Talk:Mayerthorpe tragedy

Current event?
As the trials of the two newly accused have just begun, perhaps this should be tagged as a current event?--Pyg 19:55, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure whether Rochfort Bridge massacre is the right thing to call this. I don't think anybody has settled on a name yet, though, since it just happened yesterday. We'll have to think about renaming it in future if the media settles on a name. --Saforrest 00:50, Mar 5, 2005 (UTC)

Yes, i definately agree. I had never heard this name before just now. Wikipedia shouldn't be inventing names for things. Is there as suggestion of a better name? -- Fudoreaper 23:49, 2005 Mar 30 (UTC)

In all the media reports that I've read, I think the most common way was to refer to it as the 'Mayerthorpe Incident', this is the only place I have ever seen that mentions Rochfort Bridge. -- Kylar, 13:27, 2005 Aug 3 (PDT)

Should it be mentioned that critics have pointed out that had they (the Constables in question) practiced dispersion, they would have been less likely to have all been destroyed by a single burst?

Also, the weapon in used by the perp was a carbine OR a rifle, not a "carbine rifle". A carbine is a weapon like a rifle but with a short barrel. The most appropriate term here, I think, is "automatic rifle" or "assault carbine". "Rapid-fire" can be left out, and "auto" should be changed to "automatic".

The cops weren't there for the grow op, they were initially there to reposess a truck. I think it would be pertinent to mention this since the mounties were called in to keep the peace while the bailiff seized the truck; and since the marijuanna was not known until after they had broken in to seize the truck and discovered the marijuanna. Also, I believe it technically happened in Rochfort.

Press universally calls this the Mayerthorpe Incident - Google gives 748 hits on this name; I've moved the content there as well as this discussion. Oddly enough, Google gives twice as many hits on Rochfort Bridge Massacre, but only because it is on Wikipedia and copied directly by Answer.com's bots onto other sites. The press universally calls it Mayerthorpe Incident.Michael Dorosh 10:03, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Largest loss since 1962
The article as written is nonsensical. It says it is the biggest loss to RCMP since 1962, when three officers were killed. But obviously it was bigger than that one too. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.154.211.216 (talk) 07:50, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
 * The CBC documentary that is cited as a source in this document claims that this is the worst incident of RCMP deaths in 100 years. — A lizard (talk) 06:30, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Uncited sources on pot
This article needs more sources about the legalization of marijuana. The "aftermath" section is a dog's breakfast of opinionated statements and unsourced statements about how anti-marijuana elements in government supposedly seized upon this incident as an opportunity to stop the drive to legalize pot and how so many pro-marijuana advocates said that this incident never would have happened if pot was legal in Canada. First, at least name some people who said something. Better yet, cite a source and include an actual quote from somebody who linked the marijuana legalization debate to this incident. I would be very surprised to hear if any of this actually happened in the mainstream press or even if it was extensively discussed outside the pot-smoking community. — A lizard (talk) 06:30, 15 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, we can stick to what we know. One fact is that the legislation was shelved, and we know the dates that the Mayerthorpe shooting occurred in relation to the shelving of the legislation. We can leave it at that in the absence of sourced info.139.48.25.60 (talk) 15:54, 30 January 2009 (UTC)
 * My interpretation of the shelving has always been more that it was under pressure from the U.S. which, particularly under the born-again Bush admin, was not happy about Canada relaxing its pot laws. Maybe elements of this incident were used to justify shelving the reforms, but I don't recall ever hearing this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.72.175.79 (talk) 02:43, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

Name

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: rename to Mayerthorpe tragedy Graeme Bartlett (talk) Graeme Bartlett (talk) 03:37, 17 April 2011 (UTC)

Mayerthorpe incident → ? — 01:20, 10 March 2011 (UTC) My father lived in Mayerthorpe for some time and still has many close links with that community. Apparently, the episode is more commonly known as the "Mayerthorpe Massacre", rather than "incident", to locals and persons informed on the matter. I propose the article be moved to this title on the grounds that it is the established nomenclature. GrahamNoyes (talk) 07:54, 7 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Naming convention is incident. 117Avenue (talk) 21:33, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

On what grounds? Everyone I have met from Mayerthorpe (the Geingers, the Hagmans, etc) refers to it as the Mayerthorpe Massacre. GrahamNoyes (talk) 00:18, 5 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Naming conventions (events) 117Avenue (talk) 23:43, 5 March 2011 (UTC)

