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July 2, 2010 - No. 125
All Out to Defend the Right to Fight
the Anti-People Agendas of the G8/20!
All Out to Defend the Right to Fight
the Anti-People Agendas of the G8/20!
• Thousands in
Toronto Demand "Independent Public Inquiry Now!"
• Vigorous Montreal Demonstration Opposes
Unjust Arrests and the G8/20
• Hamilton Holds "Drop All Charges Rally"
• Windsor Demonstration Denounces G8/20 and
Police Intimidation
Statements
• Marxist-Leninist Party of Quebec (PMLQ)
• Public Service Alliance of Canada
• Council of Canadians
• University of Toronto Unions
• Toronto Post-Secondary Students
• Toronto Community Mobilization Network
Letters to the Editor
• We Will Not "Turn the Page" on State
Hooliganism!
• No to State Violence and Impunity! Women
Will Never Submit!
• Resistance Is a Right
• This Is Canadian Democracy, Not an
Aberration
For Your Information
• Police Disinformation
All Out to Defend the Right to Fight the
Anti-People Agendas of the G8/20!
Thousands in Toronto Demand
"Independent Public Inquiry Now!"
As many as 4,000 people rallied at Queen's Park on July
1 to denounce the gestapo tactics used by police and security forces
against those opposing the G8/20 Summits and to demand a full
independent public inquiry.
Several speakers addressed the rally and spoke to the
widespread demands for an independent public inquiry. Pointing to the
central issue of the protests, one of the speakers in particular
emphasized that the breaking of a few windows is nothing compared to
the state terrorism and killings organized
by the countries of the G8. Through the mass action the people affirmed
that they will not be intimidated from publicly speaking out on issues
of concern to them, whether in Canada or abroad. A rally was announced
for July 10 to continue to push for a public inquiry.
Many of those present had been part of the mass actions
against the G8/20. Many others had came out because of knowing someone
who had been unjustly detained during the protests against the summit
and have gone into motion because of their outrage at the gestapo
police tactics. Among the speakers
were a number of detainees including a young journalist and a young man
who, like many others were detained simply because of being in the
vicinity of a violent police attack. Detainees recounted all manner of
unjust activity by the police including threats of rape and sexual
violence against the them. A street
medic spoke of the injuries inflicted by police which they had dealt
with during the
weekend.
The spirit of the rally was to refuse to be silenced or
cowed down by the gestapo police tactics and to stand with and assist
all those who had been arrested in every way possible. A speaker for
the Toronto Community Mobilization Network pointed out that many of
those targeted for arrest are active
every day in their communities in fighting the policies imposed by the
G8/20. Wherever these bodies convene they are met with the opposition
of the
people. People will continue to say, NO! This world and its
resources are not for their profits. We say the G20
should not meet anywhere, the speaker affirmed.
Throughout the rally and march slogans demanded the
resignation of Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, and those of McGuinty
and Stephen Harper as well. Marchers affirmed "We Don't Want a Police
State" and "Protesting is Not a Crime" and "Whose Streets? Our
Streets!" Police blocked the march
from getting to the police headquarters and one arrest was made after
the march had continued back to Queen's Park. The rally concluded
asserting that the police and authorities will not break us, this is
just the beginning!
Vigorous Montreal Demonstration Opposes
Unjust Arrests and the
G20!
More than 1,000 people of all ages and from all walks of
life
converged on July 1 at Phillips Square in Montreal to oppose the police
violence and mass arrests during the G20 Summit in Toronto. Amongst the
protesters were a large number of social and political activists who
had participated in actions against the G8/20 in Toronto. Most of them
were youth and many had been
arrested, subjected to terror tactics, beaten, held incommunicado,
threatened with rape, called "terrorists," etc. Demonstrators were full
of anger and indignation and stood in solidarity with the 1,000 who
were arrested so as to criminalize dissent
against the G8/20 and their neoliberal wrecking.
Many spokespersons of organizations that took part in
the demonstrations against the G8/G20 denounced the fascist police
forces, their brutality and the impunity as attacks on the right to
dissent, to conscience and to freedom of speech. They denounced the
spurious profiling and arrests of Quebec activists. They
condemned the horrific conditions in the detention centre and the
terror used against the detainees. The demonstrators denounced this
terror en masse and with a single voice condemned these undemocratic
bodies and the decisions they take against
the peoples of the world. All along the march route, from Sherbrooke
Street to St-Laurent, to Mont-Royal and Saint-Denis, ending at the
Laurier subway station, people shouted slogans: "Free Our Comrades!";
"Stephen Harper Is the Real Vandal!"; "The Police Serve the Rich and
the Fascists!"; "No Justice, No Peace!";
and "This Is What Democracy Looks Like -- That Is What Hypocrisy Looks
Like!"
