Photo (2014): Winter Storm Watch in Tofino, British Columbia
An avid West Coast and Prairie Explorer, there are few parts of Western Canada that
Harold has not touched by land, sea, or air. Many dozens of these adventures with
family, friends, work, and volunteerism, are chronicled on this blog and in hundreds of Facebook posts.
Most of the stories are now being rewritten, proofed, and published in book form (see Appendix A)

Harold was born in 1941 and started life on his parent’s homestead in Northwest Saskatchewan where he was surrounded by a wider family circle who immigrated to Canada from the United States in the early 1900s. In his early teens, the family settled in Cold Lake, Alberta, where Harold became interested in flying bush planes as they were still in regular use throughout the area and next door was the largest airforce training base in Canada, RCAF Station Cold Lake. During his High School years, along with his best friend, Aaron Pinsky, the boys worked part-time filleting fish at a packing plant owned by Aaron’s dad. As Aaron’s dad also leased a number of aircraft to haul fish from northern lakes, the boys picked up a lot of ad hoc flying time while assisting the regular pilots in loading and unloading airplanes as well as prepping the float or ski equipped aircraft for flight.

After Harold landed his first major job as a Crash Rescue Fireman with the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command based at Cold Lake, he also began flying training at the RCAF Station Flying Club were he was surrounded by the latest fighter jets and bombers that arrived from around the world for all-weather training. It was a crazy time when the world teetered at the edge of a nuclear apocalypse during the Cold War. After gaining his private pilots licence and float endorsement, he began flying as pilot in command on many of the aircraft on which he worked during his high school years. He later earned his Commercial Pilots Licence and one of the bush planes he flew, CF-AXL, holds special memories as it is now housed in the National Air and Space Museum in Ottawa.

Photo: This photo of an Oil Painting of CF-AXL graced the cover of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society’s 2000 Edition. Built in the 1930s, the aircraft was taken out of production in the early 1940s so the Fairchild Aircraft Company could concentrate on building bombers for World War II.

When the US Air Force closed their operations in Canada, Harold was transferred to Victoria where he spent a year and a half with the Dockyard Fire Department while serving at locations around the Lower Island (Dockyard, Naden, Belmont Park, and Victoria Airport). Finding work in a navy oriented system was not to his liking, he shopped around for flying jobs and opportunities that did arrive would take him back to remote communities in British Columbia. As he like living in a city after spending most all his life in the wilderness, he encouraged to join the police by a friend in the RCMP. After joining the Oak Bay Police in late 1964, he was among the first troop of recruits from Victoria, Oak Bay, and Esquimalt Departments, to attend the Vancouver Police Training Academy. As he thoroughly enjoyed police work, he decided to stay with Oak Bay  rather than head north continue flying. Flying then became a leisure time activity as he flew family and friends on site sight-seeing trips.

In the police, he became a highly respected career police officer (now retired) and, over the course of his thirty year career, participated in dozens of high-profile cases in cooperation with police agencies across British Columbia and Western Canada. Mid-career, he earned a BSc at the University of Victoria, and later spent two years studying police administrative systems in Greater Victoria and across the Lower Mainland, as well as assisting in various studies related to policing activities (12-hour shift and other administrative, and operational systems). He wrote the first Operations Manual for the Oak Bay Police.

After retirement, he followed a volunteer path where he became deeply involved in the administration of sports at the local, provincial, national, and international level. Over a fifteen-year period he wrote Constitution and Bylaw documents for various organizations as well as Operational Manuals for Layritz Little League, Prospect Lake Soccer, Lower Island Soccer, British Columbia Soccer and other organizations. In a twist of fate, and along with others, he was instrumental in helping to merge the Lower Islands Boy’s Soccer with Lower Island Girls. With eleven clubs in the Lower Island (from Cowichan South), the new system worked almost exactly the same as the Capital Regional District system in Lower Island.

