My Letter to City Council regarding the #G20 aftermath

I sent the following letter to my own City Councillor and to a handful of others who I think might be sympathetic. If you agree with what I've written feel free to use it as the basis of your own letter, if you do not then please do write your Councillor in any event and let them know how you feel. Contact information for Toronto City Councillors can be found at http://app.toronto.ca/im/council/councillors.jsp.

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Dear Councillor,

I am writing regarding the events surrounding the G20, held in Toronto the weekend of June 26-7. I believe that the G20 has left a stain on Toronto and caused damage that will take years to heal.

I am not talking about the vandalism that occurred downtown on June 26 but rather the actions by police which followed. Divisions over these actions run deep and have caused a division between many citizens in Toronto, their police force and City Hall. Worse they have, in many cases caused division between friends and family members.

I do not believe that these rifts can even start to be healed until there is a full and impartial inquiry into these matters and I urge you to use what influence you have to push for such an inquiry. For many people in Toronto the actions of our elected leaders in response to the G20 will be a deciding factor in how they vote in future local, provincial and federal elections.

While the healing process cannot begin for Toronto until the results of an impartial inquiry are released I believe that some good can be done by assuring the people of this city that the events of last weekend will never be repeated. I urge you to consider revising city law as it pertains to the Toronto Police Service (TPS) so that:


- To assure effective communication and accountability the TPS cannot be used as part of an 'integrated security force' but must remain separate from other forces and under the exclusive command of the Chief of Police.

- The TPS cannot serve, in uniform, as security for any provincial or federal event

- That the first responsibility of the TPS is for the safety, and the preservation of the civil liberties of the citizens of Toronto and that these must be protected even against other police or security forces.

- That the TPS may not ask for, receive or use any powers from any government body that violate the normal freedoms of Canadian citizens as defined by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

- That any violation of the Charter rights, as determined by a court of law, of any group or individual by any member of the TPS shall be grounds for immediate dismissal.

- That to protect their job, and conscience, any officer may refuse orders which they believe will violate the Charter rights of any group or individual and that they are, in fact, encouraged to protect the Charter rights of groups and individuals, even against other officers, without regard to rank.

I thank you for your time and look forward to hearing your views on this important topic.

Sincerely,
Justin Beach