Those detained revealed the most egregious threats
against their person and humiliation, psychologial torture and general
vindictiveness of the police towards them. The stories were
reminiscent of the tactics of paramilitary thugs used in the dirty wars
of the U.S. imperialists in Latin America to suppress
the people's social movements.
The militant action in Montreal was characterized by a
spirit of resistance to the criminalization of dissent and the
anti-people agendas of the G8/20.
  
  
  
(TML
Daily,
StephLaw-Flickr)
Hamilton Holds "Drop All Charges Rally"
On June 30 at 5:00 pm, the Hamilton chapter of Common
Cause held a rally to protest the arrests of some 1,000 people in
Toronto during protests against the G8/20. Many Hamilton workers and
youth who were at the actions in Toronto were present. Amongst the
organizations present were the Hamilton branch of CPC(M-L), the
Hamilton Coalition Against the G20, the United Steelworkers Local 1005,
Hamilton and District Labour Council and CUPE 3906.
Speakers included members of Common Cause, the Hamilton
Coalition Against the G20 and rally participants. Hamiltonian Holly
Driscoll spoke about how she was unjustly arrested and detained for 24
hours, beginning on Sunday afternoon, during which police subjected her
and others to systematic verbal abuse and threats. Driscoll said that
"all of the people detained were stronger than the cages that held
them."
Rolf Gerstenberger, President of USW Local 1005, was
part of a delegation of Hamilton steelworkers that went to Toronto to
protest the G8/20, the security fence and militarization of Toronto. He
conveyed the unequivocal support of the workers for the youth saying
they are "very happy to stand shoulder to shoulder with Canada's youth
for a better tomorrow."
With no sense of shame or irony, Hamilton police made
their presence known at the action with police cruisers circling the
block and two mounted police officers on patrol in the vicinity.
The action ended around 6:00 pm. Many participants then
departed for an open forum on the G20 at the Workers Arts and Heritage
Centre held by USW Local 1005.
Windsor Demonstration Denounces G8/20
and Police
Intimidation
 A demonstration was called
at the Windsor Police Station
on June 30 to inform the Windsor community about the criminal
activities of the Canadian state during the G8/20 protests and show
that people would not be intimidated or silenced. During the rally
people who had participated in the Toronto
G20 actions spoke about their experiences and the violations of their
rights at the hands of police. Participants shouted slogans such as:
"We Will Not Be Silenced! We Will Not Be Intimidated"; "G8-G20, They
Are Few, We Are Many!" and "No Justice, No Peace, No Violent Police."
Despite the media attending, the general
sentiment of the participants was resentment of the monopoly media who
had done their best to justify the criminalization of
dissent in the lead up to the protests and seemed to only want a sound
bite. One
journalist was asked why he thought so many people didn't want to speak
to him and that maybe he should think
about what that meant. Not to be outdone by the Toronto police, plain
clothes Windsor police officers videotaped and photographed
participants as a
clear sign of further intimidation.
In order to give the community an opportunity to take a
stand against the violations of rights at the G8/G20 Summits, Windsor
residents who had participated in the Toronto protests have also called
a community meeting for Sunday, July 4 at 7:00 pm to hear testimonials,
discuss the issues and decide on further
actions. The meeting is being organized by the Windsor Drop Fees
Coalition, and hosted by CAW Local 195 at their offices on 3400 Somme
Ave. For further information contact drop.fees.windsor@gmail.com.
Statements
No to the G8/20! Demand the Release of All Those
Arrested at the Summits!
