Inconvenient Truths

As Canadians, we often look south of the border with disdain at some of the incidents that happen.  As Canadians, we take the moral high ground that this would never happen in Canada. 

Today, a story in the news indicates that we may not be walking the moral high ground.  

Two Hamilton paramedics were charged with failure to provide the necessaries of life.  This result of an incident that happened in 2017.  

Of course, the paramedics have only been charged and still presumed to be innocent.  Their Union, OPSEU, is indicating that they will be declared innocent.  

Here is what witnesses describe which led to the police investigation and subsequent charge.  A 19 year old man was coming out of a Mosque where he was worshiping with his younger brother.  He came across some men hassling an older man.  He intervened and was shot for his efforts as a good samaritan.  

According to witnesses, when the paramedics arrived they mocked him and didn't move him for 38 minutes.  The police were also there and were allegedly mocking the victim as well, however, they were not charged as they were not required to provide life-saving treatment.  The 19 year old died shortly after arriving in hospital.  

When I first heard of the story, my reaction was, "this couldn't have happened in Canada".  We like to think of ourselves as void of such behavior.  We are all highly moral and take care of each other.  Indeed, one of the foundations of our country is our social safety net.  We take the high road and I had thought the high road was the only one we traveled. Sadly, we are hearing more and more such incidents where Canadians didn't act as expected.  

We can ignore these incidents as "one offs" but there is now more and more.  These inconvenient truths will need to be addressed as we continue to define what it means is Canadian.