Thread by @MercedesGlobal

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki is not the only federal official who has defended RCMP's performance in NS. Last week on @TheWestBlock Public Safety Min @BillBlair did too saying police had a tough job & were doing their best with limited resources globalnews.ca/news/7404283/b… #cdnpoli

Blair, though, said he has “some sympathy” for “how difficult the job of the police is in these circumstances.”

“But I think it’s also critical that they be effective on the ground, that they take every step necessary to prevent acts of violence and criminality, to keep people safe, to preserve the peace while this work is going on.”

In an interview with The West Block’s Mercedes Stephenson, Blair said police have been “on scene right from the outset,” and “in significant numbers.”

“If you look at the actual circumstances, where a few hundred people came into conflict and the officers on the ground, you know, utilized their authorities and their limited resources to try to separate the combatants,” he said.

“But they also gathered evidence,” he continued. “There were acts of criminality that took place there, and the police have done their job of laying the charges...."

"... In large crowd events like that, sometimes it’s very difficult to prevent every altercation and act of violence that can take place.”
“The police — as I said — have got a tough job to do.”