G20 Inquiry Now

By the numbers: G8-G20 vs. Vancouver Olympics

2010-07-05T08:26:00.000-07:00

From the Star.

By the numbers: G8-G20 vs. Vancouver Olympics

Vancouver Olympics

17 days

40 kilometres of fencing

900 CCTV cameras

6,000 police brought in from across the country

4,800 contracted private security guards

$833 million (ballpark) cost for security

G8-G20

3 days

3.3 kilometres of fencing in Toronto

77 CCTV cameras (in addition to the 18 already in Toronto)

10,000 police brought in from across country

1,100 contracted private security guards

$900 million — and growing — cost for security

CCLA Monitor Arrested at G20

2010-07-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

Julia Croome, one of the CCLA neutral monitors, tells the story of her arrest here.

Police Move In on Protesters Nowhere near G20

2010-07-05T07:48:00.000-07:00

From what I can tell, this took place at the south end of Queen's Park, just north of College. That location is 2.1 km from the Metro Convention Centre where the G20 was being held. Check this out on google maps:

View Larger Map

Point A represents where the protesters are (right near the so called free speech zone). Point B shows where the G20 is being held. From what I can see, the riot police moved in on the protesters, forcing them from a park into a major road, Queen's Park Avenue. Why? On whose orders? And why were peaceful protesters being blocked in and violently arrested 2 km from the G20 site? We need answers, and we need them now. This does not happen in my name, Canada.

Woman Speaks out about Novotel Arrest and Detention

2010-07-05T03:09:00.000-07:00

Yet another tragic account detailing the conditions of the Eastern Avenue Detention Centre:

Cop Says 'This Isn't Canada Right Now'

2010-07-05T02:58:00.000-07:00

This isn't the most interesting of videos and it doesn't demonstrate the worst of the G20 violations - the illegal detention of around a thousand individuals. However, if you watch this closely, you will see at the 3:50 mark the cop says 'This isn't Canada right now'. Dear Mr. Policeman, I couldn't agree more.

These Were Ordinary Canadians

2010-07-04T15:07:00.000-07:00

A heartbreaking letter to the editor of the Hamilton Spectator, written by the parent of a pacifist protester who's father was on a policeman on G20 duty.

Liberal MP Mark Holland's Open Letter to the Conservative Minister of Public Safety

2010-07-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

Letter to the Hon. Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety

June 29, 2010

The Honourable Vic Toews, P.C, M.P.
Minister of Public Safety
269 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0P8

Dear Minister Toews,

In the wake of the extraordinary costs and numerous violent incidents surrounding the G8 and G20 summits over the weekend, Canadians are left shaking their heads and wondering just who is responsible for this mess.

As Canadians now know, Prime Minister Harper made the decision to hold the G20 in downtown Toronto – a decision that led to exorbitant costs and a nearly impossible security situation for police.

As you are well aware, your ministry coordinated security for the G8 and G20 summits, in close consultation with the Prime Minister’s department, the Privy Council Office. Despite spending nearly $1 billion on security – three times more than the security cost of any other summit in history – you were unable to contain violence and prevent damage. It is particularly shameful on your part to leave Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair to explain what happened when the structure put in place by your government – the Integrated Security Unit – was coordinated from the PCO.

Following the violence and the large number of arrests on the streets of Toronto, Canadians want answers on the security decisions surrounding the G20. In particular, the public is asking why Stephen Harper decided to hold the G20 in downtown Toronto, and how could the federal government have so badly mismanaged security preparations.

As the minister responsible, I would like you answer the following questions:

1. Before the decision was made by your government to move the G20 summit to downtown Toronto, what security advice did the government consider?

2. Why did your government ignore the advice of the City of Toronto to hold the G20 at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds, which would have been easier to secure and would have caused fewer disruptions to business?

3. Who designed the G20 security plan?

4. Who approved the security plan and the detailed expenditures for it?

5. Who was ultimately giving security commands during the G20 summit?

6. Did anyone on the political side get involved – directly or through PCO – in operational decisions during the summit?

Over the coming weeks, through the House of Commons National Security Committee, I intend to get answers to these questions. I welcome your response as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Mark Holland, MP
Liberal Critic for National Security and Public Safety

National Post Contradicts Official Police Statements

2010-07-04T10:05:00.001-07:00

Man, you know something is really wrong when even the National Post is pissed. In this article the Post quotes Toronto Police Sgt. Tim Burrows as saying that the detention centres were just temporary holding locations no different from any other police station. However, Post reporter Drew Halfnight then goes on to expose the truth: that people were held in cages not unlike dog cages. That youth 14-16 were held for extremely long periods of time. That people were crammed together in the freezing cold cells and that they had to beg for hours before even being given water. Read the full story here.

