It was one month ago that the G20 meetings began in Toronto. Several people have said to me recently that the G20 is over, that everyone should just "let it go." The first of these, of course, was Toronto's Mayor David Miller - who was ready to move on the monday after the G20 ended. Police were still exercising powers of search that they didn't actually have in downtown Toronto when the Mayor urged us all to let it go and think about the tall ships and the start of Pride. Canadians have a tendency to look at the positive and sweep things that are uncomfortable under a rug and agree not to look at them. That the Alberta Tar Sands are a worse environmental catastrophe than the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico or that many of our First Nations Reserves are little better off than third world countries, for example, are not really discussed. Fortunately there are proud and patriotic Canadians who are refusing to allow the G20 to be put in the back of a closet to be dragged out only for a 'remember when' segment on tv news the next time the G8/G20 come to Canada.
What happened in Toronto a month ago is simply too important. In short, according to hundreds of witness' including journalists, three levels of government and federal, provincial and local police from across Canada conspired to deprive more than 1,100 people of their basic civil rights. Police and the Provincial Government lied to the press and the public about police powers, evidence and events and after it was over there was a mad rush to compliment the police and, other than that, deafening silence. Because Quebecers were specifically targeted by police the G20 has also breathed new life into the sovereignty movement. It's also worth noting that all of this, by the time all of the costs are added up, will likely have cost Canadian taxpayers somewhere between 2 and 2.5 billion dollars.
Canadians, if you ask them, believe in "Peace, Order and Good Government" and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. During the G20 the Charter was suspended in Toronto and we didn't have peace, order or good government and now we have to know why. So, although there are currently four inquiries and hundreds of independent legal cases going forward the Toronto G20 won't be over until a full, open ended, independent, federal inquiry is concluded and anyone and everyone responsible for what happened, from the Prime Minister to individual police officers is held accountable.
For those of you who think "The G20 is over" a few headlines from the last week (weeks after the G20 leaders went home):
Send a message to demand a G20 independent public inquiry now
Petition to Restore Funding for the Court Challenges Program
Globe and Mail: Harper on the G20: Toronto’s pain, the world’s gain
Recent Supreme Court ruling will benefit those wrongly detained at G20
Edmonton Journal: Arbitrary arrests at G20 summit unjustified in a democratic society
Multiple G20 reviews panned by ex-police monitor
Civil liberties lawyers, MPs gathering evidence against G20 summit arrests
G20 arrest probe sought by Quebec groups
Globe and Mail: Ontario watchdog launching new review of police action during G20 summit
Toronto Sun: Claims of abuse by G20 cops
Ottawa Citizen: G20 Cleanup Left Undone
Nanaimo Daily News: Protesters, journalists deserve G20 apology
Montreal Gazette: G20 protest Saturday sees turnout despite rain
Hamilton Spectator: Local G20 protesters demand inquiry
Similar protests were held across Canada
Toronto Life: Cops look for public input in G20 review—just don’t mention officers, the OPP, the RCMP, personal experiences or operational matters
Toronto Star - Security operation or political theatre?
Video: G20 Toronto Illegal Public Works Act Searches with Flashlight Cop
CTV: Police actions blasted by social welfare groups
Winnipeggers hold another rally to protest the treatment of G20 demonstrators
Globe and Mail: Irishman caught in hurly-burly over hurley
Rabble: G8/G20 Communique: G20 violence against women
CTV: Suspected leader among G20 vandals surrenders
Hell, even Broken Social Scene is weighing in.
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3 comments:
This is not your greatest fear. Your greatest fear is that the vast majority of ordinary Canadians are indifferent to this horrific destruction of Canada's core values. The vast majority of Canadians do nothing: care not. Freedom, justice, liberty and the security of person went out the window when? The rate of change in Canada is accelerating in the wrong direction and only a handful get it.
http://chiefblair.resignnow.ca/this_is_my_right-3.html
That has always been the case though. The majority of Canadians may side with the police but remember that half of Canadians (almost a majority) don't even vote. The "Vast Majority" are seldom if ever involved in movements to preserve and strengthen rights. The majority may not side with us, but they won't actively participate in opposing us either. Under those circumstances a dedicated minority of voters can do much. Although it was the opposite of a civil rights movement it's worth noting that when the "Christian right" rose to power in the United States they numbered just 10% of the population.
40 percent or thereabouts, actually, failed to vote in our last federal election. Which is damnably close to your claim and thereby frightening enough in its own way.
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