G8/G20 June 2010 Protest Watch

[Old Sweat]

Like it or not, the G20, because of its size and complexity, has to be in a major urban centre. This makes it an easy target for the protesting community, which escalates the security costs and the chances of something going all to s--t. This is something a reasonably intelligent second lieutenant would have figured out in about two weeks into the planning. That very highly paid public servants could not see the forest for the (Muskoka?) trees is disturbing.

 

[mariomike]

Principally PPP* in the PCO. It was a political (pork barrel variety) decision to have the G8 in Muskoka, but simple logistics dictated that Deerhurst, while 'nice' for the G8, could not accommodate the G20. The PCO is supposed to prevent these sorts of things, but ...


----------
Piss Poor Planning

It was also recommended to Ottawa that, if they must move G20 to Toronto, that they have it at the CNE, rather than the Metro Convention Centre:
http://forums.milnet.ca/forums/threads/92495/post-950697.html#msg950697

 

[George Wallace]

It was also recommended to Ottawa that, if they must move G20 to Toronto, that they have it at the CNE, rather than the Metro Convention Centre:
http://forums.milnet.ca/forums/threads/92495/post-950697.html#msg950697

The CNE Grounds would have been an even larger "Security Nightmare".  How would you secure the CNE Grounds and the various other locations where the Delegates were to sleep and have privacy, as well as all the families that accompanied them, not to mention all their staff, a requirement for a constant shuttle service between the many locations, etc.?  By far the Toronto Convention Centre is a world class facility with hotel and shopping all within its precincts.  The arguments for the CNE location were pretty much ruled out for these reasons. 

 

[zipperhead_cop]

Okay how's this?
Cops are bad.  We can't be trusted.  We are vicious thugs and can't be around normal people. 

So quite simply, don't invite the police to the next G8, 20, 31, OAS, OPEC whatever meeting.  Have the meeting, call if anything happens.  We'll be purely reactive and only roll out when somebody calls for a problem. 

Nothing could go wrong with that plan. 

 

[vonGarvin]

Okay how's this?
Cops are bad.  We can't be trusted.  We are vicious thugs and can't be around normal people. 

So quite simply, don't invite the police to the next G8, 20, 31, OAS, OPEC whatever meeting.  Have the meeting, call if anything happens.  We'll be purely reactive and only roll out when somebody calls for a problem. 

Nothing could go wrong with that plan.

;D

 

[Loachman]

Okay how's this?
Cops are bad.  We can't be trusted.  We are vicious thugs and can't be around normal people.

I NEW it. I could just tell the first time that I met you.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Okay how's this?
Cops are bad.  We can't be trusted.  We are vicious thugs and can't be around normal people. 

So quite simply, don't invite the police to the next G8, 20, 31, OAS, OPEC whatever meeting.  Have the meeting, call if anything happens.  We'll be purely reactive and only roll out when somebody calls for a problem. 

Nothing could go wrong with that plan. 

[size=8pt][size=10pt]
POST OF THE WEEK!![/size][/size]

This needs to go viral........

 

[mariomike]

Okay how's this?
Cops are bad.  We can't be trusted.  We are vicious thugs and can't be around normal people. 

So quite simply, don't invite the police to the next G8, 20, 31, OAS, OPEC whatever meeting.  Have the meeting, call if anything happens.  We'll be purely reactive and only roll out when somebody calls for a problem. 

Nothing could go wrong with that plan.

Would out of town officers not miss the overtime if that were to happen?
An ETF medic and a Toronto Police sergeant both told me they made over $4,000 OT., and are looking forward to the next one.

 

[J.J]

Would out of town officers not miss the overtime if that were to happen?
An ETF medic and a Toronto Police sergeant both told me they made over $4,000 OT., and are looking forward to the next one.

???

(on the plus side there wasn't a link with your reply)

 

[Container]

So......

