BENIGN G20 - BENIGN ACTIVISM

"You don't bring your I-Pod to a demonstration."

My favorite quote of the week, as expressed by an activist with the ability to spot a cop posing as an activist, a mile away (he claims).

Thanks to Ron for the postcard!

My sense is that the whole G20 circus was:

• a planned martial law exercise,
  
• an excuse to purchase bigger and better toys for bigger future martial law exercises,
  
• to discredit activists or anyone with a desire to express concern for their civil rights,
• frighten potential activists,
• to introduce a pseudo anarchist group (probably government organised) for future use and reference to further discredit real activists and lead to the support to out-law protests and activism period,
• a bit of a photo op for the Hapercrite and his acolytes, but not really,
• an opportunity to sell "security" from home grown terrorism to Canucks,
• an opportunity to invoke a riot and justify the insane security budget,
• an excuse for the Harpercrite to buy himself a nice new weave,
• an opportunity to implement the Public Works Act and make it a common place legal concept for eventual permanence (for our safety of course)

McGuinty said the same powers are in place in many other public spaces.
“What we’re saying is if during this seven-day period, you want to go visit the secure zone, that’s going to be like going to visit the airport, city hall, courthouse or the Ontario Legislature,” he said. “These are all special public spaces where security is a heightened concern and police are going to be entitled to ask for ID and to search your bag as a condition for being there. You’ve got a choice. You can comply. You can refuse. If you refuse, then you will have to leave.”

How long until more secret law is passed. Going to keep an eye on http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca for reference, as mentioned in the article. Maybe the PTB won't publish there in order to keep us all VERY safe! Yup, you never know - an activist just might sneak on the Internet and monitor that darn government site.

I still cannot fathom why the downtown core of the fifth largest city in all of North America was specifically "targeted" (picked or selected just don't seem to cut it any more) as a show case model for Canada. Remember that was part of Harper's argument for the big budget his circus required. And he extolled it would be money well spent for the promotional value hog town would later enjoy and cash in on.

Toronto has always attracted international crowds for Caribana, Pride Week, The Indy, Film Festival, and a lot of other events - so we aint buying the Harpercrite's excuse. And did all those merchants and restaurants with in spitting distance of the secured area boom? - hell no, it was quite the opposite as entire neighbourhoods bailed, and many Stores chose to close up and board up.

So target it was. Toronto the good has become Toronto the target.
The whole thing was a hoax.

And then there were the activists. A mass of single campaign groups which added up to nil and no voice. The media mentioned the names of various activist groups but nothing in depth or exclusive about their specific causes. So representation was benign. The focus was on the "anarchists"- aka vandals.

John from Manitoba sends this article...
G20 police let rioters run amok and then struck back hard at all activists
"It seems to me that the stores who were damaged, or their insurance companies, have good grounds, for suing the police for derelict of duty in this case. It would appear that the security forces allowed this riot to happen in order to justify the $1 billion which appeared to have been wasted on security measures in Huntsville and Toronto."

Corinne sends these comments and article - G20 police raid activists' homes
Fascism has definitely arrived in Canada. Dissent will be quelled at all cost. The Charter has been rendered meaningless.

Amanda Hiscox, 36, Peter Hopperton, 24, Alex Hundert, 30, and Leah Henderson, 29, were each charged with conspiracy to commit mischief over $5,000 after search warrants were executed, confirmed the G20 Integrated Security Unit. In other words they were charged with thought crime.

The activists allege officers dragged unclothed people from their beds, kicked people who were asleep on the floor, demanded identification and refused to show a warrant or badge, or let the people in the house call for legal advice.

And thanks to Terry Stavnyck for his photos of the demonstration and the following commentary:
Canada the Police State:
The G20 should never have been held in Toronto or any other large city with the possible exception of NYC. Stephen Harper spent 1 or 2 Billion dollars on security. Many businesses were forced to close, thus the cost is much greater to the economy & for what? A bunch of pictures of Stephen Harper with world leaders. The entire annual budget of the UN is 1.9 billion dollars and they have 192 world leaders meeting each and every year. Why do we need a G20, a 3 day meeting in Canada?

And thanks to Bee Sting for this link to additional photos!