- Marxist-Leninist Party
of Quebec, July 1, 2010 -
The Marxist-Leninist Party of Quebec (PMLQ) today adds
its voice to the thousands of Quebec youth and others who are
denouncing the gestapo methods used by the police
against the demonstrators at the G8/20 Summits -- the brutality,
impunity and more than 900 arrests that took
place. The PMLQ fully supports the solidarity demonstration being
organized in Montreal on Thursday, July 1, by the Anti-Capitalist
Convergence (CLAC), one of the organizing groups from the Quebec
contingent that participated in the actions against the G8/20. The
demonstration is held to denounce
the police brutality that victimized the thousands of demonstrators who
courageously defied and denounced the G8/20 in an atmosphere of chaos
and fear created by the police, government and monopoly media. Honour
to all the demonstrators who defended the rights to conscience,
dissent, assembly, freedom of
speech and the rights of all!
The PMLQ denounces the monopoly media, which played a
dirty role in this hysteria to feed and keep up the atmosphere of fear
and hysteria with the more than 20,000 police of all types who were
armed to the teeth, in order to blame the demonstrators, while at the
same time reporting with excitement
and detachment on the G8 and G20 meetings of the worst war criminals on
Earth. After contributing to the confusion and disinformation, the
media sites switched overnight to "business as usual," still silent on
what took place in Toronto.
And what is the Quebec government of Jean Charest doing
today? Has the government taken a stand to denounce this brutality and
to demand the release of all the prisoners from Quebec and of all the
prisoners who were abused and whose rights were denied in the Toronto
detention centre? Absolutely
not. There is total silence. While the participants were victims of the
police violence, Jean Charest kept silent and has now left for a
mission to France without publicly taking a stand. Shame on the Quebec
government.
The PMLQ calls on all the workers and people of Quebec
to firmly support all the demonstrators and activists and to denounce
the fascist logic of "preventive attacks" against those who defend our
rights. Let us demand that the arrest warrants be cancelled, the
prisoners released and all charges dropped!
Public Service Alliance of Canada
Condemns G20/G8 Police Brutality
- June 30, 2010 -
The Public Service Alliance of Canada condemns the mass
arrests of peaceful protestors in Toronto at the G20 demonstrations
this weekend and joins the growing cry for a public inquiry into police
actions.
PSAC members were among 25,000 people who protested
against the G20 on Saturday, June 26. But despite a largely peaceful
convergence, more than 900 people were arrested over the weekend, in an
alleged attempt to apprehend the small group of people responsible for
acts of vandalism.
While PSAC remains committed to non-violent, peaceful
protest, the union is joining the thousands of Canadians who are
critically concerned about the vicious and disproportionate nature of
the police presence in Toronto on Saturday and Sunday.
As reports from both mainstream and citizen journalists
have revealed, police officers caged in peaceful protestors, charged at
them with horses and shot rubber bullets in their direction. This
includes people who gathered at the makeshift jail on Eastern Avenue on
Sunday morning to find out where
their loved ones had been taken.
As people are being released from prison, the stories
they are telling are chilling. This includes young people who were
arrested for merely crossing the street, and journalists whose
credentials were not respected. First-hand accounts describe inhumane
conditions in prison -- including alleged strip searches,
threats of violence, sexual assaults, denial of food and water and
limited access to medication and medical care.
In the days leading up to the summit, it was revealed
that the Ontario government had secretly passed a law, expanding police
powers to search and arrest people who stood within five metres of the
security fence. Yesterday, the Ontario government and Toronto Police
Chief Bill Blair admitted that
they had lied and that no such law had actually been enacted.
"As union members, we are seriously concerned about the
erosion of civil liberties in Toronto this weekend," said John Gordon,
PSAC National President. "Freedom of expression and the right to gather
peacefully are guaranteed in the Charter of Rights. People
should not have to fear the
police officers who were supposed to protect them," he said.
Both Amnesty International and the Canadian Civil
Liberties Association have denounced police violence at the G20. PSAC
joins them in demanding that the Toronto Police, and the Harper and
McGuinty governments be held to account for the abuses of police power
that took place over the weekend.
PSAC represents more than 172,000 members across Canada,
including 130,000 federal public sector workers. In addition to
condemning police brutality at the summit, the union is speaking out
against the so-called "austerity" measures proposed by the G20.
"We have already seen the impact of this kind of
political strategy here in Canada. Jobs are being cut at Canada Post,
the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the National Gallery and
Citizenship and Immigration Canada, among others," said Gordon.
"This is having a harmful effect on small communities
such as Antigonish and in areas that rely on public sector employment,
such as the Ottawa/Gatineau region. Communities rely on people with
decent jobs to support local businesses and contribute to the tax
base," he said. "The G20 and the Harper
government are headed in the wrong direction."
