Friday 23 July 2010

Stockwell Day's thoughts on the Census - He's not the brightest of the bunch

Tories try Hogan’s Heroes defence in census feud - The Globe and Mail
“We live in an information age where any 12-year-old kid can push any
button on the Internet and find out any information he or she wants
without threatening a citizen that they’re going to go to jail.”
- Stockwell Day

Okay Stock. Where do you think the information came from that the 12-year-old kid found? From the mandatory census long-form. Duh? Without this form being mandatory, the information Stats Canada collects and makes available will no longer be available/reliable. Someone has to collect reliable data first, before the data is available. Wikipedia is not some all-seeing all knowing entity. The information has to come from somewhere first.

Can you say Hundreds of lawsuits?

Supreme Court says people can seek damages for charter breaches even if there's no actual loss
Considering this ruling was for breach of charter rights where the police were not found to have done anything wrong, imagine if all the wrongfully arrested people at the G20 protests in Toronto sued? According to this ruling they could and they would win. I hope they do. Our police and governments need to know that they can't get away with breaking the law and ignoring our charter rights.

Saturday 17 July 2010

G20 Toronto - Officer Bubbles hits the big time

Toronto's 'Officer Bubbles' gains web notoriety - thestar.com
The Toronto Star has reported that the Office Bubbles video has gone viral.
And today, at the protest at Queen's Park, many people are expected to be blowing bubbles.

Friday 16 July 2010

G20 Toronto - Tories blocking public inquiry and other news

The Vanity Press: Same Verse, Same as the First Verse
Well, one thing at least seems to be functioning as normal around these parts: something's gone seriously wrong, and the federal government doesn't want anyone to find out what it was.

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives are filibustering to block opposition efforts to launch hearings on policing at the Toronto G20 summit, accusing political rivals of seeking a platform to build sympathy for “thugs and hooligans” who rioted there.
It's not only them, of course: from Dalton McGuinty's blitherings about a "silent majority" to David Miller's obfuscation and excuses, all of the officials are doing everything they can to stop people talking about the largest mass arrest in Canadian history, one that seems to have resulted in few or no arrests of the actual Black Bloc vandals.
... read more at the top link.

G20 Canada's Most Wanted - Call John Walsh!!

CathiefromCanada: Great Line of the Day

Canadian Census - updates and why Harper hates it.

Montreal Simon: Why the Harper Cons REALLY Hate the Census
Basically, the less information there is about Canada and Canadians the more ignorant Canadians will be of themselves and Canada, and the more control Harper can have over us. Remember, Harper wants YOU to be APATHETIC. Because, voter apathy is what has kept him in power for so long.
Read the above link.

More Census News:
Globe & Mail: Tories refuse to reverse census decision

The Progressive Economics Forum: Did I say media storm over the census?

Eaves.ca: Minister Clement, privacy and (un)balanced views

Accidental Deliberations: A Losing Battle

CTV News: Jewish, Evangelical groups oppose census change

Toronto Star: Axing census questions adds up to trouble for the Tories

Toronto Star: Siddiqui: PM facing revolt over census change


G20 Toronto - Human Garbage Officer Bubbles - now with cartoon!

G20 Toronto - Human Garbage: Officer Bubbles

Anyone Wanna Be Friends With Human Garbage? Or Officer Bubbles?
You know the cop who arrested the girl for blowing bubbles? Someone found his Facebook page and posted his pic on the Facebook Group Canadians Demanding a public inquiry into Toronto G20. Under his employment section, he says "I collect human garbage".
Read more at the link above.

Thursday 15 July 2010

Fox News NORTH won't be forced onto your cable package - yet

CRTC refuses Sun TV’s bid for preferred status on dial - The Globe and Mail
The CRTC has denied the application by Quebecor (owner of "Fox North" aka SUN TV) to have their news channel distributed by all cable and satellite firms. Quebeor argued that their new news channel would be a unique genre in Canada. The CRTC said, uh, I don' think so - "there was little to distinguish Sun TV from other all-news services"

Of course, Quebecor will re-apply, rewording their application.

Rethink Alberta

CBC News - Canada - Anti-oilsands ads target Alberta tourism
Regardless of whether they compare the Alberta oilsands to what is
happening in the Gulf of Mexico, you have to admit that the damage and
pollution happening in Alberta due to the way the oilsands are being
mined is something that should be of great concern to Albertans and
Canadians. Hopefully, these ads will wake up enough people and put
enough pressure on government and the oil companies to shape up, or, at
least be begin to wake people up about the problems with the oilsands.

Watch the Rethink Alberta video ad here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmd5dtZd4lc

See also:
Toronto Star: Anti-oilsands ad urges tourists to "Rethink" visit to Alberta.


Con base and non-critical thinking

Challenging the Commonplace: Why Cons are forever stuck around 33 percent
Read the link.

Summary: If one applies critical thinking to the question of human
origins, one tends LESS to vote Conservative. Alternatively, if one
REFUSES to apply critical thinking to that and other questions, and
instead blindly accepts the 'teachings' of certain authority figures -
e.g., priests, politicians, FOX-style media -, one tends MORE to vote
Conservative.


