COP is the true story of Bill Sharp's service in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police from 1968 to 2011. For over forty-three years he served in British Columbia where he upheld the law in Trail, Burnaby, Castlegar, Surrey, North Vancouver, Coquitlam and Langley. These are his stories of basic training, followed by first-hand accounts of violence, tragedy and interesting events — experiences recounted with honesty and humour. It is a lucid, credible and articulate memoir of the author's career a...

The financial markets are no different from any other product. As problems arise, new financial products are developed to handle them. The stock market was created as a way for publicly-traded companies to raise cash. The creation of the stock market solved a very important problem of raising capital but it also introduced a new problem. That problem is risk. the options market was designed to allow investors to either accept or transfer risk. The options market is technically a market for de...

During one of many lectures, my trainer explained that throughout a police officer’s career he or she will be called “pig” many times. The trainer explained that it should not be a cause for you to lose your composure. He said to embrace it, as it stands for Pride, Intelligence, and Guts. Confessions of a Mountie is the dramatic memoir of retired RCMP Officer Frank Pitts from Bell Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. His story begins with a terrifying standoff between him and a machete-wield...

This book is a compilation of the unique adventures of Constable Chuck Bertrand's career in and around the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.This collection of short stories presents the reader with a refreshing view of policing. Entwined with the many humorous tales are some that tell of the darker realities of life.The Constable for Life anecdotes relate how a common sense, well-rounded individual attempts to police in the square mould of the RCMP.

John C. Smith draws on his experience as an RCMP detachment watch commander to illustrate the complexities of police work -- the tragic, sad, happy and sometimes satisfying events that are experienced by members of the Force, in their efforts to provide professional police service to Canadians.Citizens are getting unrealistic and unbalanced ideas about the RCMP from sensational news reports and dramatic police TV shows, believes Smith.Camosun College Professor Tom Rippon, w...

Across Canada peace officers put their lives on the line every day. From John Fisk in 1804, the first known Canadian policeman killed in the line of duty, to the four RCMP officers shot to death in Mayerthorpe, Alberta, in 2005, renowned true crime writer Edward Butts takes a hard-hitting, compassionate, probing look at some of the stories involving the hundreds of Canadian law-enforcement officers who have found themselves in harm's way.Some, like the four RCMP officers who perish...

Scotty Gardiner's epic memoir is one of the most insightful books about the R.C.M.P. in decades: 131 chapters of true adventures."A refreshing page-turner as Scotty leads from one crime investigation to the next, while offering shrewd insights into the nature and habits of career criminals and RCMP officers alike."

Bob Teather entered RCMP Basic Recruit Training in 1967 with no idea of what he was getting into. Along with 31 other confused young men, he found himself in Regina, Saskatchewan, as a lowly member of Troop 18. Bald, intimidated, and soon to be bruised, Bob began a six-month ordeal that he candidly recalls in this engaging book. Corporal Teather's story brings you close to six recruits from across the country—Prairie Dog, André, Lumchuck, Francois, weird Harold Burl and Teather himself, a ...

Despite being neighbouring provinces with long ranching histories, British Columbia and Alberta saw their ranching techniques develop quite differently. As most ranching styles were based on one of the two dominant styles in use south of the border, BC ranchers tended to adopt the California style whereas Alberta took its lead from Texas. But the different practices actually go back much further. Cattle cultures in southwestern Spain, sub-Saharan Africa and the British highlands all shaped...

Getting three trucks and two horses stuck in the mud on "a good road" into BC's wild, remote interior was just the start of Bruce Watt's Chilcotin adventures—and it was his honeymoon, too. The wildlife, landscape and quirky, down-to-earth people captivated Bruce, and despite the hard work and challenging conditions, the Watts put down roots, raising a family, alongside herds of cattle and horses.A consummate storyteller, Bruce tells it like it was—and perhaps still is for many peop...

Like many other pioneering North West Mounted Police officers, Cecil Denny was a colourful, independent man with a career full of conquests and controversy. He and his comrades played key roles in the taming of Canada's wild and woolly west, and in this compilation of selected writings from his books The Law Marches West and The Riders of the Plains, we get that story straight from the horse's mouth. Denny relates the fascinating saga of the newly formed police force's 80...

When the Free Grants and Homestead Act was first introduced in 1868, fierce debates erupted in Ontario's Legislature over whether land in the Muskoka region should be opened to settlement or reserved for the Aboriginal population. From the beginning, many people vented serious doubts about the free grant scheme, citing the district's poor agricultural prospects. In the end, such caution was ignored by overeager boosters.The story in Hardscrabble also takes readers to Brita...