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/toronto-cop-faces-assault-with-a-weapon-charge-for-g20-arrest-of-protester-112255149.html

Charge laid against Toronto police officer from the video. I anticipate (having watched the video) that the police officer will be aquitted. And if he doesnt it will be appealed.

Alternatively, the officer will be told to "just plead guilty" to assault, and get a conditional discharghe so it all goes away.

Personally. I'd fight it. All just opinion of course. I'll be keeping an eye on this!

 

[Thompson_JM]

These Hippies are P***ing me off more and more every day.....

Seriously.... you think we live in a police state? Go protest in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Korea, et al.....


Then see how bad you have it.....

The Crap I'm seeing the Cops have to put up with is actually starting to make me rethink if I really want to deal with all that in a career in LE...

Please someone tell me it's actually worth it.....  :-\

 

[Container]

Warning- little off topic police recruitment, love me rant:

......... I havent quit yet. Does that count as an endorsement? I was talking to a year constable and I asked why he joined.
He said "Job security" he was a plumber prior, and he is going back- it isnt "worth it" to him. You cant really tell until you make it to your second year. Once the buzz wears off and the reality sets in. For some people its a calling that if you didnt go to work and eat crap sandwichs day after day (and it really is EVERYDAY) you would lose your mind. Somebody has to do it- the same thing that makes people sleep in a ditch, or run into a burning building.

It cant just be a job. Cause if you have that attitude you'll just wind up part of the problem we're having currently in the police world.

Pluses- Ive seen this country top to bottom, east to west on the Queens dime. You see things no one else sees, you have a chance to try and help people out and you get paid well. And if you carry yourself with respect and treat others well- every once and a while you have a really good conversation with someone who lives such a different life that it REALLY gives you some perspective.

And if your community sucks you know exactly who to blame. We get to do some very cool things too- Im always learning. And then there is the sweet nectar- adrenaline. Oh how I love you. I made some friends in the north as a police officer that I have a closer connection with than anybody on the planet. I buried friends, consoled coworkers after huge losses, drove their wives to the hospital in a blizzard to deliver the first child. Celebrated birthdays, Christmas, and other holidays in uniform....once chased a man for 6 km's in a foot chase across tundra until we got in a huge fight on a pile of caribou bones. When I got on top of him he said "What the hell are you doing here?" to which I replied, "Im a mountie. And youre under arrest". (I was super proud of how clever it sounded- I was like Benton Fraser!) Chased polar bears on a skidoo shooting them with rubber bullets.....

Who gets to do that stuff? Only some of us. But then there are other things- I flew into a town and had a 12 year old hang himself on my house, having the only porch in town with the right requirements, and going outside because something is slamming against my house. Interviewed children with STD's, did chest compressions on a man who was shot in the box of a truck driving to the hospital. Watched a few people stick rifles in their mouthes. You see good people at their worst and no one says thank you- you were never fast enough, or you are stupid, lazy, or corrupt. You go to court and a lawyer calls you a liar until he feels like he has made his point. Thats universal- but there are neat things city or mountie and no two careers are the same.

So yeah....for some its worth it. Not everyone. Just like the CF- if everyone could do it it wouldnt be for me. I've had really good luck meeting only the good ones in my CF days and in my policing career. I know the "others" are out there. But Im fortunate so far- and I promise you that the "bad ones" wont get a pass when I do meet them.

 

[Thompson_JM]

Warning- little off topic police recruitment, love me rant:

....once chased a man for 6 km's in a foot chase across tundra until we got in a huge fight on a pile of caribou bones. When I got on top of him he said "What the hell are you doing here?" to which I replied, "Im a mountie. And youre under arrest". (I was super proud of how clever it sounded- I was like Benton Fraser!) Chased polar bears on a skidoo shooting them with rubber bullets.....

I was gonna say.... That sounds like something straight from Due South! lol

Thanks for putting it back in perspective Container. 