His contributions for outstanding service have been recognized with awards from the Greater Victoria Hospital Society (1994), the City of Victoria Mayor’s Commendation (2007), and the Rotary Club’s Certificate of Recognition (2008). In recognition of his contributions to the world of sport, he was a recipient of the BC Soccer Association’s (BCSA) Award of Merit (2004), the Lower Island Soccer Association Presidents Award for Excellence (2006), and was named Greater Victoria Sportsman of the Year Award (2005) by the Victoria Sports Council.

He and his team of volunteers were instrumental in securing many prestigious events for the region including Group C of the 2002 U19 Women’s World Championship, Group B of the 2002 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup, Group B of the 2003 CONCACAF Men’s U17 World Tournament, and Group F of the 2007 Men’s U20 World Cup. He served several terms as Secretary to the Lower Island Soccer Association, then terms as Director and First Vice-President with the BC Soccer Association (2005-2009). Together with his wife, Lynn, he helped to promote the 2009 BC Scotties Tournament of Hearts across BC, and, in the following year, the couple were Team Leaders while hosting in the Athletes Village at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler.

Over the years, Harold continued in-depth study and writing on policing, politics, travel, and issues related to the amalgamation debate within the Capital Region and across Canada. He brings his extensive lived experience and broad perspective to dozens of stories written over the past thirty years, many of which are posted (in rough form). The following stories are currently being transformed to books.

BOOKS BY H. D. MCNEILL

 The Grayson Chronicles (Published January 4, 2025): Now available on Kindle Direct Publishing:

A five-year-old boy tells the story of a month-long camping trip with his grandfather as they visit the places of his grandfather’s youth in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Along the way, they meet dozens of relatives as they work their way past mosquitoes as large as dragonflies and listen and watch as giant thunder and lightning storms roll across the prairies, creating flash floods that wash out highways and byways. They meet killer trucks in Alberta that hate BC licence plates, and that try to give the older drivers who intrude upon their highways, a heart attack. In Saskatchewan, they meet buffalo the size of our trailer, and gigantic round bales of hay that, once set in motion by a tornado, could flatten a town. It was also a time of falling in love and the crushing hurt of being left behind for someone else.

The Amalgamation Debate in the Capital Region (With Perspectives from Across Canada) (Publish Summer 2025)

The information contained in this handbook was distilled from a substantial number of articles written over the past decade about amalgamation, a topic that has been circulating within our communities for the past 50 years. Some may not realize that, in the 1960s, the British Columbia Government under the leadership of W.A.C. Bennet, undertook the largest series of amalgamations in the history of Canada. These amalgamations had been years in the planning, as discussions took place in cities, towns, municipalities, and electoral areas across the Province. The Capital Regional District (CRD) comprising South Vancouver Island was the first off the mark to test the system in 1965. Over the following five years, 28 other districts were established.

An Ancestral Journey: The McNeills, Wheelers & Descendants (Two Volumes – Publish early 2025)

Volume 1. Sails And Trails West (1500 – 1800)

In this volume, we take up the first part of our direct family history from the late 1500s while family members were living in England and Northern Ireland. We seek to place these family histories within the context of the major events (political, economic, and religious)  that defined each century in which they lived – first in the old world and then in the new. After migrating to North America, we follow the families through the immense challenges they faced as they scratched out a hand-to-mouth existence on raw land – the Wheelers in Massachusetts and Canada, and the McNeills and Elliots in Virginia, territories in the South, Dakota territory, and Canada.

Within each decade, we also trace the fate of the indigenous peoples as they sought to resist being overwhelmed by the influx of Europeans. We see the vast difference between what the future held for the indigenous peoples of the United States vs. those of the Northern Territories in a nation that came to be called Canada. Throughout the centuries, we follow the fate of the African slaves whose history parallels the dreadful path along which the indigenous peoples were propelled. Within those paths, we see the threads of historic events that lead Canada to become very different country socially, politically and religiously, from that of the United States.

