COLUMN: Carillon Flashback Sept. 27, 1978 – Outspoken judge guest speaker at RCMP Ball

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/08/2021 (1411 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Guests at Steinbach’s first RCMP Regimental Ball were treated to both a serious and a flippant side of Judge Mike Baryluk as the outspoken provincial judge’s brief, but most entertaining, remarks followed a formal sit-down dinner with officers in scarlet tunics from all Southeastern Manitoba RCMP detachments.

Judge Baryluk told his audience the age when traditional opposing forces were “cops and robbers” is giving way to an era where increasing expertise is demanded of police officers.

“We have a whole new brand of complex and confusing laws and a barrage of new regulations constantly cropping up. The modern policeman’s job is much more difficult than was that of his predecessor.”

The traditional role of the policeman is changing, Baryluk said. Today, the police officer is the most necessary, and at the same time, often the least wanted member of the community.

While praising the work of law enforcement officers, at a time when all policemen are under constant public scrutiny, the provincial court judge also took a few swipes at the legal profession, some who were guests at the dinner.

Many lawyers in court seem bent on destroying the credibility of policemen, while it is their client’s story they should be taking a good look at, Baryluk noted.

“Defense counsel is an officer of the court and can be expected not to be naive enough to believe everything his client tells him. If he does, the least he can do is not repeat the fairy tales in court.”

To the amusement of the crowd, Judge Baryluk threw in a couple of examples of his own responses from the bench.

“With a breathalyzer reading of .32, I don’t believe your client knows what his intentions were when he got behind the wheel.”

After an impaired driver took the stand in his own defence, Baryluk leaned over, smelled his breath, and then told the man’s lawyer that if his client was indeed attending “AA” meetings, as he claimed, perhaps he should attend one this morning.

And then there was the case of the man who appeared in court with a horrendous driving record and his lawyer argued that, “My client has never been in trouble except for driving related offences. If he could stay away from a car, he could stay away from trouble.”

Judge Baryluk obliged the man with a 10-month jail sentence.

While the evening was billed as a public relations gesture and a social event, the RCMP also took the opportunity to honour one of their own long-serving members.

Cpl. Keith Duncan, in charge of the Steinbach Rural RCMP Detachment until two years ago when he was posted in Winnipeg, joined the RCMP in 1958. For 15 of the past 20 years, Cpl. Duncan served with a number of northern Manitoba detachments before moving to Steinbach.

Cpl. Duncan was presented with a medal and a certificate of recognition for his 20 years of service by the commanding officer of Winnipeg RCMP Subdivision.

For Judge Baryluk, the policeman’s ball was a second Steinbach speaking engagement this year, outside his regular weekly sessions in the court room.

In March, the provincial court judge delivered a lecture on discipline to a large group of Hanover school teachers and parents during an in-service at the Steinbach Regional Secondary School.

He told the group, problems of society today have manifested in the courts because, for far too long, a lack of discipline has been equated with freedom.

From the 1950s, accepted behaviour has deteriorated to the point where things that used to be wrong are now alright, he said. Under the guise of freedom, society has thrown away discipline.

“Society has to do away with that type of philosophy and return to the old morality if freedoms are to become meaningful.”

Judge Baryluk said that he gets the failures in court. Juvenile delinquents have been failed by the school or at home, or have just failed to listen. Once a juvenile appears in court, it is not easy to regain the discipline necessary to straighten him out.

The provincial judge offered parents and teachers suggestions to improve the situation, citing some of the advantages of living in a small town.

“Withholding privileges, like the use of the family car, could be a form of discipline. A curfew, could also be effective in a small town, where it could be enforced much more easily than in a big city, where keeping track of youngsters breaking a curfew would be more difficult.

Judge Baryluk told parents they should not leave the job of discipline to the schools. Lines of communication among schools, parents, police officers and the courts should be kept open, he said.