Naming conventions (events) supports the use of massacre in the title, as it is the established name for the event, regardless of convention. GrahamNoyes (talk) 06:25, 9 March 2011 (UTC)


 * An immediate family member of mine was directly impacted by this event (grief counselling and the like). My hometown was shattered. My family member devastated. I met one of the constables shortly before the shootings. I've worn a pin on my jacket in honour of the four officers ever since. In the six years since, I've never heard of the event being directly referred to as either the Mayerthorpe massacre or Mayerthorpe indicent despite my close ties to my family and hometown, and a subscription to the local paper. Archives searches for Mayerthorpe massacre or Mayerthorpe indicent at the Mayerthorpe Freelancer and the Whitecourt Star yield no direct hits. It appears the Edmonton Journal has used Mayerthorpe massacre to describe the event, but has also used Mayerthorpe indicent to a lesser extent, as well as the Mayerthorpe RCMP fallen four tragedy. Meanwhile, the two local papers have dozens, maybe hundreds of hits for Fallen Four. Per Naming conventions (events), what happened at this event? Shootings? Yes. Murders? Yes. Tragedy? Yes, but the previous two are more specific. Massacres? Maybe, depends on how one defines massacre. Can the term massacre be used to sensationalize an event? Yes. Mayerthorpe murders or Mayerthorpe shootings would be the most appropriate destination if moved from Mayerthorpe incident. As the term Fallen Four has emerged as the common name to refer to and remember the victims of the event, I'd be further partial to Mayerthorpe Fallen Four murders or Mayerthorpe Fallen Four shootings. Hwy43 (talk) 07:18, 9 March 2011 (UTC)


 * I think Mayerthorpe tragedy is more of a common name, with 9,050 hits, and massacre should be avoided as being too strong of a word. 117Avenue (talk) 21:32, 9 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Using quotes at Google search:
 * "Mayerthorpe murders" – 17,700 results
 * "Mayerthorpe tragedy" – 7,640 results
 * "Mayerthorpe incident" – 6,180 results
 * "Mayerthorpe massacre" – 5,410 results
 * "Mayerthorpe shootings" – 1,770 results
 * Searches for the same at the RCMP yields only a reference to the "Mayerthorpe incident". Hwy43 (talk) 04:46, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I still say "tragedy", because I think "murders" doesn't satisfy the what. 117Avenue (talk) 05:06, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Although I think "murders" does satisfy the what, "tragedy" is the best term to discuss the event as a whole. I'm for Mayerthorpe tragedy. The current "Mayerthorpe incident" is too ambiguous on the what. Hwy43 (talk) 05:40, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Name (revisited)
"tragedy" is too subjective and non-specific. In line with other articles eg 2014 Moncton shootings it should be given an objective and descriptive title. The fact that it was a terrible thing and people in the town call it 'massacre' etc etc is really not the point. An encyclopedia should be objective, factual and informative.81.202.188.33 (talk)


 * Though tragedy was an improvement over massacre back in 2011 (see above move discussion), I could support Mayerthorpe shootings seeing what we now see in subsequent articles about encyclopedic shooting incidents in Canada (e.g. Moncton and Parliament Hill). I do not support adding "2005" in front of "Mayerthorpe shootings" however. It is unnecessary disambiguation and is speculation to think there will ever be another encyclopedic shooting incident in the future that would necessitate disambiguation. Hwy43 (talk) 08:14, 1 November 2014 (UTC)
 * I'd say the title of this should be brought into line with the titles for the Ottawa and Moncton events, but also note that a heated discussion about and against 'shootings' is underway re the Ottawa events, with some lobbying for "attack" as in "terrorist attack"...a term that media and police and govt have avoided when describing the Moncton shootings.Skookum1 (talk) 05:51, 4 November 2014 (UTC)

Category:Massacres in Canada inclusion criteria
For those interested, please see Category talk:Massacres in Canada. Hwy43 (talk) 05:05, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

Requested move 19 June 2023

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: Page moved. (closed by non-admin page mover) Jerium (talk) 16:15, 26 June 2023 (UTC)

Mayerthorpe Tragedy → Mayerthorpe tragedy – Extraneous capital on the t  Bremps  ...  04:12, 19 June 2023 (UTC)


 * Support per nominator. Killuminator (talk) 06:10, 19 June 2023 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.