Sunday, August 22, 2010

FEDERAL COURT FINDS RCMP RACIST AGAINST MUSLIM CADET

*** The good ol boys in the RCMP and the Conservative Tea Party of Canada have single-handedly ruined the good name of this great institution and laid waste to hopes of a meaningful relationship with the Muslim community - especially in areas regarding national security. In doing so, they make us less safe. MS ***



A federal court has ruled racism was the motive behind the 1999 termination of a Muslim trainee, opening the door for the former cadet to rejoin the RCMP.

“I can’t wait to get back into the RCMP,” Ali Tahmourpour said. “I can’t let the acts of one or two instructors become indicative of the behaviour of the organization altogether.”

His lawyer, Paul Champ detailed some of the racist acts his client was subjected to while training in Regina. “Ali signs his name from right to left in the traditional Persian way. One instructor said, ‘What kind of f----g language is that?’ The instructor claimed during the tribunal that he was just curious about languages.”

Champ said his client, a Mississauga resident, was also the subject of racist jokes and taunts routinely made by his instructors in the late 1990s.

Shortly after Tahmourpour wrote a nine-page letter of complaint to a senior officer he was dismissed, 14 weeks into the 22-week training period, and told he could not enrol again.

Tahmourpour took his case to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and a tribunal decided in his favour in 2008. The RCMP challenged the ruling.

The Federal Court of Appeal stated in the decision released Monday: “[A]n instructor named Corporal Boyer discriminated against Mr. Tahmourpour by swearing at him and ridiculing him for signing his name in the Persian style, and by being especially verbally abusive and hostile toward him . . . the fact that racist jokes made during the sensitivity training at the Depot were condoned by the instructors made Mr. Tahmourpour feel vulnerable to racism . . . many of Mr. Tahmourpour’s performance reviews were fabricated and influenced by discriminatory attitudes . . . a memorandum in Mr. Tahmourpour’s file stating that he was not to be considered for re-enrolment due to his alleged unstable mental condition, although he had never seen the staff psychologist, amounted to discrimination.”

The decision included two years compensation for lost wages, but the appeals court is referring the matter back to the tribunal which had ruled Tahmourpour should receive nine years of lost wages. The RCMP has paid him the $33,000 in damages for pain and suffering and expenses that the Tribunal ordered.

An RCMP spokesperson said the force isn’t in a position to comment at this point as it’s still reviewing the case.

Since his dismissal from the RCMP, Tahmourpour has worked as a real estate agent in Mississauga. Chasing after his two-year-old has helped him stay fit, and he said he’s ready to go back to the force immediately. “I come from a multi-generational police family in Iran. This is what I want to be doing. My great-grandfather did it.”

When asked how he could reconcile working for an organization that, despite overwhelming evidence of systemic racism, fought to keep Tahmourpour out, he said: “It’s obviously worrisome. But maybe I can be a part of the solution. I hope the RCMP sees me as an asset to correct some of its mistakes.” (MS: Don't hold your breath sir.)

Champ, who has represented other RCMP staff who have accused the force of racism, said the case is an example of the RCMP’s notorious “Blue Wall.”

“The RCMP leadership is very wedded to its reputation. They would rather bury problems than deal with them. I hope the RCMP learned from this case.” (MS: Don't your hold your breath either sir.)

But when asked if he expects another appeal Champ said, “They could take it to the Supreme Court.”

Tahmourpour said it wouldn’t matter. “I can be a part of the future of the RCMP, to be an institution we can all be proud of.”

Ali Tahmourpour says he “can’t wait to get back into the RCMP” after the Federal Court of Appeal ruled Monday (July 19, 2010) in his favour, opening the door for the former cadet to rejoin the force. (April 16, 2008)

Ali Tahmourpour says he “can’t wait to get back into the RCMP” after the Federal Court of Appeal ruled Monday (July 19, 2010) in his favour, opening the door for the former cadet to rejoin the force. (April 16, 2008)