Rather than religion being the opiate of the masses, it appears to be
the dumb-downing, anti-education tool of the elite.



Religion is a tool of the elite:
Seneca the Younger 4 b.c.- 65 a.d., "Religion is regarded by the
common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful."

G20 Toronto - Judge bans public from taking notes

TheSpec.com - Opinions - JP bans public from taking notes

Everyone is allowed to take notes in court.


Period.


But the other day a Toronto justice of the peace decided to make up
his own rules. He banned "note-taking" in his Etobicoke courtroom where
bail hearings were being held for G20 protesters.


It was the latest -- and most ridiculous -- in a series of bizarre
steps taken by court officials to build a big fat wall around the whole
judicial process for accused demonstrators.


So much for an open and transparent court system. So much for
accountability.
...

Conacher offered no explanation. Cited no law.



Because there is no good explanation. And there is no law. The
publication ban doesn't prevent taking notes. It only limits what you
can do with them afterward.


"Publication means showing it to somebody else," says Rogers. He
has never heard of a JP or judge banning note-taking.

...


Wednesday 14 July 2010

G20 Toronto - Summary Report: Police State Canada (Video)

Police State Canada | Global Research TV
Here is an excellent video summary report of the G20 weekend police state.
In this report, you will see:
  • police shielding some black block individuals and letting them through their lines
  • a report that the police cars left as "bait" were left with the gas caps removed!
  • police standing and watching as police cars burn, while they have every opportunity to get them extinguished
  • police standing by watching the vandalism without intervening
  • unwarranted police brutality and arrests
  • police charging on horseback and trampling a girl
  • report of threats of gang rape by police of a woman in detention
  • report of a woman strip-searched and cavity searched by male police officers

Correction: during the video it states that the opposition leaders are not calling for a public inquiry. In actual fact they did and are now working towards an inquiry while the Conservatives do everything in their power to block an inquiry.


Tuesday 13 July 2010

G20 Toronto - Bill Blair: Clueless

So they said…
"Ask Toronto's police chief and he'll tell you it was 'terrorists' who
ripped his city apart during June's G20."

Okay, I already think Bill Blair should resign for lying to the public and to his officers in regards to the G20 security. But for him to think that a bunch of young people smashing some windows and lighting "bait" police cars on fire are terrorists - that's just too much. Does he live in a cave? Obviously he has not read or heard about terrorists to think that the vandals of the G20 weekend were terrorists. I don't feel very safe with someone so ignorant running the Toronto police force. Resign now please!

G20 Toronto - Global TV Fakes Vandalism Footage!

Northern Insights / Perceptivity: Global TV News caught cheating, red-handed
Smoking evidence that Global TV was showing footage of vandalism that occurred in Vancouver, Feb. 13, 2010, while claiming it was footage of the G20 weekend vandalism in Toronto. Check out the story and the pics at the link.

See also:
Dammit Janet!: Not Just Propaganda

G20 Toronto - The Bubble Police

RedBedHead: G20 Cop: "If One Of Those Bubbles Touches Me, It's Assault"
Watch the video - Policeman threatens girl who is blowing bubbles, then arrests her.
I can just see the judge for this in the courtroom - So officer, you are saying this girl attacked you with bubbles?
We so need a public inquiry. And the police need to be given some re-training.

Senate Passes Trojan Horse Budget Bill

On Monday the Senate voted to pass the omnibus budget implementation bill. They voted against the amendments which would have split the non-budget items from the bill. The vote to pass the budget as-is was 48-44. A number of Liberal senators were absent. If they had showed up, the non-budget items would have been split from the budget bill, and there would most likely be a Federal Election.

In June, when the House of Commons voted on this bill, 30 Liberal MPs did not show up so that the Liberals could allow the bill to pass and avoid an election.

But, what is of importance here is the set of non-budget items that have been passed along with the budget:

  • Authorization for the sale of the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. with no debate or public scrutiny;
  • A move towards privatization of Canada Post by removing Canada Post’s exclusive right to collect Canadian mail destined for delivery in other countries;
  • Approval for the draining of the Employment Insurance Account, which held a surplus of $57 billion in premiums paid in over the past decade by workers and businesses.
  • Weakening of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act by handing responsibility for environmental assessments to the provinces and to the National Energy Board.
A grim day for Canada.

CBC: Senate Passes Budget Bill

Challenging the Commonplace: Update - a message from Ignatieff's Liberal senators

CBC Inside Politics Blog: The budget bill vote: the tale of the no-show senators

CBC Inside Politics Blog: Updated - Senatewatch: the not so magnificent seven


Liberals Keep Cons In Power - Again

G20 Toronto - Conservatives Fight To Block The Truth - Again

Tory filibuster seeks to block hearings on G20 policing - The Globe and Mail
The Conservatives are filibustering to stop the opposition parties from voting for federal hearings on the policing of the G20 protests.

Cancel corporate tax cuts to deal with the deficit

Opinion: Cancel corporate tax cuts to deal with deficit - thestar.com
This is what the NDP has been saying for years. If we put the corporate taxes back they way they were about 15 years ago, they would still be one of the lowest rates compared with other countries. And, then we would have money to pay off the debt, stop running deficits, and have money for much needed social program, healthcare, education, etc.