Council of Canadians Condemns G8, G20 Agenda
- June 28, 2010 -
The Council of Canadians is outraged by the decisions
made by the G8 and G20 summits this past weekend, and says their
priorities are misplaced and harmful for people and the planet.
"It is unconscionable that Prime Minister Stephen
Harper would pledge less for maternal health and infant mortality for
the next five years than what he spent on 16-hours of summitry with
pre-drafted final communiqués," says Council of Canadians
chairperson Maude Barlow. "It is a further outrage
that the G8 countries together pledged less than one-fifth of what the
United Nations says is necessary to stop the preventable deaths of
women and their children under the age of five around the world."
The Council of Canadians is also concerned that the G20
countries agreed to cut their deficits by 50 percent by 2013. "This
kind of deep cutting will provide cover for the sell-off of public
assets and the further diminishment of needed social services and
social supports," says Brent Patterson, the director
of campaigns and communications. "The billion dollar austerity summits
have put structural readjustment at the top of their agenda."
"This agenda of privatization and social spending
cutbacks is what feeds the rage we saw on the streets Saturday
afternoon," adds Barlow. "We cannot be surprised by fury when people
are excluded and discarded by a toxic economy and politicians who lack
not only common sense, but compassion.
We do not condone the smashing of windows, but a billion dollars of
security will never stop this, only a just, fair and inclusive economy
can do that."
The Council of Canadians participated in the People
First march of more than 25,000 people on Saturday, June 26. The
organization shares the concerns expressed by the Canadian Civil
Liberties Association about the sheer number of arrests - more than 900
- and the jail conditions experienced by
those detained. We also join with Amnesty International in calling for
a public inquiry into the appropriateness of police actions both prior
to and during the summits.
We maintain that the G8 and G20 summits should have
been scrapped and that the key issues of trade, climate and water
justice should be addressed by the G192, the United Nations.
"Decisions that impact the world should not be made by
small, self-selected groups of eight or twenty," says Patterson. "It
appears that France may combine the summits next year, and the United
States may finally do away with the G8 in 2012. But these discussions
need to move to the G192 right
away. Climate change, the lack of access to clean water around the
world, and an unsustainable and destructive model of global trade
demands immediate action, not more dithering by these small groups."
University of Toronto Unions
Condemn Police Violence
- June 28, 2010
Early Sunday morning, police raided the Graduate
Students' Union (GSU) building at the University of Toronto and
arrested approximately 70 billeting activists. Students' unions, campus
groups and labor organizations at U of T condemn the G20 Integrated
Security Unit (ISU) for this and other raids, and demand
that all detained activists and community members be released
immediately.
Signatory organizations announced on June 22 that our
offices would remain open during the G20 summit despite the University
administration's decision to close the campus. The administration did
not consult students, faculty or staff in making this decision. As
independent organizations, we remained
open to defend freedom of speech and academic freedom, and to oppose
the fear mongering and intimidation that pervaded media and workplaces
in the weeks preceding the summit; ISU officers visited some of our
offices and events to intimidate students and staff on multiple
occasions.
As we noted in our initial public statement, we were
concerned that protesters would be targeted with police violence and
violation of civil liberties. What the world saw during the summit was
worse than anticipated: with more than 800 people detained, we are
witnessing the largest mass arrest in Canada
since the War Measures Act of 1970, when 465 people were
arrested and held without charge.
We call on the University of Toronto to promote civil
liberties, follow due process, and join us in condemning the Integrated
Security Unit's senseless acts of aggression. We defend the right of
all campus organizations to associate with individuals and groups that
are not affiliated with the University
of Toronto. We publicly call for the release of all political detainees
of the G20 summit protests.
University of Toronto
Students' Union
Graduate Students' Union
Association of Part-time Undergraduate Students
CUPE 3902
Ontario Public Interest Research Group — Toronto
CUPE 1281
Students Call for an Independent Review
of Security
Measures
- June 29, 2010 -
Representatives for 150,000 Toronto university students
unite in calling for an independent review of G20 police brutality
& affront on civil liberties.
Today students are joining the call for an independent
review of G20 security in response to this weekend's security presence
that resulted in intimidation, brutality, and mass arrests by police.
The tactics of the police are unprecedented and undermine basic human
rights and freedoms under the Charter
of
Rights
and
Freedoms that allow people to assemble, demonstrate
peacefully and express their views.
