Poll shows half of High River residents want judicial inquiry
Three High River polls show a lot more questions need to be answered to rebuild trust
oday, Canada’s National Firearms Association released the results of their third telephone poll conducted in High River since the flood of 2013. Three hundred and eighty-eight High River residents responded to this most recent poll conducted during the evening of May 6, 2015. The survey question asked was: The RCMP Complaints Commission’s report on the 2013 Alberta floods in High River, said the Town of High River Emergency Operations Centre ordered the RCMP to enter all homes in High River using whatever force necessary. The report found the entry of 4,666 High River homes by the RCMP was “appropriate”. Do you think Premier of Alberta, Rachel Notley, should call a judicial inquiry for High River residents to examine all outstanding issues and claims surrounding the so-called, High River gun grab? 48.7% responded Yes, 40.4% responded No, 10.8% were undecided. When the pollster removed the 42 undecided residents, 54.6% respondents supported a judicial inquiry.
A second telephone poll taken after the RCMP Public Complaints Commission’s High River report was released on February 12, 2015, showed that sixty-seven percent of the people in High River thought the RCMP’s actions were not “appropriate” contradicting the RCMP report’s findings. In our first poll taken last August, fifty-three percent of High River residents polled indicated they would be prepared to refuse an evacuation order in the event of another emergency.
“These three polls indicate that the trust of the majority of High River residents has not been rebuilt in High River since the RCMP kicked in ‘more than 754 doors’ in High River, resulting in more than 1,900 damage claims, causing more than $2.2 million dollars damage and seizing more than 600 guns without warrant, including many that were properly secured and out of plain sight, ” said NFA President Sheldon Clare.
Polling expert Gary Mauser, Professor Emeritus with Simon Fraser University had this to say about the telephone poll. “Results from a small but professional survey like this can be trustworthy indicators of public opinion. The sample was drawn using state-of-the-art random-dialing methodology and included all valid telephone numbers of current High River residents. The response rate is acceptable for public opinion surveys, and the margin of error for random samples of this size (N=388) is less than ± 5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.”
Clare commended the work of NFA Honorary Life Member, Dennis Young for his work investigating the High River Gun Grab. The facts uncovered by his 42 ATIP requests and seven FOIP requests have resulted in the production of several High River columns and commentaries documenting the many questions that weren’t answered by the RCMP Public Complaints Commission High River report. High River documents uncovered by Dennis’ requests are available on the NFA website under the “News” and “Firearms Facts” icons.
“A judicial inquiry is needed to find out why the RCMP and the Provincial Ministers who authorized this unprecedented invasion of privacy in High River and why anyone thought that the Alberta Emergency Management Act should take priority over the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Bill of Rights and the Alberta Bill of Rights. The Progressive Conservative government ignored our previous requests. We hope that Premier Notley will dig a little deeper for the truth in High River,” concluded Clare.
Canada’s National Firearms Association is this country’s largest and most effective advocacy organization representing the interests of firearms owners and users.
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