She looks pretty Happy to be here. NOT a “surprise” witness as both sides have to have full disclosure as to who is testifying so neither side was “Surprised”. Wow, he abused alcohol, attacked Police with a axe, was well known to the police and had been both complainant AND subject of complaint about various issues…..Yep, real law abiding citizen there that we should all now make a martyr!!?

Where does it say he attacked police with an axe? I have read all the news reports and haven’t seen anything written about an axe. This man served in the forces and suffered what many soldiers are also experiencing upon their return from combat.

Knowledge88 maybe you should get some knowledge of the case before commenting.

Knowledge88 you are apparently unsympathetic toward the late Mr. Matters, hey you are entitled to an opinion.
I would guess that mental illness has never touched someone close to you. It is easy to sit back and make comments about other people isn’t it?

Like it or not, there are a lot of people in the public who are suffering from mental issues brought on by stress (what they now call PTSD) and or drug abuse.

Current governments solve the problem very simply, put them in jail if they step out of line (far enough, meaning serious crime) If they cross the line only a little, in other words petty crimes, then they are cycled through the revolving doors of Canadian justice, and the public has to continue to endure thefts and vandalism until they are ppicked up again.

Either way, the person with the mental illness remains untreated,in the long run.

The message here is that our governments are not addressing the problem, and a direct result is what happened to Mr. Matters.
metalman.

That Matters had a “hatchett” in his hands when he lunged at Police has been reported several times so perhaps try reading more. As for PTSD….I AM ex-military AND suffer from PTSD so I think I know a bit about the subject metalman! Again it makes for a poor excuse and I grow weary of folks jabbering away about how he had “fallen through the cracks” when there are countless resources available for FREE. Matters made a very wrong choice and paid for it, now everyone wants to blame the RCMP, and whats worse is his family wants to profit from it. The point of this inquest is so the family has grounds to sue the RCMP, not shed ‘light’ on anything.

“The Canadian military veteran, who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, was killed Sept. 10, 2012 when an RCMP emergency response team member shot him twice in the back with an M-16 after he approached a colleague carrying a hatchet”

Lunged, charged, advanced aggressively? The ERT member testified that Matters “approached” This could be as simple as one step forward towards an officer 150 ft away, Were there warnings given? So many other methods of take down could have been employed. If there were no other options than this clearly was a botched operation

Knowledge88, you missed the point.
And I read just fine, thank you.
Perhaps I am being too subtle, but in my comments I am addressing the issue of mental illness in a broad context, including but exclusively, Mr. Matters.

The point I made is that many persons with mental illness are not being treated as such. Instead, they are arrested, usually repeatedly, run through the courts, again repeatedly, and either incarcerated, or released to begin the cycle again.

I do not know what the solution to this problem is, but for sure the cure is not to build more prisons.

You state that you suffer from PTSD, and are ex-military, thank you for your service and I wish you well.

Not everyone is able to deal effectively with severe stresses in their past, to those who can, good. To those who can’t, please seek help.
There are many who may be ‘at the edge’ in their normal lives, some significant event, or, as is happening more and more, drug abuse, is enough to ‘tip them over’
These are the people I am speaking for.

Somewhere between bleeding heart liberals espousing a welfare state, and jailing everyone who does not conform is the answer to this growing problem.

metalman.

” a very wrong choice and paid for it, now everyone wants to blame the RCMP, and whats worse is his family wants to profit from it. The point of this inquest is so the family has grounds to sue the RCMP, not shed ‘light’ on anything.”

Wow…really? What evidence do you have to support your assertions? So in knowledge88’s world inquests are happily funded by governments so families can in turn sue? Wow. Just wow.

I’m of the opinion you have some of your own issues relating to sound reasoning and logic. Perhaps those “free” services you purport to exist can assist with that.

Inquests are held to gain information to obtain a clearer picture of the how and why an event occurred. It isn’t a trial, therefore wrongdoing is neither assigned nor assumed. Sometimes, facts come to light that spur other future actions such as policy changes but in the end, this is to give all parties as much information as possible surrounding Matter’s death. Whether the family has grounds to sue is conjecture. Only a lawyer can make that determination. So, please spare us your senseless diatribe. Thanks.

“but in the end, this is to give all parties as much information as possible surrounding Matter’s death.” Thank you for re asserting my point. And your 100% wrong in stating that ONLY A LAWYER can make that determination? Really so in Canada ONLY a Lawyer determines wether theres grounds to sue, try again commoner. That is a moronic comment. It was almost as absurd as “Whether the family has grounds to sue is conjecture.”?? Actually the family had grounds to sue the second Matters was killed by the RCMP. Thanks for your misinformed diatribe.