Showing posts with label toronto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label toronto. Show all posts

$45M G20 class-action suit filed

Posted by TJ on Friday, August 6, 2010 , under , , , , , , , | comments (0)




A woman who says she was in a crowd detained by police for hours at a Toronto intersection during a G20 protest has launched a $45-million class-action lawsuit against the Toronto Police Services Board and the federal attorney general.

Sherry Good is acting as the representative plaintiff for more than 800 people who claim they were wrongfully arrested during the G20 summit in late June.

She is among about 500 people who were hemmed in by hundreds of riot police at the intersection of Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue for several hours in the rain on June 27.

Good, who called herself an "ordinary person" not involved in organizing any protests, claims to have suffered a panic attack following the incident.

"But the biggest consequence of that weekend is that I have lost my trust in the police," she told a Friday morning news conference.

"Now I am nervous when I see a police car. I consistently look over my shoulder. Sadly, it will take a long time to regain that trust."

The Toronto Police Services Board is a civilian organization that oversees the force. It is being sued because "it is the legal entity charged with overseeing the majority of the police activity that took place that weekend," said Eric Gillespie, one of the lawyers representing Good.

The Attorney General of Canada has been named because "it is the legal representative of the RCMP, who also had a significant role, it appears, in the events that transpired at that time," he said.

The suit was filed Thursday at Ontario Superior Court, but the bid to certify the legal action — meaning it would proceed — will likely take several months, Gillespie said.

Around 1,000 people were arrested during the summit, which ran June 26-27 in downtown Toronto.
'No comment' from police

Meanwhile, Toronto police held a news conference to release pictures of five more people they are looking for in connection with vandalism during the protests.

"My message here today has nothing to do with the class-action suit," Det. Mike Carbone said when asked about Good's lawsuit.

"I have no comment about the class-action suit."

Police also displayed previously released images of six other people identified as people they believe may have been involved in some of the vandalism.

The news conference is the third in which police have released pictures in hopes the public can help identify potential suspects. Since the first news conference last month, 17 people have been arrested.

CBC

The real story from the G20




As the main stream news covered the protests over the weekend. More specifically the Black Bloq vandalism, which has been almost totally proven to be led by agent provocateurs.

The protesters and truth seekers in Canada have had there attention diverted away from the real story. Which is the treasonous actions of Stephen Harper.

Mr. Harper has followed in the foot steps of Paul Martin and continued to sell our sovereignty down the river.

Here is a video clip of Mr. Harper at the G20 closing news conference.



Did you hear that? We do not have a Canadian economy, we have a global economy and it is a simple reality that we are loosing our national sovereignty.

Does that sound like a true leader for our country? Do you think that Mr. Harper would have been elected if that was said on the campaign trail?

The answer to both of those questions is NO. So why are we all just sitting back and allowing this? We need to call for the resignation of Stephen Harper, if not have him tried for treason!

Thorold, Ontario Amputee Has His Artificial Leg Ripped Off By Police And Is Slammed In Makeshift Cell During G20 Summit




John Pruyn wasn’t much in the mood for celebrating Canada Day this year.


How could he be after the way he was treated a few days earlier in Toronto by figures of authority most of us were brought up to respect, our publicly paid-for police forces who are supposed to be there to serve and protect peaceful, law-abiding citizens like him.

The 57-year-old Thorold, Ontario resident – an employee with Revenue Canada and a part-time farmer who lost a leg above his knee following a farming accident 17 years ago – was sitting on the grass at Queen’s Park with his daughter Sarah and two other young people this June 26, during the G20 summit, where he assumed it would be safe.

As it turned out, it was a bad assumption because in came a line of armoured police, into an area the city had promised would be safe for peaceful demonstrations during the summit. They closed right in on John and his daughter and the two others and ordered them to move. Pruyn tried getting up and he fell, and it was all too slow for the police.

As Sarah began pleading with them to give her father a little time and space to get up because he is an amputee, they began kicking and hitting him. One of the police officers used his knee to press Pruyn’s head down so hard on the ground, said Pruyn in an interview this July 4 with Niagara At Large, that his head was still hurting a week later.

Accusing him of resisting arrest, they pulled his walking sticks away from him, tied his hands behind his back and ripped off his prosthetic leg. Then they told him to get up and hop, and when he said he couldn’t, they dragged him across the pavement, tearing skin off his elbows , with his hands still tied behind his back. His glasses were knocked off as they continued to accuse him of resisting arrest and of being a “spitter,” something he said he did not do. They took him to a warehouse and locked him in a steel-mesh cage where his nightmare continued for another 27 hours.