Monday 12 July 2010

G20 Toronto - Conservative MPP Randy Hillier speaks out against the G20 weekend tyranny

Opinion: G20 crackdown reeks of tyranny - thestar.com
Read the link!
When even right-wing politicians begin to say what the police were ordered to do in Toronto was wrong, you've got to consider that something so bad happened that it definitely warrants an impartial full public inquiry.

Saturday 10 July 2010

G20 Toronto - July 10 rally calls for public inquiry

G20 Toronto - Inch by inch, we come closer to the truth

We are another baby step closer to the truth about who may have given the orders to a) stand down and let vandals smash windows and burn police cars for 1.5 hours, and b) to attack, arrest and detain hundreds of innocents in an unjust fashion.

Today, as reported in the Toronto Star and the Globe & Mail, it has been revealed that Bill Blair was misled (and he, in turn, misled his officers), and that there were times when he was not exactly calling the shots regarding the police downtown (outside the Security Area).

Excerpt from: Toronto Star: Chain of Command Questioned in G20
[I have added the emphasis below.]
At no time was there ever one person unilaterally calling the shots. The complex command structure designed for the G20 had Toronto’s command centre, run by Toronto police, in constant consultations with the federally led Integrated Security Unit based in Barrie.

Earlier this week, the police board announced it would launch a civilian review of the G20’s “multijurisdictional” policing model. A central goal of the investigation is to uncover the command structure and who each body was accountable to, said chair Alok Mukherjee.

The Toronto Police Services Board, the Gold Standard for civilian oversight in the country, says it was not kept in the loop throughout the G20 planning. Board members say they felt the ISU deliberately cut them out of the process.

Meanwhile, provincial Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Rick Bartolucci – who oversees the OPP – and federal Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews – who oversees the RCMP – were both kept informed throughout the planning process and the situation on the ground during the summit.

“A big part of the reason I called the review is to precisely understand who had what jurisdiction during the G20,” said Mukherjee. “I think what is fair to say is that the board is trying to understand who was in charge at different points in time.”

Mayor David Miller, who has stood behind the chief and the board, said even he was left in the dark.

“There are legitimate public policy questions,” said Miller. “Who was the Integrated Security Unit reporting to? . . . Who’s in charge? Are they reporting to the prime minister? Because that’s ultimately the oversight of the RCMP. Are they reporting to the premier? Because that’s ultimately the oversight of the OPP. The premier and the prime minister, did they agree on a security plan? How did that all work?”

The ISU, a federally led security strategy, is the same model that was used during the Olympics. The RCMP commissioner put his Chief Superintendent Alphonse MacNeil in charge.

MacNeil oversaw the assembly of a five-member command team, made up of top officers from the RCMP, OPP, Canadian Armed forces, and Toronto and Peel police forces. They would be based in Barrie and monitor what was happening on Toronto streets by video and ground reports.

A local major incident command centre was set up at Toronto police headquarters. Two senior officers, Supts. Hugh Ferguson and Mark Fenton, were the commanding officers on a rotating shift basis.

The ISU was to be responsible for everything inside the summit fences. Toronto police were to protect everything outside the perimeter.

When concerns arose about what authority police would have to search suspicious individuals near the fence, ISU officials asked Blair to get the province to designate summit zones as part of the Public Works Protection Act. Blair, according to sources, saw no need. He argued police officers were already empowered to ask for identification and search suspicious individuals under common law.

But he did as requested.

ISU lawyers incorrectly briefed Blair’s legal team on the legislation. Blair was told anyone within five metres of the fence would be subject to the act. So when news of the so-called “secret law” broke the Friday of the G20 weekend and Blair was summoned to explain, he was left clarifying something he didn’t fully understand.

The province contacted him that afternoon to explain he had been misinformed about the five metres. When the truth came out after the G20, it appeared as if the chief had purposely misled the public, when in reality, he really wasn’t informed, said one board member.

In retrospect, Bartolucci says he wishes his ministry had issued a clarification.

“Hindsight is 20/20,” he said.

As the only obvious target for criticism, Blair has been left to answer to allegations of police wrongdoing, including the controversial crowd-control tactics used the Sunday evening.

But on that day, when police corralled hundreds of people at Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave. during a heavy rainstorm, the chain of command between the ISU and Toronto police was even less transparent.

After several hours of heated debate, Blair eventually stepped in again and demanded everyone at the intersection be released, but only after hundreds of others had been arrested and taken to a detention centre.


In The Globe & Mail: G20 Review Will Focus On Decision-Making Process, Alok Mukherjee, the chair of the Toronto Police Services Board, said:
That reviewer will also make clear which decisions were up to Toronto Police, which came from the RCMP, and which directions were issued by the Integrated Security Unit from its command post in Barrie, Ont.


What is missing here is finding out if the RCMP consulted or was given suggestions or took orders from a person or persons in the federal government (like the Federal Minister of Public Safety, Vic Toews, or from Prime Minister Stephen Harper). Considering that the actions of the police to allow prolonged vandalism, and then attack and arrest hundreds of innocent people were not standard typical procedures (in view of protecting people and property, and keeping the public safety), it seems that they must have been taking orders from someone outside the police/RCMP structure.