Students' union executives expressed concern with the
police brutality inflicted on the city and residents, noting that there
is a clear difference between civil disobedience and violent
destruction of property. On Sunday June 27, when representatives from
students' unions went to the detention centre
to express solidarity in response to the mass blanket arrests and
police intimidation, by holding a peaceful public demonstration they
were attacked, and witnessed firsthand police use brutal force
including rubber bullets and smoke bombs.
Students have a proud history of activism in the
streets of Toronto to voice their dissent on a variety of issues, and
we should not have to live in fear of being attack or facing violent
reprisal by the police for simple standing up for justice.
This weekend the safety of world leaders trumped the
right to peacefully demonstrate many city blocks away and as student
representatives we reject this kind of interaction and system that has
trumped the rights of the people.
Equally concerning is the action of McGuinty and the
Liberal government that with unilateral approval implemented a new law
that stripped the rights of Torontonians of fundamental freedoms to be
in the vicinity of the security fence. This law went into full force
and gave the police a mandate to
overreact and trample our democratic rights.
With more than one billion dollars now spent on
security, hundreds of people sitting in a detention centre, and many
questions left unanswered, students are joining Amnesty International's
call for an independent review of security measures.
We call on the Canadian government and the government
of the province of Ontario to cooperate in launching an independent
review of the security measures that were put in place for the G8 and
G20 Summits. The review should include opportunities for public input
and the results should be released
to the public. Among other issues, the review must consider the
following:
The impact of security measures, including the invasion
on human and civil rights, including the freedoms of expression and
assembly; and
The ways in which police/security operations and the
use of legal provisions such as the Public
Works
Protection
Act have
impacted the rights of the many thousands of people living, working and
operating businesses within and near the G20 security zone; and
The ways in which those individuals who were detained,
arrested and or held in jail were denied basic fundamental freedoms and
rights.
Toronto Community Mobilization Network Condemns Bill
Blair's Public Relations campaign
- June 30, 2010 -
Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair's press conference on
Tuesday June 29th is a continuation of the police department's public
relations campaign to silence and criminalize the work of those
speaking out against the G20 and the Toronto Community Mobilization
Network. His attempt to demonize protesters is an
attempt to divert attention away from the way police brutalized people
and ignored basic human rights during the mass mobilizations of tens of
thousands of people last week. As writer Naomi Klein said last night at
a jail solidarity rally to the police chief; "Stop playing politics and
public relations with our friends'
lives and let them go."
Thousands of people in Toronto and from other
communities came together in the streets because they are angry and
frustrated about the G8/G20 policies that inflict violence upon
millions of people here and around the world. The G20 and their
institutional partners the International Monetary Fund
and the World Bank have created and implemented harmful economic
measures that favour the profit of the rich over the lives of the poor
and marginalized. Chief Bill Blair's labeling of the Toronto Community
Mobilization Network as a violent organization cannot hide the way that
the Toronto Police Service and
their partners in the Integrated Security Unit displayed a gross abuse
of power and incompetency.
What the people in Toronto and the people all over the
world saw on Saturday and Sunday was unfocused brutality in combination
with targeted intimidation at the hands of the police. But this
treatment and these tactics will not stop people from speaking out
against injustice, whether it is perpetuated
by G8/G20 policies or by local police.
The TCMN is a network made up of many people, many of
whom are community organizers working with youth, poor, and
marginalized communities every day. These people are angry that G8/G20
policies are creating social injustice and environmental destruction in
their communities and elsewhere.
As a diverse network, the Toronto Community Mobilization Network
acknowledges that people have autonomy and will decide for themselves
how they show and communicate this frustration.
The police have done everything in their power to
criminalize lawful dissent and are engaging in willful
misrepresentation of protesters. The Toronto Community Mobilization
Network demands that those facing charges must be treated as human
beings with the right to due process and released.
Letters to the Editor
We Will Not "Turn the Page" on State Hooliganism!
The more one learns about the extent of the brutality
and illegal activities committed by the state against the people during
the G8/20 Summits, it is hard to put into words how one feels towards
those men who go by the name of "politicians" who unleash such
inhumanity against men and women, especially our
youth. All this, in the name of so-called values. Moreover, the main
message in the declarations coming out of this "Social Summit" is that
these "leaders" will unleash the same violence on any collective as
well as on whole countries, if the latter have plans for the future
that do not accord with the destruction
and inhumanity of the big powers. This is most definitely not a time to
"turn the page" nor to issue some declaration seeking dissociation from
"all forms of violence." The beast is at the door, and we have to deal
with it.
