G8/G20 June 2010 Protest Watch

[The Bread Guy]

<non-nazi Michael Moore tangent>

.... (watch Michael Moore's Sicko) ....

If Cuba's health system is so great, why are Canadians donating used hospital equipment to Cuba?
MEMO Cuba
Health Partners International Canada
<non-nazi Michael Moore tangent>

Back to the Protest Watch, attached is some of what Canadian Civil Liberties Association says should be kept in mind about security vs. Charter rights - an excerpt:

.... International experience demonstrates that prior contact between demonstrators and law enforcement can facilitate peaceful protests, and CCLA recognizes that it is not necessarily negative for the police to reach out to protesters prior to demonstrations. The way in which this outreach is done, however, needs to be carefully planned and executed to ensure that the outcome is facilitating peaceful protest, rather than intimidating or threatening those who may want to express dissent.

Law enforcement should approach protesters in a non-confrontational manner, and it must be made clear from the outset that answering questions, or engaging in any dialogue, is entirely voluntary. Attempts to contact individuals should be made by mail or email first, as per normal business practice. If it is decided that a telephone call or personal visit may be more productive in establishing a dialogue, officers should attempt to pre-arrange a meeting, and approach individuals at a mutually agreed-upon time and place. Under no circumstances should officers approach individuals in large intimidating groups, late at night, or at people’s workplaces ....

More in the attachment.

 

[mellian]

<non-nazi Michael Moore tangent>If Cuba's health system is so great, why are Canadians donating used hospital equipment to Cuba?

Maybe because a lot of the medical equipment is american and they are still have their embargo up?

 

[ArmyRick]

Interesting stuff to read on this thread so far

 

[Remius]

The thing that bothers me is that these protesters and their "diversity of tactics" don't realise that they marginalise themselves.  I've seen many protests in Ottawa.  Back when I worked for the NCC, almost every week there was some form of protest and yeah, the police were there dressed and equipped just in case.  Most of the protests were peaceful but you always have a few that cross the line and the police reacted not provoked.  Just a few weeks ago we saw a large protest against abortion.  Not sure what the numbers were but the last one before it was somewhere around 10 000 people.  Nothing smashed, no gas or batons or pepper spary.  Why?  they organised themselves properly, respected the law and yet they got the media's attention with a focus on the issue, not the event.  The yahoos going to the G8/G20 are out to cause problems.  It will completely take away from their causes and the focus will be on the conflict and crap that is stirred up with only a passing mention of what they think they stand for.  I feel sorry for legitimate groups that will have their voices drowned out by these jerks.  They are their own worst enemies.

 

[hugh19]

Mel, my now ex wife is Cuban. Sheloves Castro too LOL. But from what I can tell the cubans need help because of Castro. Not the embargo. If the Americans lifted the embargo the government would be in serious trouble as who would they blame then for their own incompetence? You know in Cuba you would be in jail for what you get to freely say here?

 

[mariomike]

National Post:
"If it costs a billion dollars to bring together world leaders without having demonstrators tear them to pieces, perhaps we shouldn’t be doing it at all. And if it really needs to be done, why pick the most populous area of Canada to do it in? How much would it cost to rent out a banquet hall in Iqaluit?"

"The previous estimate of $179 million in March has since ballooned to nearly a billion dollars, reminiscent of the Olympic security fiasco originally budgeted at $175 million that ended up coming in at over a billion.":
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/05/26/next-time-g20-poohpahs-should-bring-their-own-security/#ixzz0p5nzTd1l

Toronto Sun:
"But $1 billion for a two-day meeting?
“That’s a subway line,” said Kevin Gaudet of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation...":
http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/joe_warmington/2010/05/26/14106821.html

Rex Murphy:
"One billion dollars, zero sense:
So why are the leaders gathering in the middle of Canada's most populous city when the very idea of interacting with any of the city's population is absolutely impossible?":
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=3075851

CBC: "Where the money could've gone":
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/05/26/f-g8-g20-security-where-the-money-could-have-gone.html

 

[mellian]

Why?

Each general issue and message of protest will attract different kind people to the protest/demonstration, as well different kind of organizations and organizers. I mean, a church led protest will have better resources and coordination than an anti-war or anti-capitalism groups.