All the talk of reviews is fine and dandy, but what it all boils down to is: who ultimately gave the orders to stand down and allow prolonged vandalism and to attack and arrest hundreds of innocents (and to remove rights during detention of these people)? Whoever ultimately gave these orders/(made these directions) is the person (or persons) who should be brought up on criminal charges. If someone above Bill Blair or Alphonse MacNeil directed them in these matters, then that someone must be held accountable.

G20 Toronto - Summary of Summit and Protest

Summits of Deceit and Repression | Media Co-op
In the end, the global rulers got what they wanted – a massive
propaganda exercise for social cuts, plus a brutal demonstration of
police power. As for the working class, we got the bill, $1.3 billion
and counting -- just for 'security'.  ...

David Johnston, the new GG - mastermind of "Airbust";

THE WOODSTOCK ONTARIO INDEPENDENT NEWS: Thanks to Dr. Johnston, Airbus became Airbust
What needed to be said, directly and clearly - read the link!

Due to this guy (David Johnston - an old buddy of Brian Mulroney), Brian Mulroney got off the hook for the crime committed regarding the Airbus Affair - AND Mulroney got to keep the couple of million dollars he scammed from the Canadian government. And Johnston's terms of reference for the Oliphant inquiry resulted in the Airbus scandal not looking so bad for the Conservatives. So now, Harper rewards David Johnston with the Governor General role.
Yes, this is cronyism at the heart of the Canadian political system. Together, Harper and Johnston will be able to think up more ingenious ways of thwarting democracy in Canada and allowing Harper to continue in his reign of contempt for Canada, Canadian values and democracy.

Also:
Curiosity Cat: Harper and the Governor General: Right Process, Wrong Choice

Background from Wikipedia:
On November 14, 2007, Johnston was appointed by Governor General Michaëlle Jean, on the advice of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as an independent adviser and charged with drafting for the Cabinet the terms of reference for the public inquiry, known as the Oliphant Commission, into the Airbus affair.[12] This appointment itself, however, was criticized by the independent citizens' group Democracy Watch as a conflict of interest, given that Johnston had once reported directly to Mulroney during the latter's time as prime minister.[14] Johnston completed his report on January 11, 2008, listing seventeen questions of interest for further investigation.[15] He did not, however, include as a subject the awarding of the Airbus contract, on the basis that this aspect had already been investigated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, prompting criticism from opposition Members of Parliament and accusations that Johnston had acted as the Prime Minister's man.[16] This intensified after it was later revealed that Mulroney had accepted $300,000 in cash from Karlheinz Schreiber, but Oliphant could not examine any possible link between that payment and Airbus due to the narrow scope of the commission's mandate.[17]

G20 Toronto - Inch by inch, we come closer to the truth

We are another baby step closer to the truth about who may have given the orders to a) stand down and let vandals smash windows and burn police cars for 1.5 hours, and b) to attack, arrest and detain hundreds of innocents in an unjust fashion.

Today, as reported in the Toronto Star and the Globe & Mail, it has been revealed that Bill Blair was misled (and he, in turn, misled his officers), and that there were times when he was not exactly calling the shots regarding the police downtown (outside the Security Area).

Excerpt from: Toronto Star: Chain of Command Questioned in G20
[I have added the emphasis below.]
At no time was there ever one person unilaterally calling the shots. The complex command structure designed for the G20 had Toronto’s command centre, run by Toronto police, in constant consultations with the federally led Integrated Security Unit based in Barrie.

Earlier this week, the police board announced it would launch a civilian review of the G20’s “multijurisdictional” policing model. A central goal of the investigation is to uncover the command structure and who each body was accountable to, said chair Alok Mukherjee.

The Toronto Police Services Board, the Gold Standard for civilian oversight in the country, says it was not kept in the loop throughout the G20 planning. Board members say they felt the ISU deliberately cut them out of the process.

Meanwhile, provincial Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Rick Bartolucci – who oversees the OPP – and federal Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews – who oversees the RCMP – were both kept informed throughout the planning process and the situation on the ground during the summit.

“A big part of the reason I called the review is to precisely understand who had what jurisdiction during the G20,” said Mukherjee. “I think what is fair to say is that the board is trying to understand who was in charge at different points in time.”

Mayor David Miller, who has stood behind the chief and the board, said even he was left in the dark.

“There are legitimate public policy questions,” said Miller. “Who was the Integrated Security Unit reporting to? . . . Who’s in charge? Are they reporting to the prime minister? Because that’s ultimately the oversight of the RCMP. Are they reporting to the premier? Because that’s ultimately the oversight of the OPP. The premier and the prime minister, did they agree on a security plan? How did that all work?”

The ISU, a federally led security strategy, is the same model that was used during the Olympics. The RCMP commissioner put his Chief Superintendent Alphonse MacNeil in charge.

MacNeil oversaw the assembly of a five-member command team, made up of top officers from the RCMP, OPP, Canadian Armed forces, and Toronto and Peel police forces. They would be based in Barrie and monitor what was happening on Toronto streets by video and ground reports.

A local major incident command centre was set up at Toronto police headquarters. Two senior officers, Supts. Hugh Ferguson and Mark Fenton, were the commanding officers on a rotating shift basis.