A struggle is taking place as we speak just to establish
the facts, facts which identify beyond a doubt who is unleashing
violence against whom. Facts are like that. Truth is not a two-headed
phenomenon. We must unravel the manipulations that would have us
believe that some 1,000 people were arrested because
they were somehow involved in vandalism! Enough is enough!
The knee-jerk reflex that leads to conclusions such as
"If he was arrested, he must have done something wrong" no longer hold
when considering widespread experiences of arbitrary arrests, injuries
incurred by horses charging into demonstrators, tear gas, not to
mention house raids, "preventive arrests" as well
as outright kidnapping, each activity more outrageous and illegal than
the next.
The state is trying to split the movement of all those
opposed to these anti-people neoliberal agendas, whether at home or
aboard. There is pressure for people to think, "So long as I am nowhere
near these events, what can they have against me?" But by extension and
by "association," the aim of the state is ultimately to discredit any
and all opposition to their agendas by
implicating everyone as having "violent intentions," however
"legitimate"
they may be.
For example, an article in Le Droit newspaper
relates how the son of the mayor of Gatineau was arrested at the G20.
The young man describes his conditions while in detention as well as
the circumstances of his arrest, all of which confirm the accounts
published in TML. The title of
the conclusion of this article reads: "Not his first escapade."
According to the English dictionary, the word "escapade" means "an
adventure that is mischievous, or unlawful." What are some of these
"mischievous or unlawful" activities such as described by the newspaper
reporter? "Before heading to the G20, he
defended his anti-globalization positions through letters which were
published in Le Droit and Le Devoir. He is also
associated with Réseau Vigilance Outaouais, a group of
community and union organizations." Now one can come to understand that
if writing letters and being
a member of a group of community and union organizations is mischievous
and unlawful, think of where wearing a bandanna around your neck or
dressing in black will lead you! As the G20's final communique
declares, whoever is organizing, is part of a collective whose aim is
to defend social rights or to put
forward political opinions other than those dictated by those men going
by the name of "politicians" who hold power, then everyone can be held
under suspicion and have their fundamental rights suspended at any time.
Two things are of utmost importance: 1) putting the onus
on the people to "turn
the page" will not wash while the hooligans going by the name of "law
enforcement officers" continue their illegal activities in the name of
defending a state that defends the "rule of law"
which negates the peoples right to be; 2) we must expose and denounce
these
gestapo-style tactics, all the while declaring that we
will not let any section of society be treated this way and that we
stand as one in defence of the rights of all!
A Teacher in Ottawa
No to State Violence and Impunity!
Women Will Never
Submit!
As a participant in the women's contingents in both the
Friday and Saturday marches and in the mass actions to confront the
G20, I want to vehemently condemn the state violence and that of its
armed thugs -- the police and security forces.
The brutal police rampage against the youth in Toronto
has every appearance of revenge seeking for their courage and spirit of
defiance on Saturday and Sunday in confronting the G20 and demanding a
say over what happens to Mother Earth which they are to inherit.
Reports are that this weekend
in Toronto the majority of the youth arrested are young women. It is
also reported that they are facing the sexist taunts and harassment of
their mostly male guards at the detention centre.
It is important to clearly identify who was responsible
for the violence over this weekend and what was the threat of violence
and its nature.
It is a matter of fact that with all the attempts of
the mainstream media and state officials to portray us as violent they
were not able to cite any examples of violence against any human person
by those who took to the streets to oppose the illegitimate G20 and its
destructive agenda. In contrast there
are numerous and brutal examples of violence against unarmed youth and
anyone else that got in the way of the armed apparatus of the state,
not to speak of the threat of violence embodied in the heavily armed
police who laid siege to the city.
Having been involved for many years in the movement of
women for their rights and the rights of all it is very clear that
blaming the protesters for violence is precisely like the abuser
blaming
the victim for being attacked because of where they went, what they
said or what they wore, and most of all
because they would not submit. The talk about the "restraint" exercised
by the police on Saturday, and that they "lost patience" on Sunday is
the most cynical defence of the abuser claiming that he only beat his
victim because he was "provoked" beyond the limits of his "patience."
