments |
| 2012-08-22 |
| A commissionaire who allegedly posted anti-Muslim comments on Facebook suggesting a mosque should be blasted with a rocket launcher has been suspended with pay, the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires said Monday. The controversial comments, posted Thursday by Dan Speed on the I Love Downtown Victoria Facebook page, have now been removed. Speed's profile, which said he provided security for the Canadian Coast Guard and worked for the Department of National Defence, appears to have been deleted. John Dewar, the corps' chief executive officer for Victoria, the Islands and Yukon division, said, "The Commissionaires is an organization that values diversity in our community and we have commissionaires from all backgrounds, so any expression of intolerance like this is unacceptable within our values and probably contrary to specific policies we have for conduct of commissionaires." He said the commissionaire has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the corps' investigation. "If it is determined there was inappropriate behaviour, then corrective action will be taken, up to and including dismissal," he added. Victoria police spokesman Mike Tucker said investigators interviewed a suspect, but he was not arrested or charged. Tucker said, "It's an ongoing investigation. We have been talking to people at the mosque and in the Muslim community to see what they want to have addressed and to bring them up to speed on the investigation." He said police are looking into whether the alleged incident meets the threshold for a hate crime. Tucker added that the challenge for police officers is to determine what's an offhand comment and what's a direct threat. He said, "Are the comments made in jest? Are they just stupid comments? Even if they are distasteful and inappropriate, does it constitute a criminal act? It's a tough balance to determine if it is a crime." Police say they are taking the comments seriously. Tucker said, "I don't think there's any social appetite for something like this." |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 It's interesting that they don't post any reason why he said the mosque should be improved via RPG. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2012-08-22 12:00 |