The ISU was to be responsible for everything inside the summit fences. Toronto police were to protect everything outside the perimeter.

When concerns arose about what authority police would have to search suspicious individuals near the fence, ISU officials asked Blair to get the province to designate summit zones as part of the Public Works Protection Act. Blair, according to sources, saw no need. He argued police officers were already empowered to ask for identification and search suspicious individuals under common law.

But he did as requested.

ISU lawyers incorrectly briefed Blair’s legal team on the legislation. Blair was told anyone within five metres of the fence would be subject to the act. So when news of the so-called “secret law” broke the Friday of the G20 weekend and Blair was summoned to explain, he was left clarifying something he didn’t fully understand.

The province contacted him that afternoon to explain he had been misinformed about the five metres. When the truth came out after the G20, it appeared as if the chief had purposely misled the public, when in reality, he really wasn’t informed, said one board member.

In retrospect, Bartolucci says he wishes his ministry had issued a clarification.

“Hindsight is 20/20,” he said.

As the only obvious target for criticism, Blair has been left to answer to allegations of police wrongdoing, including the controversial crowd-control tactics used the Sunday evening.

But on that day, when police corralled hundreds of people at Queen St. W. and Spadina Ave. during a heavy rainstorm, the chain of command between the ISU and Toronto police was even less transparent.

After several hours of heated debate, Blair eventually stepped in again and demanded everyone at the intersection be released, but only after hundreds of others had been arrested and taken to a detention centre.


In The Globe & Mail: G20 Review Will Focus On Decision-Making Process, Alok Mukherjee, the chair of the Toronto Police Services Board, said:
That reviewer will also make clear which decisions were up to Toronto Police, which came from the RCMP, and which directions were issued by the Integrated Security Unit from its command post in Barrie, Ont.


What is missing here is finding out if the RCMP consulted or was given suggestions or took orders from a person or persons in the federal government (like the Federal Minister of Public Safety, Vic Toews, or from Prime Minister Stephen Harper). Considering that the actions of the police to allow prolonged vandalism, and then attack and arrest hundreds of innocent people were not standard typical procedures (in view of protecting people and property, and keeping the public safety), it seems that they must have been taking orders from someone outside the police/RCMP structure.

All the talk of reviews is fine and dandy, but what it all boils down to is: who ultimately gave the orders to stand down and allow prolonged vandalism and to attack and arrest hundreds of innocents (and to remove rights during detention of these people)? Whoever ultimately gave these orders/(made these directions) is the person (or persons) who should be brought up on criminal charges. If someone above Bill Blair or Alphonse MacNeil directed them in these matters, then that someone must be held accountable.

Friday 9 July 2010

G20 Toronto - Margaret Attwood speaks out

A second chance or a boot in the face - The Globe and Mail
Excerpt:
...
This Prime Minister has shown a suspicious interest in the infliction of
pain. Remember his last election plan to lock up 14-year-olds
convicted of serious crimes for life? His
government doesn’t seem remotely interested in helping the incarcerated
achieve productive lives. What sort of slogan does it intend to write
above the doors of its mega-prisons? “Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter
Here?”
...

G20 Toronto - More calls for a public inquiry

We need a G20 probe
"Arrest record shows police were out of control in Toronto."

With more than 1,000 arrests at the G20 meeting in Toronto, most of
which were unjustified since most were released without any charges
laid, it's no wonder a growing number of voices are demanding a full
public inquiry to look into this mess.

The sheer number of
arbitrary arrests is astonishing enough, but it becomes downright
surreal given that these arrests were made at the G20 in just a few days
and were more than double the number made during the entire 1970
October Crisis when the Trudeau government suspended fundamental
liberties by invoking the War Measures Act, giving way to more or less
500 mostly unwarranted arrests of intellectuals, poets, artists and
university professors.

This request for a public inquiry is
increasingly being heard in opinion pages in newspapers and by some
journalists. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Amnesty
International also want one. Yesterday, in Le Devoir, more than 40 law
professors and lawyers from across Canada said the same thing.

They
signed an open letter to federal Public Security Minister Vic Toews,
noting arrests are justified in cases of violence, but the fact that
nearly all those arrested have since been released with no accusations
made against them indicates that these arrests weren't related to any
displays of violence.

Which leaves one thing: Arrests were made
for no other reason than to intimidate citizens and stifle their right
to exercise their freedom of expression. Profoundly troubled by the
events -and rightly so - this group of lawyers and professors also
contend that the arrests are actually part of a tendency in Canada to
criminalize dissent.


I'd refuse to shake Harper's hand too!

N.L. teen refuses to shake PM's hand | Canada | News | Toronto Sun

When Jeremy Dyer was selected to represent his province because of
his human rights art, he had no idea he'd find himself in line to shake
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's hand.



The notion was an affront to Dyer, an activist who vehemently
disagrees with many of Harper's policies.

...
Harper is such a hypocrite to be involved with a ceremony at the Museum of Human Rights. He has a total disregard for human rights. Now, if there was a ceremony at a Museum of Torture, Lies and Contempt ...