“John’s story is one of the most shocking of the whole (G20 summit) weekend,” said the Ontario New Democratic Party’s justice critic and Niagara area representative Peter Kormos, who has called for a public inquiry into the conduct of security forces during the summit. “He is not a young man and he is an amputee. …. John is not a troublemaker. He is a peacemaker and like most of the people who were arrested, he was never charged with anything , which raises questions about why they were arrested in the first place.”

Pruyn told Niagara At Large that he never was given a reason for his arrest . When he was being kicked and hand-tied, police yelled at him that he was resisting arrest. Then a court officer approached him two hours before his release on Sunday evening, June 27, and told him he should not still be there in that steel -mesh cage. So why were Pruyn and his daughter Sarah, a University of Guelph student, who was locked up somewhere else, detained in a makeshift jails for more than 24 hours, along with many other mostly young people who, so far as he could hear and see, had nothing to do with the smashing of windows and torching of a few police cars by a few hundred so-called ‘Black Bloc’ hooligans that weekend?

Why was Pruyn slammed in a cell without his glasses and artificial limb, with no water to drink in the heat for five hours and only a cement floor to sit and sleep on before his captors finally gave him a wheelchair? Why was he never read his rights or even granted the opportunity to make one phone call to a lawyer or his family – the same rights that would be granted to a notorious criminal like Clifford Olsen or Paul Bernardo?

He never received an answer to these questions and, he said, “I was never told I was charged with anything.” Neither were many of the others who were penned up in that warehouse with him, including one person who was bound to a wheelchair because was paralyzed on one side and begging, over and over again, to go to the washroom before finally wetting his pants.

Pruyn said others in the warehouse begged for a drink of water and younger people made futile pleas to call their parents to at least let them know where they were. In the meantime, Pruyn’s wife, Susan, was frantically trying to find out from the police and others what happened to her husband and daughter. She found out nothing until they were finally released 27 hours after she was supposed to meet back with them at a subway station near Queen’s Park.

So what was this all about and why were John and Sue Pruyn arrested if they were part of the gathering of peaceful demonstrators in the Queen’s Park area? Was their crime to dare to come to Toronto in the first place and join with those who express concerns about the G20 and whether it has any concern at all for the environment, for people living in poverty, for fair access to health care and other issues important to people around the world who fall into the category of ‘have nots’?

Pruyn wonders if the idea of the crackdown was to send a message to the public at large that gatherings of opposition to government policies won’t be tolerated. “That is (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper’s attitude,” he said. “He doesn’t like dissent in his own (party) ranks.”

Kormos said some might respond to the crackdown against the G20 summit demonstrators by saying that they should have stayed home or they should not have been there, or that if they were swept up by the police, they should have nothing to worry about if they did nothing wrong. But that misses the point, he said. It misses the possibility that this was another example of the province and country sliding down a path of clamping down on citizens’ right to gather together and express views that may not be popular with the government of the day.

Kormos stressed again that a public inquiry is needed, not only for those demonstrators arrested and roughed up during the summit, but for those shop owners in Toronto that had their stores vandalized by a horde of hooligans with little apparent presence of police officers to prevent it.

Asked if there was any possibility a few hundred black-clad vandals were allowed to run wild to make the thousands of people there to demonstrate peacefully look badly, Kormos responded; “That’s why we need a public inquiry.”

Susan Pruyn agreed. “ We need a public inquiry for all of the people who went (to Toronto) with good intentions and who ended up suffering that weekend,” she said.

Source

Police Setting there cars up for destruction at the G20 in Toronto

Posted by TJ on Thursday, July 1, 2010 , under , , , , , , , , , | comments (0)



This is some footage of police forming a circle in the middle of protesters, then abandoning their cars there. And conveniently the Black Bloc comes and sets the police vehicles on fire. After the video where a undercover police officer is caught being dressed up as a Black Bloc member, and the pictures that show the police style boots and batons used by the Black Bloc. There is little doubt that the police were using agent provocateurs.

This evidence shows that the police were being given orders to set things up for the agents in a very blatant way.

Hopefully as more information is released we can get an real investigation into this.