Also, in compare to other cities, protests in Ottawa tend to be pretty tame and Ottawa Police/local RCMP have more experience and usually better relations (at least communications) with the usual groups and organizations that have protests/demonstrations/marches. Whenever the capitol had something like G8/G20 or Bush coming to town, tend to attract more of the militant protesters from other cities. I remember some folks coming to Ottawa taking issue and question us having a dedicated police liaison and passing them a long our plans/routes.

 

[Thompson_JM]

National Post:
"If it costs a billion dollars to bring together world leaders without having demonstrators tear them to pieces, perhaps we shouldn’t be doing it at all. And if it really needs to be done, why pick the most populous area of Canada to do it in? How much would it cost to rent out a banquet hall in Iqaluit?"

"The previous estimate of $179 million in March has since ballooned to nearly a billion dollars, reminiscent of the Olympic security fiasco originally budgeted at $175 million that ended up coming in at over a billion.":
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/05/26/next-time-g20-poohpahs-should-bring-their-own-security/#ixzz0p5nzTd1l

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/05/26/next-time-g20-poohpahs-should-bring-their-own-security/

Toronto Sun:
"But $1 billion for a two-day meeting?
“That’s a subway line,” said Kevin Gaudet of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation...":
http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/joe_warmington/2010/05/26/14106821.html

I can agree with that....  Speaking as one of the many Reservists who lost his B/A contract due to restructuring and cutbacks which no doubt the Olympics and G8/20 certainly played a part in.....

There is no way a two day conference can be so beneficial and productive that it costs 1 billion dollars just for the security.... not to mention the inevitable cost of damages that all the stupid protests/riots will cause, plus the lost revenue to business' affected by the security grid etc....

I think you're on to something Mike.... maybe we should be having these things somewhere like Nunavit.... Its a hell of a lot easier to do security there.....
I mean for what we are paying, you could probabbly build a bomb shelter to run the whole thing in.......

 

[The Bread Guy]

This from the Toronto Star:

Riotous protesters marching at the G20 summit next month may be greeted with ear-splitting “sound cannons,” the latest Toronto police tool for quelling unruly crowds.

Toronto police have purchased four, long-range acoustic devices (LRAD) — often referred to as sound guns or sound cannons — for the upcoming June 26-27 summit, the Star has learned.

Purchased this month, the LRADs will become a permanent fixture in Toronto law enforcement, said police spokesperson Const. Wendy Drummond.

“They were purchased as part of the G20 budget process,” Drummond said. “It’s definitely going to be beneficial for us, not only in the G20 but in any future large gatherings.”

Drummond stressed the devices will primarily be used by police as a “communication tool.” The devices double as loudspeakers and can blast booming, directional messages or emergency notifications in 50 different languages; Drummond said Toronto police have used one of the devices already while executing a search warrant this month ,,,,

And what advice does the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have on using such hardware?
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/92495/post-937965.html#msg937965

There are a number of newer crowd control weapons that have not yet been employed in Canada. In general, these weapons target groups of people, rather than individuals. In many cases the health effects are not well known and give rise to serious concerns.  CCLA is particularly concerned about the possible use of the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD, or sound cannon). We request assurances that LRAD will not be deployed at the G20. If the LRAD will be deployed, we request that the ISU follow the Vancouver Police Department’s lead and disable the ‘alert’ function of the weapon.

 

[Michael OLeary]

The CCLA note on sound cannons can be found here.  Coincidentally, searches for "firebomb", "molotov" and "brick" have no results indicating their potential health risk to the target audience.

 

[The Bread Guy]

The CCLA note on sound cannons can be found here.  Coincidentally, searches for "firebomb", "molotov" and "brick" have no results indicating their potential health risk to the target audience.

None in the document attached to the other post, either - funny, that...

 

[The Bread Guy]

This from the Toronto Star:

Ottawa will not reimburse property owners for broken windows or other protest-related damage during the G20 summit, says Councillor Adam Vaughan.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable,” Vaughan told reporters Thursday. “They’re bringing this party to town. They know what accompanies this sort of event. For them to walk away from small businesses…is an absolute disgrace.”

Property owners in the downtown Entertainment District have trouble obtaining insurance coverage due to the presence of revellers, he said.