Sounds like it's a lot of the same things I love about the CF....  Maybe it's time to add the Queens Cowboys to the list of services to apply for....  8)

 

[Container]

We're in the middle of a "organizational shift". We're having numerous "issues"- most of them wearing uniforms, but give it a few years and we'll figure it out. Until then the rest of us are just doing our jobs. Its a hard time to be a mountie right now. But every organization hits these growth periods.

We can always use ex-CF'ers with integrity! Only two of us from my troop went to the territories - NWT and Nunavut, both ex-cf, and we loved it. If those stories sound interesting its the tip of the iceberg- seriously. But there are interesting stories that come from everywhere.

It is a good time to apply however. So if you want to be part of changes- sign up!

 

[The Bread Guy]

<foreign tangent>
And for those who still think "anarchists" are just young revolutionaries punks busting some windows to stick it to "the man", check this out....

An Italian anarchist group claimed responsibility for parcel bombs on Thursday that wounded two people at the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome, a reminder of Europe's home-grown threats at a time of political instability.

A Swiss man was seriously wounded and rushed to hospital. An employee at the Chilean embassy was less seriously hurt. A note was found stuck to his clothing, claiming responsibility for the attack on behalf of the FAI, or Informal Anarchist Federation.

"We have decided to make our voice heard with words and with facts, we will destroy the system of dominance, long live the FAI, long-live Anarchy," said the note, written in Italian, which was released in the evening by the police.

The incidents bore similarities to an episode in Greece last month in which far-left militants sent parcel bombs to foreign governments abroad and to embassies in Athens.

The note was signed by the "Lambros Fountas revolutionary cell" of the FAI, named for a Greek anarchist killed in a clash with Athens police in March. It also made reference to anarchist movements in Chile, Mexico, Spain and Argentina.

"Greece, Italy and Spain have seen the presence of anarcho-insurrectionalist groups that are tightly linked," Italy's Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said before the note was found. "They are very violent."

The FAI is well known to Italian authorities. Intelligence services said in a report to parliament last year that it was "the main national terrorist threat of an anarchist-insurrectionalist type." ....

</foreign tangent>

 

[The Bread Guy]

Artist cleared of all weapons charges in G20 case
ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY, Globe and Mail Update, Published Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011
Article link
<blockquote>Byron Sonne and Kristen Peterson were both in court again Wednesday – their legal fates pulling the husband and wife once again in opposite directions.

Ms. Peterson, a visual artist known for playing with perspective and perceptions of space, saw all her charges dropped. She and her husband both were charged with collecting the materials used to make triacetone triperoxide – the potent explosive made notorious for its use in terrorist attacks – and possession of dangerous weapons. Mr. Sonne was also charged with mischief and two rare charges of intimidating members of the justice system.

Ms. Peterson and her parents were “thrilled” at the news she can return to normalcy, said lawyer Brian Heller.

Meanwhile, Mr. Sonne, a computer expert whose ties run deep in Toronto’s hacker community, had his first day of preliminary hearing after spending months in police custody.

Both were arrested within days of each other at their million-dollar Forest Hill home in June, and accused of planning what was to be an ambitious attack in connection with the G20 summit.

As Ms. Peterson went free, with Crown attorneys saying there’s no reasonable prospect of conviction, legal teams were arguing both sides of Mr. Sonne’s case. The preliminary hearing is under a publication ban ....</blockquote>
More on link

 

[Rifleman62]

Three Chapters. Chapter three is Reserve Pension

2011 Spring Report of the Auditor General of Canada

http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/med_fs_e_35004.html

The 2011 Spring Report of the Auditor General of Canada will be tabled in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 5 April 2011. The following is a brief description of the chapters contained in the Report.

Chapter 1—Expenditures for the 2010 G8 and G20 Summits. The chapter looks at the development of financial plans and budgets, funding requests, and recording of expenditures for the G8 and G20 summits. It also examines whether the amounts spent were used for the intended purposes—for security, policing, organizing, and hosting of the summits. The audit did not examine the effectiveness of the summits or the appropriateness of the level of security or hosting provided. Nor did it question the merit of goods and services identified by summit planners as requirements.

