Here's a classic example of no matter how "lily white" someone looks on paper or in person there's always the chance things just aren't what they seem to be... have a look at what retired chief of the air staff Angus Watt had to say about the process Colonel Williams would have gone through.... and I guess if this guy could fool the sophisticated protocol of the upper ranks of the Armed Services then someone like him would surely make it pass the 30 page PEI Tory Leadership Application with ease... just maybe the boys in blue could come up with a "blood test" to qualify their new leader and at the very least make sure they are "Islanders".... I guess my point is when former Tory stalwarts came forward like Angus MacLean and Pat Binns would a silly red tape application have made any difference... and my guess is no it's just a waste of time as the real test will be done by the delegates on the convention floor... or do they want them tested as well?Respected colonel charged with murder of two women
Greg McArthur, Steve Ladurantaye and Timothy Appleby
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
Tuesday, Feb. 09, 2010
It was on Sunday afternoon that Colonel Russell Williams, a decorated pilot who has delivered prime ministers and soldiers to remote locales around the world, agreed to sit down with a behavioural science expert from the Ontario Provincial Police.
What has happened since that interview has shaken the Canadian Forces, and the citizens of three small towns in Eastern Ontario: Police charged Col. Williams, the commander of Canada's largest Air Force base, with the murder of two women, and assaults on two others.
Col. Williams was part of a rarefied group. Canada has fewer than 100 Air Force colonels. While the charges against him are sure to spur a lot of introspection among the military, the forces were standing behind his rapid ascent Monday.
“The thing about a guy in his position is we observe him over decades in a wide variety of jobs and positions to make sure he's the right individual for such a high-stress and high-responsibility job, and we select these people very, very carefully,” said retired chief of the air staff Angus Watt.
“If there is the slightest hint of any wrongdoing or character weakness in somebody, we do not appoint him to a position of this magnitude. It's just not done. … It's an objective process, and obviously, we missed something here.”
Col. Williams has also been prominent in repatriation ceremonies of soldiers who died in Afghanistan since he joined the base.
Even to a senior security source, the CFB Trenton commander was an intimidating presence: “You reflect on yourself and say, God, am I as sharp as him?”
It was on Sunday afternoon that Colonel Russell Williams, a decorated pilot who has delivered prime ministers and soldiers to remote locales around the world, agreed to sit down with a behavioural science expert from the Ontario Provincial Police.
What has happened since that interview has shaken the Canadian Forces, and the citizens of three small towns in Eastern Ontario: Police charged Col. Williams, the commander of Canada's largest Air Force base, with the murder of two women, and assaults on two others.
Col. Williams was part of a rarefied group. Canada has fewer than 100 Air Force colonels. While the charges against him are sure to spur a lot of introspection among the military, the forces were standing behind his rapid ascent Monday.
“The thing about a guy in his position is we observe him over decades in a wide variety of jobs and positions to make sure he's the right individual for such a high-stress and high-responsibility job, and we select these people very, very carefully,” said retired chief of the air staff Angus Watt.
“If there is the slightest hint of any wrongdoing or character weakness in somebody, we do not appoint him to a position of this magnitude. It's just not done. … It's an objective process, and obviously, we missed something here.”
Col. Williams has also been prominent in repatriation ceremonies of soldiers who died in Afghanistan since he joined the base.
Even to a senior security source, the CFB Trenton commander was an intimidating presence: “You reflect on yourself and say, God, am I as sharp as him?”
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