Volume 2. Trails North And West (1800 – 1960)

This more recent history provides greater firsthand detail of the Wheelers, McNeills, Elliots, and related family lines, based on an abundance of firsthand writings and photos that traced their lives from Michigan (Wheelers) and South Dakota (McNeills) to Canada in the late 1800s. The path followed by the Elliots is less clear as there were fewer firsthand accounts; however, information discovered about other parts of the Elliot clan could easily apply to our own, based on inference of location origins in Northern Ireland and the United States.

After the three family groups moved to Western Canada in 1910, a wealth of available information has allowed the author to follow each family through the first sixty years of the 1900s – a family history that mirrored that of thousands of migrants who settled, then re-settled, in Western Canada. The final pages are dedicated to a snapshot biography of each of the 21 children of our grandparents, including the names of their children.

Flying, Fire, and Police: The Career Stories of Harold David McNeill (1960 – 1994) (Publish Summer 2025)

From the bush planes of the far north to the warplanes of the Cold War, author Harold David McNeill lived the dream of many young men. He had the good fortune of coming of age following World War II and graduated from Cold Lake High School, Alberta, in 1960. After completing a stint as a Crash Rescue Fireman at the US Air Force Base near CFB Cold Lake and earning his private pilot’s licence, he flew float- and ski-equipped aircraft while hauling fish from remote lakes in northeast Alberta. Later, after being transferred to the Dockyard Fire Department in Esquimalt, BC, he completed basic training at the Vancouver Police Academy and subsequently joined the Oak Bay Police Department. During his early police career he also gained his commercial pilot’s licence at the Victoria Flying Club.

While life as a Detective Sergeant with Oak Bay Police involved considerable community service, criminal matters often occupied days, weeks and months in methodical and often complex investigations; several of these cases attained national and international coverage and remain in the news to this day (e.g. the Telesford Case). On the community side, Oak Bay provided a unique opportunity to become deeply involved in school and community programs where a “no call too small” philosophy made policing satisfying in many ways. This book contains dozens of case studies, notes and evidence lists from initial investigation to arrest, trial and conviction. Among the cases are many colourful characters whose antics made a lasting impression on the investigating officers.

Police, Politics, and Religion (Publish Spring 2026)
In this book, an ongoing series of discussions about matters of local, provincial, and national interest is used to pinpoint the need for all organizations and police officers to direct their duty toward the common good rather than self-interest. But one example, is an editorial on why police are often responsible for restrictions being placed on their investigative methods, and why police bias against many victims can lead to tragic outcomes.

The World Cup Years (1996 – 2009) (Publish Summer 2026)

Even though soccer is the most popular sport in terms of numbers among Canadian youth, it still lags in the professional field. Within Canada, we have the National Women’s Team to thank for putting Canada in the international spotlight in a manner that has propelled the sport into a new era of popularity around the world. Over a period of fifteen years, the author became deeply involved in the administration of soccer as well as the presentation of competitions at the local, provincial, national, and international levels.

World Travel Stories (1995 – 2020) (Publish 2027)

Only in retirement, at age 53, did national and world travel become a regular feature of life for the author. Out of these trips came dozens of stories about life in other parts of the world and why we should be thankful to live in Canada. It was also a time of learning, as each story is backed by research into the history and current issues of the countries visited.

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We are all in this together yet there are some hands missing

1. Introduction 

While Canada continues the struggle against Covid-19, it is gratifying to see how Canadians have come forward to help put this challenge behind us. Unfortunately, pockets of resistance remain and that is likely to push the fight into 2022.

The figures for both Canada and United States suggest the strength of our willingness to fight against Covid-19 largely depends upon our political leaning. While there is no hard and fast rule as to how an individual will respond, there appears to be a clear correlation when viewed from a statewide or province-wide perspective. The stark differences between states within the United States and the entire United States compared to Canada is clear. (Chart 1, below provides the specific numbers)

At a current vaccine rate of 1,400,000 doses per 1,000,000, Canada now sits near the top of the world with vaccine doses administered. By contrast, the United States, a country with early and continuing access to the vaccine supply chains, sits nearly dormant at 1,100,000 per 1,000,000. As of September 10th, Canada has almost 78% of our citizens (12 and older) with two doses and 85% with one (link), while the US is just over 55% for two, and 64% for one. The map above reflects data entered for September 4, 2021.