The city asked Ottawa to post a bond to cover damage claims, but the federal government has said no to compensation, he said ....

This from the Globe & Mail:

The federal government won’t compensate property owners in downtown Toronto for damage sustained during next month’s G20 summit.

A May 21 e-mail from a G20 Foreign Affairs liaison says that while businesses can apply for ex-gratia compensation “related to financial loss as a result of the extraordinary security measures” associated with the summit, “if there are losses or damages caused by third parties, including vandalism, payment will not be provided. … These types of damages are insurable under normal insurance coverage.”

The federal government is spending close to $1-billion on summit security, much of it going to protect delegates and maintain order in Toronto’s densely populated downtown core.

That figure dwarfs the amount spent on security for previous summits – Ottawa has attributed that discrepancy to the fact that this will be the first double-header G8 and G20 summit.

“The federal government has reneged on what we thought was a commitment to pay for damage done during the G20. So store owners, condominiums, private homeowners, all within the private security zone - if their windows are broken or their cars are damaged or any other property damaged as a result of protests or God knows what, the federal government has said they won’t compensate people,” Mr. Vaughan said ....

 

[The Bread Guy]

It's starting....

First signs of G20 protest show up in Toronto. ATM's spray painted at TD, Scotia and RBC. Pictures to follow.

Toronto photojournalist's photos of some G20 damage at ATMs:

More from the Canadian Press:

One person has reportedly been arrested for allegedly spray-painting anti-G20 slogans on several banks in downtown Toronto.

CP24 reports at least five banks and several ATMs were targeted and that a suspect went from bank to bank on a bicycle.

The vandalism comes hours before officials hold a news conference in Toronto to announce security plans for the summit next month ....

More on the noisemakers:

Some of the "unprecedented" security measures police have adopted to keep the peace during the upcoming G8/G20 conferences in Ontario border on intimidation and could squelch dissent, say civil liberties watchdogs.

Their concerns include the possible deployment of ear-splitting "sonic cannons," unannounced police visits with protesters leading up to the summit and unnecessarily large security perimeters.

"We need to be protecting (protesters') rights just as much as we're protecting the leaders at the summit," said Abby Deshman, project director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Toronto police have purchased four long-range acoustic devices (LRADs), which can be used to transmit messages over a long distance — but can also emit high-pitched sounds.

Deshman said these devices are a concern because they can cause permanent damage if people are exposed to the sounds for too long. "We view it as a weapon," she said.

Meaghan Gray, a spokeswoman for the force's Integrated Security Unit, said Thursday the devices were purchased primarily to make public announcements. They can transmit messages in multiple languages, she said.

However, Gray said police have not ruled out the use of the high-frequency alert function as a way to "get people's attention," but added that the function would only be used in quick blasts — lasting two to five seconds — if deployed ....

Parliament's budget watchdog looking into summit costs:

Parliament’s budget watchdog is turning his careful financial eye to the massive $1-billion security bill estimated for the next month’s G8 and G20 summits.

Kevin Page confirmed this afternoon his office is debating the objectives, approach, timing and dimensions of an investigation into the costs, which appear to have dramatically escalated over several months, to secure the summits that will take place in Huntsville and Toronto over only three days.

Mr. Page and his office are responding to a request from the NDP to investigate, which they received Wednesday ....

Rex Murphy's take:

.... Summits are the high holy days, the carnival of ritual protest and vacuous street theatre. You can't hold a "global" anything these days, even a joyful event like the Olympics, without the tired kabuki of protest groups jamming the streets, shouting their impenetrable litany of anti-everything. They're always acccompanied, of course, by the usual band of black-masked pseudo-anarchists allergic to Starbucks and thirsty for the two-day fame a little provocation or a lot of violence can bring them ....

Some socialistproject.ca highlights:

.... Though much of the debate in the corporate media has focused on security threats, fences, the relocation of weddings, consistently typecasting the mobilizations as the protestors pitted against the cops – conversations on the ground are markedly different. Lesley Wood is an organizer with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and a sociologist who has studied large mobilizations for over a decade. Wood noted that: “Since Seattle in 2001 when the anti-globalization movement had its coming out party, many have questioned the lack of participation of community groups and ongoing campaigns in large mobilizations. People doing anti-police brutality work, organizing in housing, growing food, fighting for childcare have sometimes struggled to connect their local struggles with one-time circuses that come through their city.” Wood believes that Toronto is seeing a coalescing of social movements and as June 2010 comes closer, participation from community groups in Toronto has greatly increased.

