The Thin Blue Line

New Brunswick is a small place.


There are only a little more than 700,000 of us.

We don't all know each other (yet), but the degrees that separate us here are very small.  In fact, I would say that only one person ever separates  each one of us from the other.

So when we were suddenly thrust into the international limelight because someone murdered not only three of our own but three of our finest, three who were trying to protect us, it was hard on us all.

And as Moncton went into lock down, so, too, did the rest of New Brunswick.  We all have family and friends in Moncton.  Many of us knew police officers called to help find the individual, whose name I'll never speak.  It was a tense 30 hours.

And it struck close to home here, with Barry being a retired police chief and his brother Bob being an active member of the RCMP.

I'd like to share a lovely email that Bob sent to his local newspaper, thanking the people of his community, located three hours away from Moncton, for their support:

On behalf of Sgt. Ross Davis, myself and the RCMP members we supervise, I wanted to thank everyone, throughout Charlotte and York Counties, for the comments and gestures of kindness and support that have been expressed and demonstrated since the tragic events in Moncton. 

While no specific gesture will ever be considered more special than another, I do want to let the unidentified lady who laid the three white roses at the base of the St. Stephen detachment half-masted flag that those roses have been placed in a vase at the front counter of the office and will be maintained and if necessary replaced, until the three deceased RCMP members are laid to rest.

This incident should clearly demonstrate to all of us that we are all quite simply and proudly, Canadians first!! 

If you were wondering who we, the RCMP are, we are you...

Sgt. Bob MacKnight

St Stephen RCMP Detachment

Last night, there was a vigil in Moncton.  It was time to thank our first responders and begin to mourn the dead.

Last night, New Brunswickers across the province kept their porch light on in solidarity with the people of Moncton.

And we have come a little closer together.  This is New Brunswick after all, where the typical story is how bad the potholes are in the road.

This is not THAT place.

Except now it feels like that place.

And that is a hard and bitter pill to swallow.

The Thin Blue Line

There is a line the color of the sky 
on a clear afternoon There is a line 
the hue of the ocean on a bright sunny day 
There is a line the purest shade of a newborn's eyes 
awakening for the first time There is a line 
that protects us from harm in all we do 
whether day or night There is a line 
no one can penetrate no one can alleviate 
There is a line made of those who choose 
to follow a calling many do not hear and still more do not comprehend 
They choose to walk the path of fear, hate, and mistrust 
taken by so few but marked by so many 
And when one leaves this line they leave a legacy 
but the line does not break for the remaining must still protect 
There may be emptiness a loss, or sadness 
but never a hole not in this line 
This line that holds the ghosts of the souls who have gone 
and the souls of the ghosts who will be The Thin Blue Line 

- Author Unknown