Post Script: Here's a National Post Op. Ed. decrying the violations to the charter of rights and freedoms.

We can look to Seattle for a way forward:

2010-07-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

We can always learn something from the accidents of history.

At the WTO protests in Seattle in 1999 there was a wave of unjust arrests and police brutality. Yet while the scale of these arrests was much less than that of those in Toronto (just over 600 in Seattle to the 1000 plus in Toronto), we can still learn from the response after the fact:

The city of Seattle avoided a costly civil suit by agreeing to pay the 157 protesters arrested outside of the "no protest zone" a combined total of $250,000 in damages.
A federal jury ruled that the police violated the protesters 4th Amendment constitutional rights.
The chief of police during the riots, Norman Stamper, accepted full responsibility and resigned from his post.
The Mayor of Seattle, Paul Schell, was defeated in the next election, in part, because of his part in the handling of the protests. Interestingly, in part, because of his Blair-like blunder. In Dan Savage's words: "In an absolutely amazing display of political ineptitude, Schell's handling of the WTO protests managed to piss off both the city's law-and-order crowd (by not clamping down right away) and the city's lefties and civil libertarians (by coming down too hard when they did clamp down)."

While similar consequences would be welcomed in Toronto (with McGuinty taking Stamper's place), the lesson wasn't taken to heart and not enough was done to ensure that people's rights would be protected at future world economic meetings. In calling for a public inquiry into the planning and policing of the G20 in Toronto we hope to ensure that charter rights of Canadians will be protected and that future meetings of the G20 will not endanger the rights and safety of protesters and bystanders alike.

Post Script: A Federal Judge in the U.S. just approved a settlement for the victims of mass arrest in 2000 for $13.7 million.

Early Account and Pictures of the Conditions of the Eastern Avenue Detention Centre

2010-07-04T07:12:00.001-07:00

Read about the conditions of detention here

Various pictures taken by BlogTO journalists:

Complaints made to UN against the Toronto Police

2010-07-04T06:52:00.000-07:00

"Several dozen of the 200 or so Québécois arrested during the Toronto protests met on Saturday in Montréal. The purpose of the meeting was to prepare a complaint to the United Nations against the Toronto police."

Read the Globe and Mail article here.

Harper Unveils Human Rights Museum. How Ironic.

2010-07-04T06:31:00.000-07:00

Harper: "Canada’s conscience has been formed by a profound belief in human rights and this living tradition of freedom,..It has made us a good country."

Harper: “[The cornerstone] will remind all who visit here that Canada is heir to a tradition of freedom upheld by the law, under the Crown, reaching back almost 800 years,"

The Queen: "[the museum] is also a symbol of the importance which Canada attaches to human rights and its own role in promoting them at home and throughout the world."

Meanwhile....in Toronto on June 26th and June 27th 2010 our civil liberties were suspended as hundreds were illegally searched, had their belongings seized, were arrested and detained. If we are to say that we uphold human rights we must prove it. We must hold a G20 inquiry and make sure those responsible for the tragedies that occurred last weekend are held accountable. Put an end to government impunity.

Post Script: The Canadian Human Rights Museum has a section on their page asking Canadians to submit their own stories of human rights abuses. Please, if you, or anyone you know was subject to charter violations over the G20 weekend, submit your story.

Hockey vs G20

2010-07-04T05:57:00.000-07:00

Created by Jenn Farr

Video Summary of the Issues

2010-07-04T05:53:00.000-07:00

This video gives a pretty decent account of some of the issues of the G20. It tells the story of the amount of money spent (10 times the most expensive G20 Summit) and the police chief lying to us about the power of the amendment of the Public Works Protection Act that was passed by the McGuinty government shortly before the G20 weekend. It also explains why international human rights organizations like AI have jumped on board. Check it out.

Facebook G20 Inquiry Group Continues to Grow

2010-07-04T05:40:00.000-07:00

Facebook Group 'Canadians Demanding a Public Inquiry into Toronto G20' now has 41, 259 supporters. Stephen Harper's page has 32, 869 fans. Dalton McGuinty has a mere 2540 fans. It seems that more Canadians support an inquiry than support our Prime Minister and Dalton McGuinty combined. In a democratic country we would have an inquiry now.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=135629036463012&ref=search

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pmharper?ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Dalton-McGuinty/8194297551?ref=ts

Toronto Star reports on growing advocacy for a G20 Inquiry

2010-07-04T05:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontog20summit/article/830057--demands-rising-for-inquiry-into-g20-debacle

Steve Paikin: new article 'A Black Eye for Democracy'

2010-07-04T04:10:00.000-07:00

"With apologies to the prime ministers, presidents, and chancellors of the G20 countries, the biggest story this past weekend was what happened to democracy in Canada's largest city."

