Canadian Coalition for the Defenece of Civil Liberties

The great American writer, publisher, inventor and statesman Benjamin Franklin once said that “Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security.” However you feel about the "War on Terror" it cannot be denied that since the attacks of September 11, 2001 "security" in North America has gone into overdrive.

Recently, in Canada, at the Olympics and at the G8/G20 meetings civil liberties have been compromised, in the name of security. Threats to public safety, we were told, necessitated "inconvenience" on the part of the public. (Inconvenience in this case meaning a curtailing of civil liberties.) It would be better I think to simply not hold these events than to sacrifice any civil liberties in their name. Politicians will say that if we don't hold the Olympics or don't hold the G20 out of fear then the "terrorists have won." I say that if we sacrifice civil liberties, even for a day, in the name of security then the terrorists have won.

Is there a risk, with diminished security, that someone will take advantage of the opportunity and kill people? Yes. Let us keep things in perspective though. On 9/11 nearly 3,000 people were killed but untold generations of people have fought and died to establish the civil liberties we have - the cornerstone of our society. In World War II alone 60 million people died to save the west from tyranny and hate. If we give up our civil liberties, our basic freedoms to protect ourselves from terrorism we do a great disservice to the memory of the 3,000 that died on 9/11, the 60 million who died in WWII and untold millions more who have given their lives in war and in political movements over hundreds of years.

As it did during the era of slavery in the US, during WWI and WWII, in the creation of the UN and peacekeeping Canada must lead the way and say that in Canada while compromises will always be made between freedom and public safety that our basic civil liberties, guaranteed under the hard won Charter of Rights and Freedoms will not be set aside for any event, regardless of it's importance for diplomacy or tourism. That is the attitude that has made Canada great and it is our only way forward short of sacrificing everything that Canada is and everything that has drawn people here from every corner of the globe.

We may never know exactly what happened at the G20. Politicians at all levels of government seem adamantly opposed to answering questions about it. Even if there is a public inquiry it is doubtful whether the answers we get will be full, complete and honest. That does not stop us though from drawing some conclusions about the G20 and looking for ways to prevent it from happening again.

Before the G20 happened, when it was announced that the McGuinty Government had used a WWII anti sabotage law, the Public Works Protection Act, to extend police powers for the G20 I created a Facebook group "Torontonians Against Martial Law" as a reaction against it. Because the next event, whatever it may be, may not be in Toronto I am changing the name of that group to the Canadian Coalition for the Defence of Civil Liberties.

The Coalition, will be asking all governments, Federal, provincial and local to pass laws that reinforce the charter by placing reasonable restrictions on police and security forces. The goal is not to attack police or to create additional security threats but to create clear lines of communication, to ensure transparency and accountability and to make it illegal to give police orders which ask them to jeopardize civil rights or do anything which may jeopardize their personal careers or damage the vital relationship between police and the public.

Very specifically we will be asking for:

1) A clear chain of command. Regardless of how many agencies are involved there must be a single commander, fully accountable for anything and everything that happens.

2) The Maintenance of Civil Liberties: While special rules may be imposed inside venues, such as Olympic Venues or the G20 meeting place, these rules may not be imposed citywide. Outside of the venues citizens should enjoy all of the rights and privileges they normally would, including the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of speech, association and expression. This includes surveillance. Security cameras can be used only inside the venues themselves, not in the wider city.

3) Non-Lethal Force: Non lethal weapons such as tear gas, tasers and rubber bullets were meant to be used only as an alternative to deadly force. Security officials seem to have lost sight of this fact and are instead using them as a means of "crowd control". Both tear gas and pepper spray are banned from use in warfare as chemical weapons, they can have dangerous and long lasting side effects. Sound cannons can permanently damage hearing. Rubber bullets can leave permanent scars and tasers can kill. None of these weapons must ever be used except as an alternative to firing live ammunition into a crowd. Anyone ordering their use must be able to demonstrate that the situation had escalated to a point where deadly force was the only other alternative - failure to do so should result not only in their immediate dismissal and a ban from their ever serving in any security role ever again but should, in fact, result in criminal prosecution and a certainty of jail time.

4) A Ban on Mass Arrests: Arresting everyone in a crowd because of the actions of a few is the same as arresting everyone in a city because one person commits a crime. - Police must be able to prove that each person arrested was suspected of a crime individually. Each person must be told at the time of arrest or detention the reason they are being held and what crime(s) they are being charged with. If a person is arrested without evidence that they personally were involved in a crime it will constitute false arrest and imprisonment, the person will be entitled to compensation and the arresting officer will be subject to severe penalties.

5) Ban on Kettling: Kettling or the boxing in of a protest by police, leaving no exit, was banned in the UK following their G20 experience. It can create panic, make a bad situation worse and almost always boxes in people who have nothing to do with the protest. It should be banned as a practice in Canada by all levels of government.

6) Treatment of Prisoners: The treatment of prisoners by police should never, under any circumstances, fall below the conditions laid out for the treatment of prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention. That means that prisoners must be treated with dignity and respect and in no way threatened, assaulted or tortured. They must have rapid access to legal counsel, counsel can only be refused by meeting privately with an attorney and signing a statement stating that the individual is officially refusing counsel. Prisoners must be given at least three square meals a day, and those meals must meet the religious, ethnic, dietary and health needs of the prisoner and prisoners must be given, at need, rapid access to medical attention. Aside from access to legal counsel, which is a western tradition, these are the minimum standards that would prevent a military from accusations of war crimes in a time of war. They should be the minimum standards of any police force in Canada at all times, not just for the G20.

7) Individual Officer Responsibility: Because police officers can jeopardize their careers by violating the civil rights of a citizen, individual officers must have the right to decline orders that they feel endanger public health, safety or civil rights.

8) Open Communication: A new branch of all of Canada's police forces should be established. Their job should be to liaise with organizers - to, where permitted, sit in on organizational meetings and provide a police/security perspective and to relate the perspectives and plans of organizers to security planners. Where it is possible protest organizers should also be allowed to sit in on security planning meetings and to provide the organizers perspective. Open lines of communication should remain at all times, including during the protest, between organizers and police.

If you believe that the civil liberties gained by the sacrifices of generations are worth preserving the Facebook Group is Here.