Charlie Veitch at the G20

Posted by TJ on Monday, June 28, 2010 , under , , , , , | comments (0)



While making my way through the craziness of the protests on Saturday in Toronto. I came across Charlie Veitch of the Love Police. Here is some of the video that we got of Charlie.

Truther at the G20 in Toronto

Posted by TJ on Sunday, June 27, 2010 , under , , , , | comments (0)



This is the first of many videos coming from the G20. We came across a great group of truthers and this is what happened.

June 26th protests at the Toronto G20




When we arrived in Toronto at 10:30am, things were somber. About 10 police at every corner, but not many people in the streets.

We saw a few people being harrased by gangs of police.
In this picture it shows about 9 police officers circled around 1 man.


Things quickly changed around 2 pm. When the "official" march began. In the march were many groups and organizations, such as a local union, oaxfoam, Greenpeace, the communist party of Canada, Anti globalization groups, maternal rights groups all along with protesters not affiliated with any groups.

I really did not expect to see Greenpeace protesting for a carbon tax, or for the maternal rights group to be protesting without being fully informed on the topic.
The proposed maternal rights plan brought forth by Stephen Harper, calls for Canada to give 5 Billion dollars in aid. Other contributors are people like Bill Gates (who has pledged 2.5 Billion). Gates as many of us know is an admitted Eugenius, with a goal of world depopulation.

The protests did remain fairly peaceful until about 3pm. The police then started to make attempts at boxing the people in. In this process I personally witnessed police officers attacking a woman, for not moving quick enough. Thankfully most of the people in the protest were aware of what was happening, and were able to get out of the boxed in zones. This is when we saw the black block appear. We saw a group of them run by us.

The next thing we knew there were windows smashed, and a police car burning. As if nothing had happened the police still continued to try to box the protesters in. They must have made at least 5 attempt at this within a hour. With the protesters recognizing it every time.

Around 5pm things started to cool down a little bit, so we took a break and met up with our team. Shortly after That we found out that police were randomly arresting peaceful protesters on Bay St. and King St. Then the police started to attack protesters at Queens park (These were peaceful protesters that were attacked).

After Queens park we decided to call it a day, and head home. On our way to the car we went down Young St. This is when I saw the craziest part of the day!

People were shopping and walking around as if nothing was happening. Only 2 or 3 blocks away riot police were attacking protesters, and several blocks the other way riot police were facing off with protesters. This is a great sign of the kind of trouble we are facing. People can be 2 blocks away from a total police state, and pretend like it is not there.

kinda like that saying. Hear no evil, see no evil. As long as there were buildings blocking the view of what was happening they were ok. To scared to recognize what was happening.

Thankfully we had the megaphone with us. Chance used the megaphone all the way to the car. Telling the people boarding up windows that Stephen Harper would pay for that, and to send him the bill. Along with things like your city is becoming a police state but don't worry about that. Please just keep shopping.

Overall that was an insane event, and many videos will be coming soon.

G20 law gives police sweeping powers to arrest people

Posted by TJ on Friday, June 25, 2010 , under , , , , , , , , , , , | comments (0)



The province has secretly passed an unprecedented regulation that empowers police to arrest anyone near the G20 security zone who refuses to identify themselves or agree to a police search.

A 32-year-old man has already been arrested under the new regulation, which was quietly passed by the provincial cabinet on June 2.

The regulation was made under Ontario’s Public Works Protection Act and was not debated in the Legislature. According to a provincial spokesperson, the cabinet action came in response to an “extraordinary request” by Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, who wanted additional policing powers shortly after learning the G20 was coming to Toronto.

The regulation kicked in Monday and will expire June 28, the day after the summit ends. While the new regulation appeared without notice on the province’s e-Laws online database last week, it won’t be officially published in The Ontario Gazette until July 3 — one week after the regulation expires.

“It’s just unbelievable you would have this kind of abuse of power where the cabinet can create this offence without having it debated in the Legislature,” said Howard Morton, the lawyer representing Dave Vasey, who was arrested Thursday under the sweeping new police powers.

“It was just done surreptitiously, like a mushroom growing under a rock at night.”

According to the new regulation, “guards” appointed under the act can arrest anyone who, in specific areas, comes within five metres of the security zone.

Within those areas, police can demand identification from anyone coming within five metres of the fence perimeter and search them. If they refuse, they face arrest. Anyone convicted under the regulation could also face up to two months in jail or a $500 maximum fine.