Jeremy Dyer comments on Montreal Simon's blog about Omar Khadr

ONDP Leader Andrea Horwath to join protesters July 10th demanding a public inquiry into G20 issues

Here is the email I received from Andrea Horwath:

Dear friend,

Two weeks after the G20 summit and Toronto looks like Toronto again. But though the protesters and world leaders have gone, critical questions remain. And they’re the kinds of questions that will only be fully answered by calling an independent public inquiry.

There’s no question that Dalton McGuinty would like the questions to go away. But the growing volume of stories coming from that weekend are causing more and more people to question what happened: The mother left to worry after her two children were swept up in the mass arrests despite having no part in the protests; the 57-year-old man whose prosthetic leg was forcibly removed and confiscated by police; the individual arrested for allegedly breaking a newly-passed law that the public was never told even existed. Stories like these have shaken public trust. We need some real answers.

We’ve been pushing hard for an independent public inquiry into the G20 - but Dalton McGuinty’s not making it easy. We need your help.

The efforts made so far are making a difference. This morning Ontario’s Ombudsman (the same one Ontario Liberals tried to fire) announced that he would be investigating Premier McGuinty’s secret law that made it illegal to stand on a sidewalk in downtown Toronto during the G20. The Ombudsman understands that people in Toronto deserve the facts. But the Ombudsman’s investigation will be limited in scope. People deserve the full story and for that we need a full public inquiry.

Tomorrow, I’ll be joining concerned citizens demanding an inquiry at Queen’s Park in Toronto.

Please join me at the South Lawn by the War Memorial at 12:45 pm tomorrow, July 10. You can find directions here

We’ll need help circulating our petition calling for an inquiry - so if you can make it early please do so.

If you’re interested in more details, or you can’t make it but would like to help, you can contact us at NDPCaucusOutreach@ndp.on.ca

I hope to see you there,

Andrea Horwath
Leader, Ontario’s New Democrats

Thursday 8 July 2010

G20 Toronto - City council shames themselves and the city by commending the brutal, illegal and inappropriate police work

City council commends “outstanding” police G20 work - thestar.com
The worst of the bunch was mayoral candidate Rob Ford who said that there should be no review of the police actions at all:

“I don’t think there should be an inquiry or review,” of police
actions, “none whatsoever,” Ford said.

“Our police force was more than polite, more than accommodating

with the protesters,” in the face of taunts and worse, he added.

“If I was chief, I would have moved in Saturday afternoon and

cleaned house,” instead of waiting until Sunday to make mass arrests,
Ford said. “I think our police were too nice. I would have had a
zero-tolerance approach,” he said, adding he realizes councillors can’t
tell the police chief what to do.

Summary of police actions (that the council just commended):

Saturday - police were ordered to stand down and allow about 100 vandals smash windows and burn police cars, and to let the cars continue to burn for a long period of time; basically allowing unchecked property damage into the thousands if not millions of dollars, and to allow the safety of the public to be threatened by allowing police cars to burn for long periods of time.

Saturday & Sunday - after the vandalism, the police brutally assaulted hundreds of innocent, peaceful demonstrators and illegally arrested and detained them. While detained, many were not allowed a phone call, water, or food or medical assistance. They also robbed these people of personal property.


It's time to re-think re-electing any of these blind fools on the council come Fall.

UPDATE SEPT 1, 2010
Here is a list of the councillors who voted in favour of "To commend the outstanding work of Chief Bill Blair, the Toronto Police Service and the Police Officers working during the G20 Summit in Toronto (MM51.10)": Ainslie, Ashton, Augimeri, Carroll, Cho, De Baeremaeker, Del Grande, Feldman, Filion, Ford, Grimes, Hall, Heaps, Holyday, Jenkins, Kelly, Lee, Lindsay Luby (Chair), Mammoliti, Milczyn, Miller, Minnan-Wong, Moeser, Moscoe, Nunziata, Ootes, Palacio, Pantalone, Parker, Perruzza, Rae, Saundercook, Shiner, Stintz, Thompson, Walker


Further reading:


Toronto
Council Votes to Silence Dissent


Clowns
to the Left & Jokers to the Right: the G20, the Police & Civic
Democracy


Sorry Fillibluster, your comment was eaten by Blogger errors.

Here it is:
"I have emailed my city councillor expressing my dismay at this shameful
endorsement of brutality. I would urge anyone who live in Toronto to do
the same. All city council emails are here:"
http://app.toronto.ca/im/council/councillors.jsp


Why the Canada Census is important and why the Harper government's decision to stop making it mandatory is bad.

Why you should care about the long census form’s demise - The Globe and Mail
Read the story at the link
- Government's of all levels use the data to make informed decisions
- businesses use it to be more efficient, productive and profitable
- Canadians use it to keep our government responsible to its citizens

Further reading:
Pop The Stack: An Economist Who Doesn't Want More Data? UCalgary Called, they Want their Degree Back

NDP demands immediate restoration of census long form

eaves.ca: The Census Weak Link

The Galloping Beaver: Censless

Register and vote here on the government discussion site:
Reinstate Our Census Long Form aka Questionnaire 2B


G20 Toronto - Zeroing in on who is to blame for directing the police

Challenging the Commonplace: Stephen Harper Ultimately Responsible for G20 Infringement of Civil Liberties
Why the MSM is not all over this since the G20 weekend baffles me. We are finally seeing signs that the direction to the police to stand by and allow 1.5 hours of vandalism and police car burning, and to then the direction to the police to beat and arrest hundreds innocent people most likely came from Stephen Harper himself. Who hates Canada more? Who hates Toronto more? Nobody but the prime scumbag himself -> Stephen Harper.