This is but another manifestation
of the anti-people, anti-woman agenda of the G8/20, whether it be the
Harper government's maternal health intiative for the G8, or its
ongoing attacks on women and their organizations in Canada. This must
not pass!
Women face the brunt of the impact of the G8/20's
neoliberal agenda worldwide. They face it in their impoverishment, in
the violence of occupation and war. Not to mention the absolute refusal
of any government in Canada at whatever level to put any weight into
stopping the disappearance and
murder of indigenous women (and many other women). In fact, it has from
its establishment attacked the indigenous women as the key to
destroying their nations. Women and their families across Turtle Island
face the violence of displacement by the Canadian mining monopolies,
and on it goes.
Women are in the forefront of defending Mother Earth
organizing for another world in which the rights of are recognized. All
those who abhor violence, and all the women active in the movement to
end violence against women must raise their voices to firmly place
the blame for the violence
on the streets of Toronto at the feet of the patriarchal Canadian
state. We must stand side-by-side with our youth in opposing the
fascization of life that is taking place.
All the detainees must be released and all charges
dropped. Far from being responsible for the violence they deserve all
our social love and respect for their courage and refusal to submit.
An Industrial Worker from Etobicoke
Resistance Is a Right
A few days before the G20 demonstration, I had not fully
decided to attend -- it is very peaceful where I live. However, the
more I heard through the media about the high tech police preparations
and intimidating brandishing of weapons, the new powers of arrest and
seizure and the huge number of police
and security thugs that were begin employed, I felt compelled to travel
to Toronto to join my brothers and sisters participating in the
demonstration. These kinds of threats and bullying cannot be allowed to
stand unchallenged.
I saw great spirit, solidarity in and among groups.
Banners, placards and material expressed the issues that should be
addressed.
The events that occurred on Saturday and following on
Sunday were entirely the result of provocations by the police, federal
and provincial authorities that had begun weeks earlier.
The role of the monopoly media in spreading
these provocations was shameful. The messages regarding labour, social
justice, health and education issues were ignored -- as they were by
the leaders at the G20.
The G20 and the accompanying police and security actions
were an exercise in raw state power -- the wishes of the people be
damned! It deserved to be attacked by any means possible.
An Illustrator
This Is Canadian Democracy, Not an Aberration
Following information getting out about the brutal
violence of police and the "Torontonamo" detention centre on Eastern
Ave.
people are beginning to see the full breadth of the police state that
was in effect in Toronto during the G20 protests. Calls are being made
for an inquiry into police actions.
Following the APEC protests and the violations of human
rights by the RCMP, an inquiry was held by the Canadian state. Since
that time the Canadian state has continually and consciously organized
to violate the rights of Canadians to participate in political protest.
In Windsor during the meeting of the Organization
of American States the city of Windsor was militarized and people
arbitrarily arrested. There was no vandalism to justify these actions,
but none was needed. Then Quebec City and the massive criminalization
of the peoples forces during the Summit of the Americas, Kananaskis,
Montebello and the general military
response of the Canadian state to the demands by First Nations peoples
for the recognition of their hereditary rights. The list goes on.
The actions of the Canadian state in Toronto are not an
aberration of Canadian democracy, or something similar to what happens
in other countries; they are the Canadian democracy in action. When the
people take a stand in defence of their right to decide their future it
is met with violence and the criminalization
of dissent. We should definitely have inquiries and investigations into
what is taking place and what took place. But, these should not be used
to cover up the real problems and the crisis of the Canadian political
system and the necessity for renewal. Otherwise they will be used to
undermine the people's struggle for democratic renewal and progress.
A Student in Windsor
***
According to monopoly media reports, more than 1,000
people in Toronto have been arrested since the protests began against
the
G8 and G20 summits. According to the same media sources, this is the
first time in the history of the city of Toronto that so many arrests
have been made. I condemn these
fascist practices of the Canadian government and call on Quebec workers
to condemn these attacks against our youth, against our right to
conscience and against the attacks on the organizers of the
demonstrations.
Once more the Canadian government has revealed its true
face to the world, the face of one who defends so-called human rights
in the world but applies gestapo tactics in Canada. Police raids in
dormitories, mass arrests, raiding the premises of the organizers,
criminal intimidation by police forces, the criminalization
of dissent in all its forms are gestapo tactics and should be
vigorously opposed.