“Having seen the bruised faces of our mothers; the broken legs of our youth; the public humiliation of our neighbours; summer curfews and the militarization of our schools, our communities are constantly reminded that law enforcement does not solve crime it sustains it; just like military efforts around the world do not create peace, they destroy it,” says Greg Walsh, an activist in the Jane and Finch community who sees resistance to the G20 as part of his everyday work ....

Canadian Trucking Alliance asked to keep an eye peeled:

CTA met with RCMP representatives to discuss impacts of the G8 and G20 Summits which take place June 25, 26 and 27 in Huntsville and Toronto, respectively.  RCMP officials discussed the valuable role carriers can play in assisting security during these events by reporting any irregular activity, such as thefts and other suspicious behaviour to officials as soon as the incident occurs.

RCMP officials appealed to all Canadian carriers to keep an eye out for and report suspicious behaviour, as potentially dangerous activities aimed at the G8 and G20 Summits could originate in any part of the country.  As well, due to the large number of carriers on the road at all times, security officials may appeal to the trucking community act as “look-outs” should a security threat be identified....

- edited to re-arrange stories, add CP coverage -

 

[Jarnhamar]

These protests are just turning into venues for people to cause damage.  Just like Halloween is turning into a chance for people to dress like cheap Hollywood prostitutes, or worse.
What kind of message does spray painting an ATM have? You're rebelling against the world bank and bankers for the economy? Or you're a prick with a can of paint. 


Mellian,
I'm not trying to call you out or anything, I'm posting this here so if I'm out of line, the Mods (and our fellow posters) can tell me so and sort me out, including apologies. (Also because I'm using this thread as an example)

I've been reading a lot of your posts, even going back a ways to your post history. The fact that you really really want to join the CF is pretty obvious (and to be respected IMO).

As far as being "old school, new school" army, I'm all new.  As far as posters here go I think I'm pretty liberal in my views. (Not the political party, I mean open to new ideas and new ways of thinking).

That said it's still the military and there is still a certain flavor or way of thinking. I'm struggling to find the word. I hate the with us or against us attitude.  Despite differing opinions among soldiers  there is still a certain core of beliefs or mind set.  Reading your posts I get the feeling that you "don't get it".  I get the feeling that if and when you join the CF you'll be constantly questioning everything and challenging what you are taught and told. Do you think it's going to be a constant uphill battle for you? Do you think your entire career will involve you challenging the system and trying to change it? Are you going to be able to follow orders you don't like or agree with? Do you really think the military is the place for you? Not to promote group think but I have a little bit of time in and I can tell you that it's not all about skill and brains. If you don't mesh well with your peers it's not as rewarding an environment to be in..

So I'm reading your posts about protesters and it feels like you are trying to play down the damage chaos and havoc that they are creating. There are a few cliche bad apples and they are ruining it for everyone- then you compare it to "bad apples in the military".

To effectively have the same sort of "few bad apples" in the military we would be having platoons or whole companies of soldiers over in Afghanistan raping pillaging and shooting civilians. Burning business's, setting things on fire and clashing with local authorities with no other reason than they represent law. Not just single soldiers here and there, guilty of rape, assault and murder. Among your peace and love protester's are roving bands smashing and setting fire to anything in their path, including people. 
Please stop comparing protesters and the trouble makers there to the military and the trouble makes we have. The ratio is pretty skewered.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Nice post...............

 

[The Bread Guy]

- edited to add spray paint arrest story -

This from the National Post:

Police have arrested a Toronto man in connection with anti-G20 graffiti spray-painted on downtown banks overnight.

Vandals spray-painted slogans such as “Resist G20″ and “Stop the G20″ on bank walls, windows and ATMs along Spadina Avenue between College and Dundas Streets.

The screens of several ATMs had been covered in spray paint, as had a parked police vehil.e

Samuel Bradley Kadosh, 22, has been charged with nine counts of mischief under $5,000. Police are looking for at least one other suspect.