As one result, the US has the worse outcomes in the world in terms of cases and deaths. Brazil, with a Covid19 denier for a president, runs only slightly behind the US. For the US, a clash in political ideologies is the primarily cause. (see World Map). Continued in 5 parts.

Chart I was created for a quick reference of how Canada and Canadian Provinces are doing vs States in the United States. The chart was created using data from reliable online sources. For the United States, the red numbers indicate Democratic governed states, the blue, Republican governed states. For Canada, red shows left-leaning, blue, right-leaning, and black for non-designated in the three northern territories.   Take a few minutes to digest the numbers, particularly the Cases/100T (Column 5) and Deaths/100T (Column 7) as quick reference.  Continued link below:

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December 31, 2018.  RCMP: Civilian Oversight and Unionization take centre stage.

It has taken decades, however, it seems possible the changes announced for 2019 may assist this storied force to adopt the ideals first annunciated by Sir Robert Peel. While the imposition of civilian oversight and the unionization of the rank and file is only a first step in what will surely be a slow and painful process, it may be enough to break the rigid command and control structure that has stifled initiative and rewarded compliance.

In modern times, rank and file members have been caught between the demands of policing in the 21st century and an administrative structure with one foot firmly planted in the 19th. In the process of advocating for change, many promising careers were destroyed by bullying tactics used against members in general and sexual abuse against female members in particular. Such changes began in other city and municipal forces back in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.

For the RCMP, “These changes are coming in response to years of complaints that the force has a broken workplace culture, as well as repeated calls from outside inquiries for civilian oversight of management functions that are still under the purview of uniformed officers.”

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Frank Yochim (1937 – 2018)

The post opens with two slideshows, one that reveals Franks deep connection to his family, friends, workmates and community and, the second, a look at the family and friends he left behind as they gathered in celebration of his life and in support of one another.

Frank Yochim Memorial

Family Time: Reflections

Songs:  It’s a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong, and You’ve Got a Friend in Me by Randy Newman from the movie soundtrack, Toy Story.

Introduction:

In December 2018, we bid a final farewell to my brother-in-law Frank Yochim who joined our family fifty-seven years ago when he married my next younger sister, Louise Kathleen McNeill.  In this collaborative post, we refer to the memories of his wife, children and friends to gain a measure of the man, who, in many ways was not easily defined even by those closest to him.

It was his first-born, Gregory Frank Yochim, (photo) who took up the challenge of completing the eulogy for his father. In a short period after arriving from Phoenix, Arizona where he and his family live, Greg along with his brother Lorin Yochim, pulled together a dazzling series of anecdotes from their siblings, other family members and friends, anecdotes that left everyone laughing and crying, often at the same time.

It was a challenging half hour that first-born son whose emotions were always close to the surface, as in his words: “ If I watch a video of two puppies playing, it makes me cry. If you were at my wedding twenty-seven years ago you’ll remember that I could barely make it through the reception speeches.”  The eulogy was then followed by a six-minute slideshow prepared by third oldest son, Lorin Yochim. If there was a dry eye in the house when Greg finished, and I doubt there was, there certainly wasn’t when that slideshow was complete.

Seeing and feeling the heartfelt response of over two hundred and fifty people paying their respects at the Harbour Light Alliance Church, left no doubt Frank will be long remembered not only for his good works but also for the love he quietly spread among those who knew him best, his family and friends. In the following, I have italicized the words of Greg, his siblings and others who lovingly remembered Frank.  We begin with Greg:

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An African Adventure/G Tours

NOTE:  Six albums of the tour photos of this adventure is now posted
on the McNeill Life Stories FB Page. One is yet to be posted.  A full post story will be added to this blog in January 2018.

Link Here to Photo Albums from Cape Town to Kruger, Karongwe
and Victoria Falls. One album yet to be posted.
Link: An African Adventure

Victoria, B.C.

One afternoon in late June, my cell phone rang.

“Hello.”