A Trucker in Montreal
***
The take of the media that the police brutality was
directed against violent protestors does not fly. It is clear to all
who have eyes to see that it is the forces of repression of the state
who are the aggressors. On Saturday night, June 26 the CBC broadcast
the events live and despite depictions to create an atmosphere
of near civil war with hours of images of a burning police car,
frightened journalists hiding behind police barriers and a grave and
solemn anchor, it was clear to all that those present were ordinary
people who had not committed any act of violence or vandalism. The
image of police storming a park where the
youth were assembled, sitting on benches or discussing in small groups
is the most glaring proof, to say nothing of the police attack on youth
singing O Canada! What's next?
A Reader in Vancouver
***
Workers must denounce the fascist method of preemptive
attacks against the youth. This imperialist method is used constantly
against the workers fighting for their rights as is the case at Vale
Inco and elsewhere. Workers must demand that the arrest warrants be
overturned, the prisoners released and all criminal records wiped
clean. We must also demand that those who committed these acts and
those who ordered them be accused of violence against the people and be
brought to justice.
A Reader in Sudbury
For Your Information
Police Disinformation
TML is
posting below an item from the the Globe
and
Mail by Jill Mahoney entitled, "'Weapons' Seized in G20 Arrests
Not
What They Seem" published on June 29. It sheds light on the
self-serving disinformation campaign being waged by the police which is
attempting to justify the violence and violations
of rights carried out by the police forces during the G8/20 protests
in Toronto.
***
Toronto Police staged a display of weaponry to
demonstrate "the extent of the criminal conspiracy" among hard-line G20
protesters, but several of the items had nothing to do with the summit.
Facing criticism for their tactics, police invited
journalists on Tuesday to view a range of weapons, from a machete and
baseball bat to bear spray and crowbars.
Chief Bill Blair, who told reporters the items were
evidence of the protesters' intent, singled out arrows covered in
sports socks, which he said were designed to be dipped in a flammable
liquid and set ablaze.
However, the arrows belong to Brian Barrett, a
25-year-old landscaper who was heading to a role-playing fantasy game
when he was stopped at Union Station on Saturday morning. Police took
his jousting gear but let Mr. Barrett go, saying it was a case of bad
timing.
In addition to the arrows -- which Mr. Barrett made safe
for live-action role playing by cutting off the pointy ends and
attaching a bit of pool noodle covered in socks -- police displayed his
metal body armour, foam shields and several clubs made of plastic
tubing covered with foam and fabric.
Mr. Barrett said he was "appalled" at the placement of
his chain-mail beneath a machete. He regularly takes public transit
from his Whitby, Ont., home to Centennial Park to play the game, called
Amtgard, while wearing the 85-pound armour and is worried people will
think: "Oh my God, that's one
of the terrorists from G20."
Police also displayed a crossbow and chainsaw seized in
an incident on Friday that they said had no ties to the summit. When
asked, Chief Blair acknowledged they were unrelated, but said
"everything else" had been confiscated from demonstrators.
On Wednesday, however, Michael Went and Doug Kerr
e-mailed a letter to Chief Blair saying their bamboo poles may have
been included in the exhibit. As they headed to a picnic to commemorate
the 1969 Stonewall riots on Sunday morning, police seized seven or
eight of the long poles, citing the
G20 summit. The couple had planned to use the poles to fly a rainbow
flag and decorate the park.
"It makes you wonder what are the other things that
they've displayed [that] were taken from people on the street that
weren't doing anything wrong?" asked Mr. Kerr, a 42-year-old management
consultant.
Julian Falconer, a Toronto lawyer representing four
independent journalists in summit-related police complaints, called the
display of unrelated objects a "public-relations exercise [that]
borders on the absurd."
The items, which were laid out on tables in the lobby of
police headquarters, also included gas masks, cans of spray paint, a
replica gun, saws, pocket knives, a staple gun, a drill, a slingshot,
chains and handcuffs. However, there were also objects not normally
considered dangerous, including bandanas,
skateboard and bicycle helmets, golf balls, tennis balls, goggles, rope
and walkie-talkies.
The display came as police face increasing fire for
their methods in dealing with demonstrators. Amid calls for a public
inquiry, Chief Blair announced an internal police review
of
summit
policing
earlier Tuesday.
Read The Marxist-Leninist
Daily
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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