A witness told CP24 she saw two white men in their early 20s spray paint a TD Canada Trust branch before disappearing into a nearby alleyway. Both were dressed in black; black bandanas covered their faces ....

PDF of security zone map attached - here's some of the news release - highlight mine for those who say "but the leaders won't be able to see us":

.... There will be an area around the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in which vehicle and pedestrian traffic is controlled.  As with most international summits, security fencing will be used to secure this area.

Security perimeterThe exact location of this security perimeter is represented on the attached map.

The fence will be erected in the weeks leading up to the Summit.  The Toronto Police Service hopes that members of the public will be able to move freely throughout the fenced perimeter until the evening of Friday, June 25, 2010.  However, the Toronto Police Service will have the ability to control access to this area in the days leading up to June 25 if security reasons dictate such control.

Torontonians who live and work within this area have been offered a Registration Card in order to facilitate quick passage through the security checkpoints that will be part of the Toronto Police Service security perimeter.

Members of the public who have not received a Registration Card or who do not live or work in the area but require access into the security perimeter will have to present a piece of photo identification and clearly articulate a specific purpose and destination to be allowed through.  This process may take some time and those seeking access into the security perimeter are asked to exercise patience when doing so.

(....)

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of thought, belief, opinion, expression and peaceful assembly.  The Integrated Security Unit values these rights and will work to uphold them while ensuring public safety, peace and good order are maintained in Toronto.

We believe most groups will want to express themselves in a peaceful and responsible manner.

However, we are preparing for any eventuality.  Any interaction police have with demonstrators will be measured, balanced and appropriate to the circumstances at hand.

(S)pecific charges will be applicable to anyone breaching a security perimeter or committing criminal offences.

The Integrated Security Unit has worked with the City of Toronto to identify North Queen’s Park as the Designated Speech Area.

As a Designated Speech Area, it will be equipped with audio-visual equipment that will televise the activities at the Park to the delegates at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

It is our hope that people will take advantage of this area and express themselves in a peaceful, lawful way....

 

[zipperhead_cop]

Nice post...............

Yeah, but it just feeds the attention seeking tendencies. 

 

[The Bread Guy]

No tables at designated protest sites:

Keep the tables at home, protestors. At least that’s what one activist has been told by G20 security officials.

Toronto lawyer Bryant Greenbaum had hoped to set up a booth in both Huntsville and Toronto to hand out brochures and other information regarding TSX listing mining companies in Africa.

But in an e-mail exchange, an Integrated Security Unit official told him that officers won’t be allowing any tables in the designated protest zones.

“Surely I can not fully exercise my rights to freedom of expression and assembly if I must stand or sit on the grass holding on to documents and laptops with my spare hands,” Greenbaum said in an e-mail.

Don't like the sonic cannons Toronto Police are going to have handy? No worries - the Council of Canadians is here to help:

The Council of Canadians will give away free earplugs during the G20 to protect people from the permanent hearing loss that may result from the sound cannons recently purchased by G20 security forces.  Police have announced that they have purchased four sound cannons or long-range acoustic devices to communicate with crowds during G20 protests. The devices can cause extreme pain and are only partially directional.

“Saying a sound cannon is a tool for communications is like saying waterboarding isn’t torture, just a tool for encouraging dialogue,” said Mark Calzavara, the Regional Organizer for the Council of Canadians. “These weapons affect a large area are used without accountability. The victims won’t know who fired them and won’t be able to prove they were targeted ....

 

[The Bread Guy]

Why cops instead of troops?  Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is one of those politicians who, if they think they see a chance to take a shot at the opposition, they take it. There are politicians like that on all sides of the political spectrum.

I raise that point because I think that instinct must surely explain this odd exchange, aired today on CTV's Question Period, in which host Craig Oliver discusses the $930-million tab for the security of the G8 and G20 summits with Toews. The summits are to be held on the same weekend in Canada at the end of June. The government had originally believed security would be somewhere around $150 million.

Oliver, like many Canadians and many journalists, wonders why the government just didn't use the army to guard world leaders rather than pay overtime, etc. to unionized police forces like the RCMP and OPP. Toews presents an odd argument: If we went with the soldiers, the Liberals would have got upset:

    OLIVER: You're spending hundreds of millions of dollars here on RCMP overtime.

    TOEWS: Yes.

