6/29/10
G20 Toronto Black Block get green light to rampage?
punditman says...Are we to believe that twenty-thousand police officers could not stop a few hundred rioters from going on an hour and a half rampage through the financial district of Canada? In press conferences, the Toronto police have all but admitted they let this transpire in order to "protect the perimeter" and for reasons of "safety." However, it is beginning to sound like pretty lame reasoning. The question is, did they infiltrate the Black Bloc with provocateurs? It has been done before. And why were so many peaceful protesters and innocent bystanders arrested and brutalized? Time for a thorough investigation into the abuse of power.
‘I will not forget what they have done to me’ 20 people arrested at the G20 tell of ‘inhumane’ treatment at the hands of police
punditman says...Here are 20 first-hand accounts from the over 900 arrests at the G-20. This article will be posted in full for one month, in compliance with Toronto Star republishing rules. Use the frame on the right side to scroll down.
6/28/10
G20 editorial: Brutal spectacle failed a city and its people
punditman says...
For Harper and Canadian government officials, it was a foregone conclusion that bringing the G20 to Toronto would mean confrontation and mayhem. It has happened at every such gathering for the last dozen years. It is bad for tourism, for the local economy, etc. But the creation of a crisis in order to come up with the solution is an old political trick.
The predictable property damage that occurred in Toronto over the weekend by a small minority is now being used as proof that this billion-dollar-plus debacle was worth it. Meanwhile, the law and order types then applaud the government for something that never should have happened in the city in the first place. And due to the violence, all the issues that should be discussed are conveniently overshadowed.
By John CruickshankThe G20 security strategy has been spectacularly successful at cocooning the world’s leading politicians and staggeringly ineffective at protecting the property and peace of mind of Torontonians. And the one, inevitably, led to the other.
By bringing in thousands of heavily armed strangers and throwing up barricades everywhere to regular traffic, frightening off good and decent citizens, Canadian authorities created a ghost town in the heart of our city.
Perfect for the political leaders. Protesters were kept blocks away from where the deliberations were going on.
And most protesters conducted themselves faultlessly as the global good and great met behind rings of gulag-like fencing and battalions of police beating Plexiglas shields with batons in a primitive show of might.
It was, however, less than perfect for the city, its businesses and its inhabitants. The only force that can prevent vandalism and mayhem in a city is the presence of its population. Surely that was the lesson every urban planner learned from looking south to the hollowed-out urban war zones of the United States in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
6/25/10
Police Get New Powers for G20
New regulations give police right to search anyone near security fence Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/06/25/g20-new-powers.html#ixzz0rrtJwa
TORONTO - Police forces in charge of security for the G20 in Toronto have been granted special powers for the duration of the summit.
![['Don't touch that fence!' The new legislation allows police to search anyone within five metres of the G20 security fence in downtown Toronto (Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/policeline_0.jpg "policeline.jpg")
'Don't touch that fence!' The new legislation allows police to search anyone within five metres of the G20 security fence in downtown Toronto (Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press)The new powers are designed specifically for the G20, CBC's Colin Butler reported Friday.
Ontario's cabinet quietly passed the new rules on June 2 without legislature debate.
Peacenik thinks this is wrong. No public debate. Is this how fragile our civil liberties are?
"Americans Don’t Flinch" – They Duck!
punditman says...Canada and NATO are engaged in a war that reinforces a sense of "US exceptionalism," which doesn't go over so well in the rest of the world, particularly for the victims. This article demonstrates that U.S./NATO attacks that kill civilians are routinely excused away, and the authors over at Voices for Creative Nonviolence provide a list of several recent documented cases and their outcomes since April 2009.
By Kathy Kelly and Dan Pearson
In accepting General McChrystal’s resignation, President Obama said that McChrystal’s departure represented a change in personnel, not a change in policy. “Americans don’t flinch in the face of difficult truths or difficult tasks.” he stated, “We persist and we persevere.” Yet, President Obama and the U.S. people don’t face up to the ugly truth that, in Afghanistan, the U.S. has routinely committed atrocities against innocent civilians. By ducking that truth, the U.S. reinforces a sense of exceptionalism, which, in other parts of the world, causes resentment and antagonism.
While on the campaign trail and since taking office, President Obama has persistently emphasized his view that attacks against civilians are always criminal, unless the U.S. is the attacker, in which case they are justified. We heard this again, on June 23rd, as the President assured the U.S. people that we will persevere in Afghanistan. “We will not tolerate a safe haven for terrorists who want to destroy Afghan security from within, and launch attacks against innocent men, women, and children in our country and around the world.”