“It reminds me a little bit of the War Measures Act,” said lawyer Nathalie Des Rosiers of the new regulation. Des Rosiers is a lawyer with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which has been working to monitor arrests during the summit. “This is highly unusual to have this declaration done by order-in-council without many people knowing about it.”

Des Rosiers learned of the regulation Thursday afternoon, shortly after Vasey was arrested while standing near the security fence.

Vasey said he was exploring the G20 security perimeter with a friend when they were stopped by police and asked for identification. Vasey says he had also been searched by police the night before.

According to Vasey, police explained there was a bylaw in place obligating him to provide identification but he refused, acting on the advice of a “Know Your Rights” information pamphlet given to him by the Toronto Community Mobilization Network, a group assisting protesters.

The York University master’s student was taken into custody at around 4 p.m. He was brought to the Eastern Ave. detention centre, a former movie studio that has been temporarily converted into a prisoner holding pen. According to his charge sheet, he was charged with refusing to comply with a peace officer under the act.

Vasey said he only learned of the new regulation after his release, at around 9 p.m. The summit’s Integrated Security Unit did not respond to interview requests from the Star.

According to Vasey’s lawyer, neither he nor his colleagues at the law union were aware of this draconian new regulation. Des Rosiers said the CCLA and protesters have met with summit officials on several occasions and the regulation was never mentioned.

“They don’t even have signs up saying you can’t be within five metres or you’re subject to the following,” Morton said. “If they really wanted to keep the peace, they would have announced the regulation.”

According to Laura Blondeau, an aide to Community Safety Minister Rick Bartolucci, the regulation “ensures that police have the legal authority” they need for such a massive security zone.

“They really wanted to ensure they could provide a certain level of security,” Blondeau said Thursday. “The regulation does not include private residences or businesses. It’s for certain streets and sidewalks in the security perimeter.”

Blondeau said “rightly or wrongly,” the new regulation can be compared with airport security.

“You don’t have to get on that plane if you don’t want to be searched and wanded,” she said, adding that Bartolucci carefully weighed public safety and civil liberty concerns before agreeing to the one-time amendment.

“It was an extraordinary request. This is just for Toronto, just for the G20,” she said. “Given the environment that the police were expecting, they needed to be prepared.”

Blondeau emphasized the law only affects those trying to enter the security zone and applies solely to police officers, not to private security guards contracted for the summit.

If someone declines to comply it empowers the police to turn them away — or face being searched.

According to government lawyers, the regulation was passed by cabinet using what is known as a “covering” order-in-council.

“The authority for the regulation is contained in the PWPA (Public Works Protection Act). The PWPA authorizes the designation by cabinet of places as ‘public works,’” the lawyers said.

The Public Works Protection Act was created in 1990 and defines a “public work” as everything from a railway to a bridge or a provincial building. The act says any other building, place or work can also be “designated a public work by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.”

Morton said he’s unaware of any precedents to such a regulation being passed in Ontario and questions if it is even constitutional.

Des Rosiers said the regulation runs contrary to the Charter of Rights because it prohibits people from generally circulating on public land.

The G20 security fence has been a magnet for passersby and protesters alike, with many people approaching to take pictures or just quench their curiosity.

For Des Rosiers, she is especially worried because most people, including protesters, will operate under the assumption they have a right to refuse handing over identification to police.

“Protesters would have been told that the law of the land is that you don’t have to talk to police officers if you don’t want to,” she said. “This changes things because even if you attempt to approach, it gives the power to the guard to demand identification.

“It’s a significant intrusion on people’s rights.”

Source

And the G20 in Toronto begins

Posted by TJ on Thursday, June 24, 2010 , under , , , , , , , , , , | comments (0)



On the day before the g20 officially kicks off, the police really made there presence known. Charlie Veitch from the love police has been detained for not showing his Id. Luke Rudkowski from We Are Change New York was also denied entry into Canada.

A man was also arrested in Toronto for having a car load of weapons. Which included some gasoline, an axe, and a cross bow. None of these items are illegal, and sound like items that some one going camping or has recently gone camping would have.

Another report was that a "weapons cache" was found. This "cache" consisted of a few broken peices of cinder block in some bushes.

If this is the way that security is going to be handling this event. We are in for a very long weekend!