And, the only way to uncover all the links is to hold a Federal level impartial public inquiry. And Prime Scumbag is not going to agree to that.

Further reading:
Who Commanded the G20 Commander?

Tuesday 6 July 2010

G20 Toronto - "Toronto got a taste of what could very well happen if apathy or fear of our own shadows continue."

Sister Sage: If an Amputee Being Handled With Brute Force By Those Who Are Supposed To Protect Doesn’t Dawn Upon Us To Do Something…
...
Why is it that we have to wait until it’s too late to turn back before
we realize what’s happened to us? I am terrified of this happening;  In
this case, the police state where police can do anything to anyone they
please; a police state where people can simply disappear. A police state
where one can be arrested simply for being in the wrong place at the
wrong time or for disagreeing with the government.   Toronto got a taste
of what could very well happen if apathy or fear of our own shadows
continue.
...

On the G20 weekend in Toronto, the police acted illegally to brutally beat and make a lot of people disappear for no reason. And, they seem to have gotten away with this.
Let's make sure that whoever was responsible for directing the police to break the law doesn't get away with this, and let's make sure this this never happens again. To do this, you can't just stick your head in the sand. Fixing this will take Canadians waking up and speaking out and taking a stand. Wake up and take a stand Canada!

G20 Toronto - police beat amputee and steal his leg

RedBedHead: G20 Cops Stole Amputee's Leg
Seriously? Are the cops run by a committee including the Marquis de Sade
and Monty Python's Flying Circus?
...
How many more reasons do we need to get an independent
public inquiry
?
...

G20 Toronto - Toronto police board orders civilian review of G20 security

Toronto police board orders civilian review of G20 security - thestar.com
It's a step in the right direction.
Now, all we need is a federal public inquiry.

G20 Toronto - "It was more than I wanted to see"

‘It was more than I wanted to see’ « justin & lex @ g20

Lost, hungry, cold and scared they left the makeshift detention
centre at 629 Eastern Ave. one-by-one. To greet them were strangers who
had come with food, drinks and clothes.


Over six hours on the night of June 27 we spoke to nearly 120 of the
detainees to leave the Toronto Film Studio, a soundstage retrofit with
cages to hold people arrested during the G20 summit. Although each had a
different story to tell, the larger picture remained constant.

...

G20 Toronto - Post-G20 Resources

Post-G20 Resources « justin & lex @ g20
For emotional support, legal support, filing an incident report or complaint, and other info.

Reason for the Toronto Blackout July 5, 2010

Impolitical: If only we had money to spend on infrastructure...
30 year old circuit breakers. National infrastructure money spent on things like hockey rinks instead of vital infrastructure like ageing power stations.

"Arrest Orgy". And, innocents still in jail

CathiefromCanada: "Arrest orgy" is what it was
Some interesting insight from CathiefromCanada and Galloping Beaver
regarding inherent police force problems.
And
Today we finally found out that 16
people are still in jail
a week after the G20 ended -- including a
street medic who is apparently going to be charged with carrying a
concealed weapon for carrying bandage shears.
And a woman from
Peterborough has
been charged
with obstructing police and wearing a disguise with
intent to commit an indictable offence -- she came to the protests
dressed as a clown.

Monday 5 July 2010

G20 Toronto - an educationa nd activism package

we move to canada: did your canada include civil rights? an education and activism package
Learn about what really happened in Toronto at the G20 protests and teach others.

G20 Toronto - Security was run from a secret command centre in Barrie

RCMP unveil secret summit command centre - The Globe and Mail
The command centre served as the central nervous system of the whole
operation, staffed by 80 police officers, security agents and military
personnel.

Sunday 4 July 2010

G20 Toronto - Official complaint launched with the UN

G20 protesters reportedly launching complaint with UN - The Globe and Mail

"The League of
Rights and Freedoms has put the matter to the Commission on Human Rights
of the UN.
Reached by telephone
by TVA News, the lawyer Julius Grey welcomed this approach.

"It is possible that some people have committed offences, but in
general we have seen the kind of behaviour that leads us to think we live
in a state less democratic than before," he protested.
I call it a
totalitarian democracy. "

G20 Toronto - The G20 summit's grim lessons for civil liberties

Walkom: The G20 summit’s grim lessons for civil liberties - thestar.com

Two things stand out from the street riots and subsequent police
actions that swept downtown Toronto last weekend.


The first is the state blatantly abused its powers. Summits
legitimately require security; but in this one, governments went over
the top.


The federal government transformed the city’s downtown into a no-go
zone. The provincial government secretly passed new regulations to give
police extraordinary search and seizure powers and then, when citizens
found out, pretended that it hadn’t. The police used their authority to
prevent breaches of the peace as an excuse to jail citizens who were
committing no crimes


The second is that most people don’t care. Polls show that more
than 70 per cent of Torontonians approve of these abuses.