When considering the security of Afghan civilians, it’s crucial to ask why, on May 12, 2009, General McChrystal was selected to replace General McKiernan as the top general in Afghanistan. News reports said it was because he had experience in coordinating special operations in Iraq. That experience involved developing death squads, planning night raids, and coordinating undercover assassinations. McChrystal proved, since his appointment, that he could organize atrocities against Afghan civilians and simultaneously present himself as a protector of Afghan civilians. In doing so, he relied on collaboration and cooperation from Defense Secretary Gates, General Petraeus and President Obama. They are united in their culpability.
6/23/10
When it comes to summit security, police answer to no one
Peacenik just finished photographing the riot police presence in Queen's Park. Two buses full. Plus assorted mini-vans full. Peacenik may also have seen a couple of "undercover" bicyclists. They were dressed in normal clothes and riding regular bikes but emerged from a crowd of officers. Then there was an earthquake registering 5.5 5.1 5.0.
Peacenik's building shuddered. Peacenik was rattled and confirmed the reality of the earthquake with these same riot police. So they performed a public service act while waiting for protesters to come along (none have so far).
Peacenik's place of employment is closing for the duration of G20. Peacenik will monitor events from a remote, secure, location. Peacenik wishes everyone all the best for the weekend.
Update: Peacenik just checked and the riot police have left Queens Park for now. Peacenik guesses they got bored.
With neither legislation nor precedent to limit their powers, the rights of Canadians come off second best
Adam Radwanski
It's known as the “red zone.” But given the extent to which police are being left to their own devices in locking down a large swath of Toronto for the G20, the “grey zone” might be more apt.
The federal government did police and local residents few favours by sticking the summit smack in the middle of downtown. That it’s in an area more difficult to secure than other available locations, such as the city’s Exhibition grounds, forced more heavy-handed enforcement than should have been necessary.
But it doesn’t help that, as officers are expected to balance security with civil liberties, there’s neither legislation nor clear legal precedent specifying what they can and can’t do. From the handling of protesters to the requirement of identification to enter public spaces and private homes, it’s left to their discretion.
Since each summit is different, there’s no choice but to be somewhat ad hoc in handling them. But civil liberties experts argue that it didn’t need to be quite this ad hoc.
6/22/10
Travers: Summit spending tests bottomless public trough
There is so much wrong with the G8 and G20 summits that Peacenik doesn't know where to begin. It is bad enough that Canada is fighting a war without reason in Afghanistan. A war that Canada cannot afford. The government seems happy to spend any amount on anything that will further brutalize Canadian society. Let's get the citizens used to an overt police state. Let's bring in experimental crowd control devices to test on Canadian citizens. Let's break out the Sonic Cannon and Tasers. And don't forget the water cannon. And mounted police. And riot gear.
Peacenik thinks it is curious that the G20 leaders have to be protected from their own citizens. But of course the G20 leaders aren't doing anything at G20 that will help their citizens. The G20 leaders are just pledging more globalization. More trickle down econonics. More market driven economies. More transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. Yes the G20 leaders need to be protected. But why are unionized policemen and women so keen to do the leaders bidding? Policemen and women are regular folks, with kids and mortgages and too much consumer debt. They drink beer and cheer for the Leafs. But this week, Peacenik fears Peacenik will be ashamed of the police. But Peacenik hopes Peacenik is not.
By James Travers
Living large on the world stage isn’t easy or cheap. It takes rock-ribbed determination and a certain lack of due diligence to spend nearly a $1 million every minute, or more than $1 billion in total, hosting a three-day world leader whoop-de-do.
To understand the challenge of plowing through that much money that fast, consider the sheer magnitude of a billion. If you were lucky enough to have $1 billion in $1,000 bills, stacking them would require 10,000 piles of 100 each. Or think of it as some industrious internet mathematicians have: A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
However it’s measured, a billion of anything is a lot. Yet a ruling Conservative party that unduly flatters its own fiscal prudence is somehow spending that much on security alone for the twin Huntsville and Toronto G8 and G20 summits.
Read on...
Peacenik thinks it is curious that the G20 leaders have to be protected from their own citizens. But of course the G20 leaders aren't doing anything at G20 that will help their citizens. The G20 leaders are just pledging more globalization. More trickle down econonics. More market driven economies. More transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. Yes the G20 leaders need to be protected. But why are unionized policemen and women so keen to do the leaders bidding? Policemen and women are regular folks, with kids and mortgages and too much consumer debt. They drink beer and cheer for the Leafs. But this week, Peacenik fears Peacenik will be ashamed of the police. But Peacenik hopes Peacenik is not.