    OLIVER: Who made the decision not to use the army more, especially for rather simple security jobs like perimeter defence and things like that? Their basic salaries are dramatically lower and they don't get overtime. I mean why didn't you use the army?

    TOEWS: Well we did, in fact, use the army in the Olympics. It's quite another thing when you start bringing the army in a civilian context, into a civilian setting. You know, of course, what the opposition parties would say, the Liberals, they would say the army in streets with guns. Do you remember that advertisement? It's exactly the kind of fear that Liberals want to invoke in terms of Canadians. Canadians understand that in a democracy you have the police rather than the army in the streets. And so those are political decisions you make, but I think they're very, from a perception point of view, very, very important.

    OLIVER: So the fact that you were worried about what the Liberals might say could have cost Canadians a couple hundred million dollars?

    TOEWS: What I'm very concerned about is that Canada has certain principles. We are a democratic nation. We don't resort to the military in our streets unless we come to very extreme circumstances. We obviously are working closely with the military on this, but we believe that the best, the best organization to conduct the security in a civilian context are police rather than military.

AG says she's ready to look at the bills....

Auditor General Sheila Fraser is ready to look at the huge security costs for the G8 and G20 summit meetings next month.

''Once the events have occurred and the spending has occurred we can look to see if it was done appropriately,'' she told CTV's Question Period on Sunday.

The billion-dollar tab for security prompted angry clashes in the House of Commons last week, with Public Safety Minister Vic Toews staunchly defending the costs.

''It certainly seems like a lot of money,'' Fraser said. ''I think we have to understand better what is it for.''

She said the audit would be routine.

''Given the amount of spending, it is something that we would normally look at in our financial work,'' she said ....

...while ANARCHISTS COMPLAIN ABOUT THE BILL?!?!?!

.... Speaking at the 11th annual Montreal anarchist book fair Saturday, attendees criticized the federal government for spending such a sum to keep protesters at bay.

Jaggi Singh, 29, a book fair organizer who said he is planning to protest against the summits, dismissed the meetings as places "where rich men and women defend their interests against other rich men and women."

News about the massive security at the summits, far greater in terms of cost than previous summits, is "psychological warfare" meant to deter protesters. It won't work, he said. "We do have a permit to protest," added Singh. "It's called the Charter of Rights."

The World Socialists help spread the key messages:

Security forces are using the twin summits to extend the police powers of the Canadian state.

A late-night fire-bombing of a Royal Bank branch in Ottawa in mid-May—reportedly perpetrated by individuals protesting against the use of Aboriginal land during the Vancouver Olympics and the bank’s funding of tar sands projects in Alberta—has provided the political climate for security forces to demand an even larger role in not only the lock-down of Toronto but in further attacking democratic rights across the country.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that the attack was carried out by agents provocateurs from within the state’s security apparatus.

Canada’s Conservative government and police-security establishment are using next month’s summits to refine their techniques and operational capabilities for use in the event of social unrest and to acclimatize the population to police-state type measures.

(To be fair, even the World Socialists are clear about the (non)utility of firebombing and arson in "the workers' fight")

Just as in the fire-bombing of a bank in Athens, Greece earlier this month that killed three bank workers, such “direct action” tactics do nothing to advance the cause of working people fighting against the everyday violence of the global capitalist system.

Union leader:  we should get someone to get the cops to stop instigating violence?

Security needs for the G8/G20 may be “unprecedented” as the government claims, but so is the need for ordinary Canadians to be heard, says the union leader who made headlines at the Montebello summit for his attempts to stop undercover police officers from infiltrating a peaceful protest.

Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union says “as the G8/G20 looms, Canadians want to be assured they can confidently exercise their free speech rights, without the threat of police intimidation and violence, such as we saw the last time.”

“Protesters should be guaranteed that the government will not use police to incite violence again. Otherwise, how does legitimate dissent get a hearing?”

“At the same time, world leaders must know that they can come to Canada without having to worry about violence instigated by police agents to discredit those who want to assemble peacefully to express their views.” ....

 

[Old Sweat]

It's all so totally obvious. The powers of state repression are going to use the army to pretend to be, like, protestors and break, like stuff and things, y'know. It's like awesomely sinister. Too bad for them, the little voices in my head tipped me off.