...

G20 Toronto - Toronto Sun Columnist Rachal Sa on detention conditions

G20 prisoner #0106: Sa | Rachel Sa | Columnists | Comment | Toronto Sun
...

Maybe you believe that anyone near a G20 protest should have expected
to be arrested, whether they were protesting or not, violent or not.



But even if that is so, no one — violent protestor, peaceful
activist, or regular citizen in the wrong place at the wrong time —
deserved the sadistic treatment.



This cannot rest, no matter how many lame justifications or
show-and-tell displays the police stage. The damage done to the psyche
of the city is far more severe than the broken windows and senseless
vandalism inflicted by the handful of idiot anarchists — and it will
take much longer to heal.

...


Saturday 3 July 2010

Who was really pulling the police strings at the G20 protest?

The Louis Riel Trail: Iron Heel Harper and the G20 Protests
...
If you look at Canadian history, you'll find that Regina Riot was
carried out in large part due to the orders of Prime Minister Richard
Bedford Bennett (earning him the nickname "Iron Heel Bennett"), and in
somewhat more recent times the FLQ crisis was handled in large part
through Pierre Trudeau's implementation of the War Measures act. Both
of these Prime Ministers saw big threats to the Canadian way of life,
and exercised a significant degree of control over police actions during
those major security events.

Today the interference of the PMO
or other politicians in law enforcement is generally considered an abuse
of political power and something the police should reject
: "The RCMP must instil (sic)
in its officers, by whatever educational or other means available, that
they are to brook no intrusion or interference from government officials
with respect to the provision of security services" (the APEC
commission final report
)

I just have a sense that the
problems that occurred during the G20 protests go beyond local
bureaucrats in Toronto.

Look at some of the things Stockwell Day has been
saying to the media, if you don't believe that national politicians
could be responsible
for what happened in downtown Toronto.

If
guys like Harper, or Day were involved in managing security forces
during the G20 protests the voters need to be made aware, and
prosecutors need access to that information.

Store owners should be asking why the police allowed the vandalism to go on for 1.5 hours

Store owners defiant after property damaged during G20 riot - thestar.com
Police have admitted that they were ordered to allow the vandalism, including the burning of of the police cars. Everyone should be asking why were they ordered to allow the vandalism to happen and go on for so long.

Thursday 1 July 2010

Ontario HST - What is affected?

What's Taxable Under the HST and What's Not?
Detailed list of what is affected and how.

Joint lawsuit planned for G20 arrestees

Joint lawsuit planned for G20 arrestees - thestar.com
Overwhelmed with calls, Civil Liberties Association is working on suing police forces.
...

More than 1,000 arrests were made relating to the G20 summit and
multiple reports have emerged alleging peaceful demonstrators or even
bystanders were caught up in the mass arrests — most notably, at the
Esplanade’s Novotel Hotel on Saturday, where demonstrators tried to
stage a sit-in, or at Queen St. and Spadina Ave., where a large crowd
was boxed in and detained for several hours in the rain.


All arrests this weekend were made under the criminal code and not
the Public Works Protection Act, according to the province.

...
More calls for a public inquiry

Blair has announced an internal police review, but there are growing
demands for a public inquiry, with the Public Service Alliance of
Canada, Greenpeace and 121 signatories from the York University faculty
recently joining the chorus of voices asking for an independent probe.
The Criminal Lawyers’ Association is also calling for an independent
fact-finder to probe the circumstances surrounding the G20 arrests and
NDP critic Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway) has requested the House of
Commons public safety committee be recalled to study issues surrounding
summit security.
...

Of 1,090 people detained over the G20 period, 714 were charged with
“breaching the peace” and taken into custody, according to police
spokesperson Const. Tony Vella. All were eventually released
unconditionally. (Some 113 were released at the scene of the arrest with
no charge.)


According to section 31 of the criminal code, officers can arrest
anyone found to be “committing the breach of the peace or who, on
reasonable grounds, he believes is about to join in or renew the breach
of peace.”


But according to criminal lawyer Paul Calarco, there is “no
legitimate basis” for many of this weekend’s arrests.

“Wearing a black t-shirt is not any basis for saying reasonable

grounds (for arrest),” he argued. As for arresting peaceful
demonstrators en masse, “that is not a proper use of Section 31. That is
an intimidation tactic,” he said.

“Standing on the sidewalk and exercising your constitutional rights

is not a breach of the peace.”

A further 263 of those arrested were charged with criminal offences

— some because they had pocket knives or similar common items in their
backpacks — and were sent for bail hearings.

Some people who were arrested will probably argue their Charter

rights were violated, said Jonathan Dawe, criminal lawyer with Sack
Goldblatt Mitchell. He pointed to reports of people being denied their
right to legal counsel or to not be arbitrarily arrested or detained.



“I can’t imagine how (police) could not have known that what they
were doing is unlawful,” Dawe said. “I’m shocked at what seems to have
been a wholesale decision on the part of the police to abandon the
Charter.”


More commentary:
Impolitical: G20 Lawsuits on the way

News of the Restless: Authoritarians: Canada haz 'em