Researchers warn of earthquake

Posted by TJ on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 , under , , , , , , , , , | comments (1)



Researchers warn Southern Ontario may face earthquakes

WATERLOO, Ont. -- If a controversial theory put forth by a team of researchers studying seismic activity in Lake Ontario proves correct, Southern Ontario is more earthquake- prone than was previously believed.

"It's a fairly highly populated area, so it introduces an element of risk which didn't exist before in the minds of people," says Prof. Richard Thomas, head of the research team and director of the Waterloo Centre for Groundwater Research based at the University of Waterloo.

Scans of the bottom of Lake Ontario conducted during searches for downed aircraft revealed three previously undocumented features. Using that data and studies of their own, the research team identified the features as the result of tectonic activity due to a fault line.

The three features, known as pop-ups, plumose structures and dark linear patterns, are located in western Lake Ontario. A pop-up is a ridge with a crack at the top, formed when the bedrock fractures because of compressional forces in the crust. A plumose structure is several kilometres long and looks like a feather etched into the lake bottom. The dark linear patterns are believed to be due to natural gas coming up through the rocks into the bottom sediments.

Interestingly enough, says Thomas, the features all occur on the same line going through Burlington to Toronto. "In 1987 and 1988, there were two earthquakes recorded right on that line, which were about magnitude 3.5 (on the Richter scale). So there is earthquake evidence to suggest that the interpretation of these features is correct.

"This indicates a major fault structure occurring in that part of the lake. . . . What it indicates is that there is a greater likelihood of a significant earthquake taking place than was originally believed."

Earthquakes occurring in the Great Lakes region were thought to be in response to crustal rebound caused by the removal of ice from the last ice age. "Now, crustal rebound is taking place, but if you look at the pattern, it's not random," Thomas says. "The pattern would suggest that it's following a quite distinct orientation."

Additional work has revealed faulting in the south- eastern part of Lake Ontario. The scientists are coming to believe that Lake Ontario and possibly Lake Erie lie on an extension of the well-known St. Lawrence fault system.

The growing realization that fault lines could occur in the middle of a continent has led to a new science called intra-plate tectonics. "These are (earthquake) areas occurring in the middle of plates. The traditional belief was that all activity occurred on (continental) plate margins, where they collide or are in motion. They (mid- continental faults) are basically resulting from the various pressures induced on the plate because they're in motion, and these are lines of weakness which are currently being re- activated."

More work is needed before the team is completely satisfied that its theory is correct, Thomas adds. "What we need to do is do a lot more investigative work, using marine geo-physical systems to map the structures and make sure that they follow the concepts that we currently have."

In the scientific domain, this has been battled over since 1987, he says. "The actual release to the public, and the public debate, has only just begun. And not all scientists subscribe to this. It's still in the process of being verified. What they say is that Southern Ontario is in a stable area. It's in the middle of a continent, and it's stable, that the minor earthquakes are related to crustal rebound from removal of the ice masses, and that the Great Lakes originated by ice scrapping. The hypothesis challenges that paradigm totally.

"If you accept that it (the increased possibility of earthquakes) exists, it gives you a whole new way of looking at things."

If the theory is true, Thomas says, it may have some ramifications in the location of waste disposal sites and building construction.

He says this should be getting a bit more attention from scientists than it is receiving at present, because of the possibility of a large earthquake re-occurring in the area. The features indicate that the Great Lakes region experienced a large earthquake at some time in the past. But without knowing the "return frequency," scientists are in the dark about when it will recur.

"The return frequency is a statistical evaluation of how often an earthquake at one location will return with a certain level of magnitude," Thomas explains. "What is the return frequency of the San Francisco earthquake? It hasn't come back yet. But it will happen again. What it means is that stress is building up and releasing. Large earthquakes have a long return frequency. And the trouble is we don't know when the last large earthquake occurred in this area (the Great Lakes)."


This is a article from 1994
newsrelease.uwaterloo.ca

Earthquake on the ONTARIO-QUEBEC BORDER REGION




June 23 2010

At 1:41pm a earthquake hit the Ontario-Quebec boreder area. The quake measured at 5.5 in Magnitude.

I myslef felt it in Brantford (southern Ontario), and I have spoke with people in Toronto, Hamilton, Simcoe, and in some of the northen states who also felt the quake.

There have been no reports of any damage, injuries, or fatalities as of yet.

