‘I’m sick to my stomach’: Retired RCMP officer details humiliating experience with CBC prank show

Article content

Jaws is a YouTuber with two channels focused mainly on U.S. and Canadian politics, where he regularly attracts hundreds of thousands of viewers. He told the National Post he is unclear why he was targeted by Northland Tales, but said the officers were being used as “symbols” in the prank.

Article content

Jaws said he first got an email from someone named Michael Burnett in January who claimed to be working on a “new documentary-style series for BBC 2 and CBC” called After the Call. The series, according to a picture of an email in Jaws’ video, would focus on how police officers adjust to life after retirement.

Article content

Jaws said he first did a pre-interview at his home, and then agreed to a later interview in Vancouver in March. 

Article content

He was told that he and other officers would partake in a Vancouver event to honour their service, and that Prince William would be attending the ceremony. Organizers asked him to wear his RCMP Red Serge uniform that Mounties are allowed to keep after they retire. The organizers booked Jaws for three nights at the Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel just down the road from the broadcaster’s studios, Jaws said. 

Article content

Article content

Jaws said he had already been suspicious about the pre-interview, which he said felt oddly superficial. He told the organizers he did not want to partake in any effort to honour his service, and said he recalled thinking that the whole thing “doesn’t make any sense.”

Article content

Jaws said he also had deep skepticism about the Vancouver event, and said he even expected a CBC crew to try to catch him off guard at the Rosedale hotel when he checked in. He said he declined to wear his uniform to the event. 

Article content

He said he and two other officers were brought to the Vancouver studio, where they were guided through the building and finally into a room with a stage. Jaws said he and the others were introduced by someone posing as an event host, and one of the officers sang the national anthem. 

Article content

The organizers then played a fake video of King Charles on a massive television screen in front of the audience claiming that Canada was dissolving the RCMP in order to account for all the wrongs the force had committed against First Nations people. A First Nation chief then came on stage and spoke to how, according to his account, the RCMP were responsible for the plight of Indigenous people. Later, a person pretending to be Prince William also did a speech. 

Article content

Article content

“And now I’m realizing I’m sitting there for a reason,” Jaws said. “These people, these production people, wanted me to feel humiliated, which I did, big time.”

Article content

Jaws said he walked off stage but was followed out of the room by a camera crew that refused to turn off its cameras. In the hallway, Jaws said he saw Michael Burnett, the organizer who invited Jaws to the interview, refusing to make eye contact with Jaws. 

Article content

Months after the event, Jaws said he is still baffled by the whole experience, and somewhat dismayed that the show sought former RCMP officers who sometimes struggle with mental health issues.

Article content

“I’m sick to my stomach,” he said. “I guess they got me, but there was no funny part…. I still don’t understand it, I don’t get it. Then I started thinking: the most fragile minds, some of them, are retired police officers. It’s so dangerous.” 

Article content

Article content