G20 Updates and my first letter to Premeir McGuinty

It would appear that politicians and police officials are beginning to understand that the G20 fiasco isn't simply going to be swept under the rug.

Dalton McGuinty's Government is now claiming that - none of the 900 + arrests over the weekend were made under the "Public Works Protection Act"

and Police Chief William Blair said (among other things) that there was no arrest rule within 5 ft. of the security fence he openly admits that he lied about that. What else is he lying about?

This is all very odd because I saw police enforcing the search and ID rules allowed under the Public Works Act miles from the fence. Blair also brought out weapons (including golf balls?) that he claims were seized from G20 protesters and he announced that the police would be conducting a full review of operations. I don't know about all of you but at this point Blair has little credibility left with me, I don't trust the police to investigate themselves and I don't even know that I believe that the weapons he showed off had anything to do with the G20.

In other news the Toronto Star reports that calls for a public inquiry are mounting. Federal Parliamentary Committees may be reconvening over the summer to examine parts of what happened according to the CBC and the Times Columnist reports that the arrests over the weekend are a record for any single event in Canadian history.

Today I turned my attention to Dalton McGuinty, asking him for a public inquiry and a repeal of the "Public Works Protection Act".

You can send your own note to the Premier in a number of ways here:

https://www.premier.gov.on.ca/feedback/default.asp?Lang=EN

This is what I sent:

Dear Mr. McGuinty,

I am writing concerning the events surrounding the G20 in Toronto last weekend. There is currently a great deal of denial happening among political and police leadership. Everyone is claiming that it was someone else's fault or someone else's responsibility. For this reason I urge you to pursue an independent public inquiry into these events as recommended by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Amnesty International.

If there is a silver lining to any of this it is calling public attention to the existence of the "the Public Works Protection Act." This law, passed in 1939 at the dawn of WWII is horribly outdated and belongs in the same category as Japanese Internment Camps. Now that I know about the law I would also urge you to repeal this law. This too is recommended by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

This matter is not simply going to go away. The people of Toronto are not going to, as Mayor Miller suggests, "move on." We will keep lobbying at the local, provincial, federal and if necessary international level until something is done, questions are answered in a satisfactory way and those responsible for abuses by the police are held to account.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Justin Beach
Toronto, ON