Here is some of the info on the earthquake:


Magnitude 5.5
Date-Time

* Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 17:41:41 UTC
* Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 01:41:41 PM at epicenter
* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 45.866°N, 75.457°W
Depth 15.7 km (9.8 miles) set by location program
Region ONTARIO-QUEBEC BORDER REGION, CANADA
Distances

* 39 km (24 miles) N (356°) from Cumberland, Ontario, Canada
* 45 km (28 miles) NNE (21°) from Gatineau, Qubbec, Canada
* 52 km (32 miles) NNE (26°) from Hull, Qubbec, Canada
* 53 km (33 miles) NNE (21°) from OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada

Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 2.3 km (1.4 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters NST=283, Nph=283, Dmin=149 km, Rmss=0.91 sec, Gp= 25°,
M-type=body wave magnitude (Mb), Version=7

Source

As more data and info comes in, We will be posting all new info.

Water cannon added to G20 security arsenal

Posted by TJ on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 , under , , , , , , , , , | comments (0)



Police have added a water cannon to their arsenal as they step up security ahead of this week's G20 summit in Toronto.

Provincial police Const. Michelle Murphy of the Integrated Security Unit says the water projection system will be used to control large crowds if there are riots.

Activists have promised to be out in force to protest the two-day summit of world leaders that starts Friday.

Const. Murphy says the security plan is moving ahead as planned and officers are being put in place.




Toronto's police chief has said 5,100 officers have been assigned to keep the city safe as the weekend summit nears.

There are ads in local newspapers Monday explaining the security zone and advising people how to deal with it.

There was also a visible increase in the number of uniformed police officers on downtown streets over the weekend.

Source

Possible False flag at the upcoming G8/G20?




I do not like to jump the gun on the possibilities of a false flag terrorist attack. But when I saw this report, something just did not seem right.

Just before the 2010 Vancouver Olympic games, there were reports of large amounts of ammonium nitrate fertilizer "missing". This was covered heavily on the Internet and even on a few MSM news stations. Thankfully nothing happened.

Now only weeks before the G8 in Huntsville and the G20 in Toronto, CTV news is reporting that a mysterious man purchased a large amount of ammonium nitrate fertilizer in the Niagara area late last month, and that Several law enforcement agencies are investigating the case.
CTV news

I see there only being to scenarios.
First one is that the RCMP likes to use the excuse of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, to have the people accept the draconian levels of security at an event (in this case the G8/G20).
Or That these are attempts at a false flag event in Canada. The first one abandoned due to the attention the story recieved.

I would personally prefer neither of these, but I sincerely hope it is the first scenario.

Updates to this story will be coming soon.

Toronto asks feds to move G20 summit to avoid disruptions

Posted by TJ on Monday, May 31, 2010 , under , , , , , , , , , | comments (0)



OTTAWA - The City of Toronto has asked the federal government to relocate this summer's G20 summit to prevent Canada's biggest city from being "severely impacted" by the event, according to a Toronto councillor.

In a letter to his constituents this week, Councillor Adam Vaughn warns that the summit could cause "serious disruptions" to the city's downtown core.

"Summits such as this in Quebec City and Seattle have presented serious challenges to host cities. Anti-terrorism precautions, crowd control and the reality that these meetings usually draw large numbers of protesters, will mean that much of the ward will be severely impacted by security initiatives," writes Mr. Vaughn, who represents Ward 20 in Toronto, where the summit is expected to be held.

"I have received a ‘classified' briefing so far. There will be serious disruptions. The security perimeter will be much larger than the area affected by the recent NFL games, and the protests are expected to be larger than last spring's Tamil demonstrations."

Canada was originally supposed to host a meeting this summer of the G8 leaders in the cottage-country town of Huntsville, Ont., north of Toronto. But the federal government decided to expand the summit to include the G20 countries after it became clear that organization had become the dominant forum for dealing with the financial crisis and other economic issues.

The G20 summit will be held on June 26-27, and is expected to take place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, a stone's throw from the CN Tower. The G8 summit will still be held in Huntsville on June 25-26.

If held at the convention centre, the summit would affect one of the city's busiest areas for business, tourism and entertainment. The convention centre lies at the edge of Toronto's financial district, and is also close to the Air Canada Centre and Union Station.

Mr. Vaughn said the city would prefer the summit to be located at Exhibition Stadium, which is slightly removed from the city's downtown core. But he says the federal government has refused to consult with his ward.

"The city has tried to convince Ottawa to move this event to Exhibition Place, but the federal government insists on staging it near Front Street, between Yonge and Spadina," Mr. Vaughn wrote in his letter.

