Standing up means getting a lawyer
Ugh.
The Manitoba Provincial Court called me to schedule with me a police officer complaint hearing date. The clerk just wanted to know if I had a lawyer for the hearing. I balked with the idea of needing to hire a lawyer to make a complaint – what a ridiculous concept.
If I make a complaint about a purchase I made, I call Consumer Affairs and my complaint is handled in one filing. The complaint doesn’t need to be filed, fought in court and then fought again in court. I’m not treated like a criminal and forced to seek a lawyer to help me browbeat everyone into pondering that I might actually have a case.
I told the clerk, “no, I’ll represent myself”. She suggested I should get a lawyer when I said this. I complained that I don’t need a lawyer. If the courts are going to drag me through this affair because I’m trying to help them by red-flagging a bad cop, then this time-wasting experience can go both ways. This is ridiculous; I shouldn’t need to do this and that. I made my complaint and that’s it. The complaint doesn’t change.
Then the clerk suggested I could always drop the complaint…