Chapter 2—G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund. The host region for the June 2010 G8 Summit received $50 million in federal funding under the G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund. The purpose was to fund projects sponsored through municipalities or the province that would help the region prepare for the 2010 G8 Summit, enhance local infrastructure, and showcase the natural beauty of the area for foreign dignitaries and media. The chapter looks at how the G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund was established, how it was funded, and how projects were selected. The audit did not examine the effectiveness of projects or the processes used by other government partners to assess projects and put them forward for approval.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Mods - if you think this is better in the election thread, feel free to move it.

2011 Spring Report of the Auditor General of Canada

http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/med_fs_e_35004.html

The 2011 Spring Report of the Auditor General of Canada will be tabled in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 5 April 2011. The following is a brief description of the chapters contained in the Report.

Chapter 1—Expenditures for the 2010 G8 and G20 Summits. The chapter looks at the development of financial plans and budgets, funding requests, and recording of expenditures for the G8 and G20 summits. It also examines whether the amounts spent were used for the intended purposes—for security, policing, organizing, and hosting of the summits. The audit did not examine the effectiveness of the summits or the appropriateness of the level of security or hosting provided. Nor did it question the merit of goods and services identified by summit planners as requirements.

Chapter 2—G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund. The host region for the June 2010 G8 Summit received $50 million in federal funding under the G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund. The purpose was to fund projects sponsored through municipalities or the province that would help the region prepare for the 2010 G8 Summit, enhance local infrastructure, and showcase the natural beauty of the area for foreign dignitaries and media. The chapter looks at how the G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund was established, how it was funded, and how projects were selected. The audit did not examine the effectiveness of projects or the processes used by other government partners to assess projects and put them forward for approval.

Just in time for the election, something in one of the drafts caught The Canadian Press' - and others' - eyes:

The Harper government misinformed Parliament to win approval for a $50-million G8 fund that lavished money on dubious projects in a Conservative riding, the auditor general has concluded.

And she suggests the process by which the funding was approved may have been illegal.

The findings are contained in the draft of a confidential report Sheila Fraser was to have tabled in Parliament on April 5. The report analyzed the $1-billion cost of staging last June's G8 summit in Ontario cottage country and a subsequent gathering of G20 leaders in downtown Toronto.

It was put on ice when the Harper government was defeated and is not due to be released until sometime after the May 2 election. However, a Jan. 13 draft of the chapter on the G8 legacy infrastructure fund was obtained by a supporter of an opposition party and shown to The Canadian Press .... The Canadian Press was not given access to the entire report on the $1 billion in G8 and G20 spending, and Fraser's conclusions on overall spending were not available ....

Note how CBC's latest earlier version of this story as of this post (also attached if link doesn't work) doesn't say how CP saw the report :tsktsk:

- edited to add "earlier" because CBC story does now include source -

 

[The Bread Guy]

And here's what the A-G has to say:

We will not release or comment on our audit report on the G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund. Under the Auditor General Act, we can only present reports when Parliament is sitting. The Office of the Auditor General of Canada remains the custodian of its reports until they are presented to the Speaker of the House of Commons for tabling.

I strongly caution the public to wait until our final report on the G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund has been tabled in Parliament and made public.

We work very hard to keep our reports confidential before they are tabled. There are indications that an early draft of this report may have been released by someone outside our Office. Our normal audit process requires that we share early drafts of our reports with government departments. We do this so they can validate the facts on which our conclusions are based, provide any additional relevant information, and so they can prepare responses to our recommendations. Sometimes during the process of fact validation, additional information is brought to our attention. Only the final report that is tabled in Parliament represents our audit findings and conclusions.

 

[PuckChaser]

Sounds like a partisan member of the AG staff got ahold of this and leaked it. Whoever did that should be fired.