Mr. Vaughn says the massive security preparations for the summit will disrupt his ward before and after the event.

"There will be fences, security checks and a significant number of street closures. The event may only last for two days, but preparations and clean-up will extend the period of disruption."

The Prime Minister's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source

Downtown Toronto To Be Transformed Into Locked-Down Police State This Summer

Posted by TJ on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 , under , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | comments (0)



Steve Watson
Prisonplanet.com
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Downtown Toronto To Be Transformed Into Locked Down Police State This Summer. Preparations are underway for a massive show of force in Toronto this Summer as the G20 summit comes to town. Unprecedented levels of security are being undertaken, with one of the largest movie studios in North America being transformed into a giant holding facility for unruly protesters.

Police say they are prepared for huge protests during the summit, scheduled to convene over the weekend of June 26/27.

Toronto law enforcement officials have announced they are “tapping” social network websites to monitor the potential activities of protesters as they gear up for the event.

“(Social media) allows people to communicate in a lot more different ways. It’s just another tool,” Const. Wendy Drummond told CP24 news. “The way we police our protests hasn’t changed.”

“The Olympics that you saw recently in Vancouver was actually the largest security event ever to take place here in Canada. The G20/G8 surpasses that completely,” Const. Ed Boltuc, a Toronto Police Services officer and liaison with the RCMP-led Integrated Security Unit, told the Toronto Star recently.

“There’s going to be a massive — absolutely massive — presence of police and security on the ground like you’ve never seen before.” Boltuc added.

The Globe and Mail has reported that up to10,000 uniformed officers, along with a 1,000 private security guards will be deployed, as well as Canadian military forces. The security costs are expected to cost the Canadian government (taxpayers) $179 million.

The plans include two security perimeters, walled in with huge 3 meter high fences, with Toronto police in charge of the outer zone and the RCMP in charge of the inner zone. Anyone entering the inner perimeter, where the Metro Convention Centre is located, will be processed through five levels of airport style security screening.


Various checkpoints throughout Toronto will be outfitted with “Magnetometers,” “walk-through metal detectors,” “X-Ray belt driven scanners” and “hand-held metal detectors.”

Residents and workers in the area will have to register with the authorities to get access to their homes and businesses during the meeting.

The Canadian Forces plans are described as “large-scale operational planning, land and air surveillance, underwater safety and security for the venues and some logistic and ceremonial functions. Support also includes drawing on the CF’s ongoing partnership in the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD).”

Protesters will also be subject to designated free speech zones. If they breach these zones they will be forced to move or be arrested.

Police have announced that they will be using a massive movie studio as a temporary jail. The building is roughly five kilometres from the Convention Centre, outside the two security zones. The plan echoes tactics employed in the U.S. at recent DNC and RNC Conventions, where thousands of protesters were indiscriminately rounded up and kept for up to several hours in temporary prisons.

Sunday saw tactical officers take over part of the underground in the financial district of downtown Toronto in an unannounced simulated hostage event. Police worked in tandem with private security guards and we’re seen herding people through the building.

Police State Toronto: Terror Drill Caught On Tape




On Sunday April 18th I received a tip that there would be a terror/civilian evacuation drill in the downtown core which was to include simulated gun fire, actors resembling accident victims and the participation of Police Tactical Officers, the Emergency Task Force, and Toronto Fire and EMS. No one was notified that the drill would be taking place even though it was conducted in the financial district just a few blocks away from the location of the G20 summit coming to Toronto this June 26th/27th. Police with assault rifles could be seen ordering around “civilians” in an underground food court during one of the simulated scenarios. CTV and the Globe and Mail eventually arrived but we here at Press For Truth were the only ones who managed to get footage of the actual drill which was organized by TAPPS (Toronto Association of Police and Private Security) and was dubbed “Active Attackers”.



In a world where false flag attacks are becoming the modus operandi for manipulating the masses into accepting greater forms of tyranny, police and intelligence agencies are looking to merge the public and private sectors of security as a solution to the “threat” of terrorism . We interviewed Deputy Chief Kim Derry from TAPPS who was responsible for the drill and he stated to me over and over again that “times are changing and we need to merge the public and private sectors when dealing with these security issues”. He went on to say “there’s only so many police officers but there’s lots of private security. If private citizens see things they can report it to the private sector and the private sector has a communication network now with us and they can pass it on.”The merging of the public and private sectors of security is a very slippery slope and what the TAPPS organization fails to realise is that when there is an abuse of authority or an illegal action taking by these private forces no one is ever held accountable. Luckily independent press is on the rise and as long as we continue to expose these psyops for what they really are than citizens of the world just may realize that they’ve been had and will take a stand to join the infowar, expose the lies and seek the truth.