“Hi, Harold, Garth here.” (Nonchalantly): “Hey buddy, you interested in an African adventure?”

(…thinking…sure Garth, what’s the catch? I thought we were all going Russia, right? St. Petersburg, remember?)

Garth (excited): “Guess what? I just won an all-expense paid trip for two compliments of the BC Lottery Corporation.”

(…Wow…are you asking me if I want to go with you? Awesome, but what about Esther and Lynn? Don’t you think they might be a little upset? No kidding, you won again, you lucky bugger.)

Garth just wins these sorts of things. Not that long ago we were at a Rotary fundraiser in Sidney when Garth won an all-expense paid trip for two to Ireland. Am I surprised? Not one bit. Jealous? Perhaps a little, but hey, it’s inspiring, and it keeps these old bones moving.

Besides, Lynn and I were also winners that night in Sidney, as just when they were drawing Garth’s ticket for the Ireland trip, I received a cell call from the Victoria Humane Society telling me Lynn and I were approved to take that little Shih Tzu puppy we had our hearts set on.  It was Garth who tipped us off about that puppy.

He interrupted my thoughts: “Think you and Lynn can join us?”

(…awe, not just me then… silly question. After so many shared adventures and so much fun traveling with the two of you, we couldn’t let you head out to deep dark Africa without us.  Remember we did the Middle East in the middle of a war.  So here we go again as this is obviously a Dunn Deal.

Harold: “For sure Garth, let’s look at the numbers. Have you told Esther?”

Garth:  “Not yet.“

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Martel D. Popsecul, Chief Justice
Presiding over the R. vs. Stanley Trial 

The following Charge to the Jury by Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench for Saskatchewan, the Honourable Martel D. Popescul, is likely the most reliable document yet published providing insight into the R. vs Stanley trial.

(This post outlines my analysis of why I think the Chief Justice led the Jury directly to a finding of not guilty. It was not a directed verdict in the usual sense, but his words had the same effect.)

And, in those words, all 11,000 of them, the Chief Justice attempts to summarize every aspect of the trial as well as the law governing the charges.  It took the Chief Justice just over one and one-half hours to read his document in court with copies then supplied to the Crown and defence as well as to each juror.

In the copy below, those parts which, in my mind, inexorably led the jury to conclude that Gerald Stanley was not guilty on all counts, are highlighted.  There is little doubt the majority of jurors would have found some parts of the summary so complicated as to render them nearly useless in their deliberations.

Having spent thirty years in law enforcement and a further twenty-five reading and writing about various law enforcement issues, I have some degree of understanding of these complex issues, but even at that, I found some sections of the summary tough slogging.

The jury, on the other hand, deliberated a mere fifteen hours before reaching a ‘not guilty’ verdict on all counts.  Fifteen hours is scant time to consider the various pieces of physical and verbal evidence presented over the two-week trial let alone give full consideration to the details provided in the Judge’s Charge to the Jury.

The jury was made up of random citizens selected from the community and while the process was random, many who have experience with law enforcement (police members active and retired, lawyers and judges, as well as a myriad of others involved with the criminal justice system) would have been removed from the jury pool. This is routinely done to remove any suggestion of bias.  Additionally, “pre-emptive” removals can be used to remove others that either the Crown or Defence think may not be impartial. It was by that process Defence Counsel removed all aboriginals from the jury.

As for the those selected, most are unlikely to have had any experience with jury duty and, before selection, will have been exposed to considerable information about the killing which led to the charge. Given the role played by ‘confirmational bias’ in the lead-up to and during the trial, the Judge’s charge seems the best source for an unbiased view of the case. Or was it?

While the Judge read his comments to the jury before handing them a copy, it is hard to rationalize how, in 15 hours of deliberation, the jury could absorb the complicated issues to a degree that would allow them to render an informed decision.  Because jury deliberations are secret, we shall never know exactly how they reached that verdict in such short order.

If you have the time and inclination to read the Judge’s words to the jury, you may or may not come to the same conclusion I have about a clear path being set out for them to render a ‘not-guilty’ verdict on all counts.