By James TraversLiving large on the world stage isn’t easy or cheap. It takes rock-ribbed determination and a certain lack of due diligence to spend nearly a $1 million every minute, or more than $1 billion in total, hosting a three-day world leader whoop-de-do.
To understand the challenge of plowing through that much money that fast, consider the sheer magnitude of a billion. If you were lucky enough to have $1 billion in $1,000 bills, stacking them would require 10,000 piles of 100 each. Or think of it as some industrious internet mathematicians have: A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
However it’s measured, a billion of anything is a lot. Yet a ruling Conservative party that unduly flatters its own fiscal prudence is somehow spending that much on security alone for the twin Huntsville and Toronto G8 and G20 summits.
Read on...
Some in Huntsville ‘getting nervous'
They should chill out, says bemused resident
A LAV 3 (Light Armoured Vehicle) is set up near Hidden Valley Road near the G8 Summit site in Huntsville.
RICHARD J. BRENNAN/TORONTO STARRichard J. Brennan
HUNTSVILLE—Sipping on a cold beer, Steve Groomes looks at the reinforced steel mesh wall in front of his place on Highway 60 outside Huntsville and lets out a chuckle.
“I call this part, prison valley,” said the 43-year-old contractor, who minutes earlier had been mowing the lawn, a simple chore that seemed somehow out of place.
His home and that of his father's next door are behind the security perimeter that is meant to keep intruders away from nearby Deerhurst Lodge, where the long-awaited G8 is being held, starting Thursday evening, a kind of a warm-up act for the G20 in Toronto on Saturday.
G20 protesters try to take over downtown property
Group occupies Esso gas station for 10 minutes
The group Sense of Sensibilty marches down Sherbourne St. on June 21, 2010, in protest of the G20.
DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STARJayme Poisson
They were the first out of the gate, the first to occupy an Esso, and the first to disperse. Welcome to protesting G20-style.
About 100 protesters briefly occupied an Esso gas station and convenience store at Dundas and Church Sts. Monday afternoon in the first major protest of the G20 summit.
Some came with bandanas covering their faces. Others carried signs that read “Fake lake or human rights.” Most had a legal aid phone number scribbled across their forearms in case of arrest.
The main organizers, members of a Guelph-based anti-poverty group called Sense of Security, had vowed to “take a piece of property” in Toronto’s downtown core in an attempt to bring attention to lack of housing for the poor.
Traffic into Toronto via the 427 and Gardiner has been extremely light on Monday and Tuesday. Guess everyone except these fine folks from Guelph are staying away. Police presence in the security zone is extremely heavy. But North of King St. everything is "normal". BTW, Queen's Park, the official protest site for G20 shows very little activity at this point. Peacenik
Water cannon added to G20 security arsenal
A demonstrator lies on the ground after being hit by a police water cannon during an anti-government rally in Valparaiso, Chile, May 21 2010. Ivan Alvarado/Reuters
Toronto — The Canadian Press
Police have added a water cannon to their arsenal as they step up security ahead of this week's G20 summit in Toronto.
Provincial police Const. Michelle Murphy of the Integrated Security Unit says the water projection system will be used to control large crowds if there are riots.
Activists have promised to be out in force to protest the two-day summit of world leaders that starts Friday.
Const. Murphy says the security plan is moving ahead as planned and officers are being put in place.
G20 traffic fence can be closed at ‘a moment’s notice,’ police say
Jill Mahoney
Construction of the traffic fence in downtown Toronto is finished, allowing officers to close the area to motorists at “a moment’s notice” if there is a security risk, police say.
Construction of the traffic fence in downtown Toronto is finished, allowing officers to close the area to motorists at “a moment’s notice” if there is a security risk, police say.
Workers finished assembling the outer barrier surrounding the G20 summit zone on Monday morning.
“The fence is at a stage where … if we have any reason to believe there’s a security risk and we need to secure and close down that area completely, we have the ability to do that now,” said Constable Wendy Drummond, a spokeswoman for the Integrated Security Unit that is handling G20 security.
Const. Drummond said an emergency closure could happen on “a moment’s notice”. Fencing for the traffic diversion zone extends from Spadina Avenue in the west to Yonge Street in the east, and from King Street West south to Lake Shore Boulevard.
The Return of Punditman
Punditman has returned to the blogosphere to report on the G8/G20 Summits and protests and anything else that catches his eye.
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