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/black%20democracy/321372/story.html#ixzz0si9CBHZE

Amnesty International Petition - Sign NOW!

2010-07-03T13:57:00.001-07:00

1948 people have now signed the Amnesty International petition calling for an independent review of the G20 Security Measures. Please sign the petition.

http://www.amnesty.ca/iwriteforjustice/take_action.php?actionid=449&type=Internal

CCLA Interim Report

2010-07-03T13:54:00.000-07:00

Canadian Civil Liberties Association releases a preliminary report of G20 illegal police violence, arrests, detentions and various other rights violations.

http://ccla.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/CCLA-G-20-INTERIM-REPORT-A-Breach-of-the-Peace-June-29-2010.pdf

Dalton McGuinty said no to inquiry; we say YES

2010-07-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100702/g20-secret-law-100702/20100702?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

Rosario Marchese MPP for Trinity-Spadina writes a letter detailing why we need an inquiry

2010-07-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

Toronto Deserves an Inquiry into G20 Weekend

Our city is slowly returning to normal after the spectacle of
car-burnings and police confrontations that, at least for Torontonians,
is now permanently associated with the G8/G20. But many, important
questions remain - and they need to be answered.

First, why did the summits cost so much? This question has been asked
and asked again, but so far there hasn't been a satisfactory answer.
And until we have one, we need to keep asking. The facts are both clear
and deeply confusing. The twin summits in Toronto and Muskoka cost $1.2
billion, with $930 million allocated for security. The summit security
costs in London (UK) cost just over $30 million and the security in
Pittsburgh cost a paltry $13 million. Toronto's $930 million security
bill is almost seventy-two times higher than Pittsburgh's. That is an
astonishing discrepancy. Where is the accountability in all of this?

Second, why was it that a regulation giving police extraordinary
measures to arrest and detain citizens was approved and passed in
secrecy? Changes to regulations should be reserved for minor revisions
only. They should never be used to introduce measures that materially
undermine people's basic democratic rights. The Premier has brushed off
these extraordinary measures as being temporary, as if that makes it
okay. It does not. The right to move around freely, without being
subject to state harassment, is a fundamental right that underlies all
democratic societies. Any change that would take away this right needs
to be debated in the Legislature, with ample justification, and not
passed covertly under a cloak of secrecy. That should be self-evident,
and the fact that it was not is deeply alarming.*

Third, how is it that with so much money spent on security, there still
weren't enough police to secure the protest routes? Why were vandals
allowed to roam freely on Saturday, setting cars on fire and destroying
property with impunity? What exactly were the 19,000 police and security
forces doing during this time? And why, on Sunday, were peaceful
protesters and people living in the security zone harassed and
intimidated? The incident at Queen and Spadina, where law-abiding
protesters - along with people who were just waiting for the streetcar -
were suddenly detained for hours in the pouring rain without
explanation, was particularly disturbing. Who exactly was calling the
shots - the Toronto Police or the RCMP? The Integrated Security Unit -
made up of police from across the country has never stated who exactly
was in charge. And in the end, how many people were arrested, and how
many of them were charged?

Given all that's transpired and the significant questions that remain,
there is an urgent need for an inquiry into the G8/G20 summits. This
inquiry needs to dissect the $1.2 billion price tag and it needs to
examine police actions over the weekend, specifically whether people's
constitutional rights were violated in the process. The inquiry must
also look into compensation for Toronto residents and businesses whose
property was vandalized.

Torontonians need answers to their questions. I urge everyone to sign
the Canadian Civil Liberties Association's petition for a public inquiry
at http://ccla.org and to ask the McGuinty government for the same:

Hon Dalton McGuinty
Room 281, Main Legislative Building, Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A1
416-325-1941
dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please do not hesitate
to contact my office at 416-603-9664 or rmarchese-co@ndp.on.ca.

Sincerely,

Rosario Marchese, MPP
Trinity-Spadina

G20 Inquiry Leaflet

2010-07-03T11:59:00.000-07:00

We put together this information leaflet about what happened in Toronto on June 26th and 27th 2010 as we felt that the local media have not been providing in-depth coverage of the G20 as it was experienced on the streets of Toronto. It is important for everybody, and in particular for all Canadians, to know the facts about what occurred. It is not enough to only know about the vandalism and the security problems. It is essential that information is produced about the human and civil rights violations that took place. While this leaflet is only an introduction, it points readers to more information where they can learn about the events that transpired in Toronto. Please help us to distribute these leaflets and to thereby help keep the public informed. We all must join together in demanding a public inquiry into the Toronto G20. Speak out. Demand justice. Protect our constitutional rights.

G20_Inquiry_Leaflet