In the following copy, I have separated the ‘Charge to the Jury’ into several parts for easy reference and have highlighted some comments in bold (those I consider important) and in yellow, as ‘very important’.  In addition, I have made a few short comments on some numbered sections.

Before presenting the complete text of his remarks, I will submit the thread comments the Honourable Justice, made that I think pushed the jury towards a finding of ‘not guilty’ on all counts.  The fact the jury deliberations took less than two days suggests the Jury had likely made up their minds very early in the process.

Harold McNeill (Det. Sgt. Retired)

Note: Here is a short discussion along with related links regarding the rights and responsibilities of private citizens to use firearms as a means of Protecting Life and Property. 

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How to scratch open a jail cell.

At 2:00 am Sunday, or at that time any other day of the week, Greater Victoria was known as the land of “Newlyweds, Nearly Deads.” As traffic thinned during those early morning hours, the hum of the tires on a car traveling at high speed could be heard for miles. On this morning, the hum was that of an early 1960’s Oldsmobile, a machine having witnessed better days, as it sped East along Pandora, then onto Oak Bay Avenue.

The four young men inside were still hooting and hollering after partying late in one of the downtown clubs. They were now heading home to Gordon Head but having missed the Fort Street cut-off that would have taken them to Foul Bay Road then north, continued East along Oak Bay Ave. All had been drinking heavily and had no particular purpose in mind other than getting home to continue the party.

As they approached Foul Bay Road someone hollered: “Hey man, ya gotta turn here!” However, speed and distance would soon become limiting factors given the tank in which they were riding. The driver, his sense dulled by alcohol, braked heavily then cranked the wheel hard left. As momentum and weight took over, the tires broke away in a wide yaw that led first to the sidewalk, then to West wall of Frost’s corner store.

Photo (web) A 1960’s style Oldsmobile, 4-door.

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A Favourite Painting of Linda

A very happy birthday to our longtime friend Linda Simonsen as she now joins those of us who now occupy that amazing seventh decade of our lives.  It is a time to reflect upon all the good times we have shared with those who have been near and dear to us over the past several decades. (A Video Link is provided in the footer)

To provide a little perspective on how things have changed since Linda landed at her parents home in 1947, have a peek at the cost of a few key items as well as a few of the major events that took place in Canada in that year.

Average Cost of new home, $6,600.00
Average wage per year, $2,850.00
Cost of a gallon of gas, 15 cents
Average cost of a new car, $1,300.00
A loaf of Bread, 13 cents  
A Man’s Sweater, $8.50 
Bulova Watch, $52.50
Two cans of Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup, 23 cents 
Leg O Lamb, 59 cents/pound 
Loaf Marvel Enriched Bread, 13 cents 
Dozen Oranges, 49 cents

And a few events that made the news in that same year.

January 1 – Canadian Citizenship Act 1946 comes into effect.

January 2 – Dominion of Newfoundland (later a province in 1949) switches to driving on the right from the left.

January 27 – The cabinet order deporting Japanese-Canadians to Japan is repealed after widespread protests.

February 13 – Oil is discovered near Leduc, Alberta.

May 14 – The Chinese Immigration Act of 1923 is repealed.

June 15 – The laws limiting Asian immigration to Canada are repealed; Canadians of Asian descent are allowed to vote in federal elections.

July 22 – Two new nuclear reactors go online at the Chalk River research facility.

September 30 – The last group of personnel who had been on active service, for World War II, since September 1, 1939, stood down.^[1]

October 1 – New letters patent defining the office and powers of the governor general come into effect.

December 29 – Boss Johnson becomes premier of British Columbia.

Stephen Leacock Award: Harry L. Symons, Ojibway Melody.

The Federal law was changed such that Canadian women no longer lost their citizenship automatically if they married non-Canadians.

Now, sit back, take a few minutes to listen and watch as a few snippets of Linda’s life flow by as Joan Baez sings Forever Young, Louis Armstrong, What a Wonderful World, and Randy Newman, You’ve Got a Friend in Me.

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