Source

Leaked panel report tells G20 to stick to tight script to maintain credibility

Posted by TJ on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 , under , , , , , , , , , , | comments (0)



OTTAWA - Stick to a carefully crafted script if you don't want it to die.

That's the advice from an expert Canadian-Korean panel that met last month in Ottawa to advise the Harper government on how to keep the G20 alive beyond its seminal summit in Toronto this summer.

Their 115-page report, obtained by The Canadian Press, says the new international club - tasked with solving the global economic meltdown - will lose public trust and face a dubious future if it makes promises it can't keep.

Far-reaching and difficult negotiations such as global trade liberalization and climate change should be avoided, the rarefied group advises.

Instead, the summit should follow elements of the G20's New Beginning framework from its Pittsburgh summit last fall that focused on promoting sustainable and balanced economic growth.

"It is critically urgent, at this moment in the G20's development, to build on the G20's initial successes and advance its credibility and effectiveness. This can be best achieved by focusing on a small number of pressing priorities," says the 115-page report prepared for the government, and obtained by The Canadian Press.

"The G20, after all, remains something of an experiment in collective leadership and enhanced co-ordination. It will be properly judged not by the promises it makes, but by the progress it delivers."

Carleton University's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs and its counterpart with Seoul National University gathered 25 economists, diplomats, ex-politicos and academics to help the Conservative government craft an attainable agenda for the June 26-27 meeting in Toronto - the first summit of the G20 as a permanent body.

The group was led by veteran mandarin Derek Burney and leading Korean economic heavyweight Yung Chul Park. Burney is a former Canadian ambassador to Washington and served as the head of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 2006 government transition team

Canada contributed 15 members to the panel - including two ex-finance ministers, Liberal John Manley and Tory Michael Wilson - former Bank of Canada governor Gordon Thiessen, former Privy Council clerk Kevin Lynch and one-time Finance Department official Wendy Dobson, who now heads the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

The group held a day-long seminar in Ottawa last month and addressed the G20 meeting of sherpas, the top organizers from each of the group's 20 countries who were also holding a planning session in Ottawa.

Its key message was that although economic recovery shows positive signs in some countries, it remains "fragile, unevenly shared, and vulnerable to reversal." The report cited imbalances between surplus and deficit countries and the continuing soaring deficits in some.

"Recovery cannot be sustained unless these acute imbalances are corrected and fiscal discipline is exercised," the report states.

"Specifically, surplus countries (notably China, but also Germany and Japan) must be encouraged to accelerate domestic consumption and public spending; deficit countries (notably the United States but also the United Kingdom) must adopt prudent fiscal policies in the medium term, restrain consumer demand, and generate more exports."

This won't be easy, the group says, and resorting to "naming and shaming" won't work either.

That is an apparent reference to the tension between the U.S. and China that many feared would leave the summit in tatters.

Economic tensions between Beijing and Washington have eased recently, but the group urges the G20 to carefully address the imbalances between the Chinese and U.S. economies.

The report urges the G20 to pursue international financial regulation and reform. Its suggestions include pushing for a "sensible level" of capital reserve for banks, perhaps as high as eight per cent. It also calls for reform of the International Monetary Fund, including the need for merit-based appointments to top management posts.

But the group appears less enthusiastic about the G20 getting behind energy security and climate change financing.

The group pans last year's global climate change conference in Copenhagen as a "failure of process" and says the G20 should "integrate green-economy thinking more fully into energy security and economic discussions."

But it says the G20 should assume only a "supplementary" role to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

"Despite the commitments to energy security by the G20 leaders, it seems there has not yet been much progress in furthering the discussions," says the report, which cites as one reason "the lack of consensus within the G20 in addressing a wide range of energy security issues."

Though the group says the Doha Round of global trade negotiations needs to be completed, it doesn't think it would be a good idea for the G20 leaders to hitch their cart to that horse.

"In particular, G20 leaders should not affirm Doha deadlines they know will not be met. Unkept commitments only diminish confidence in open trade and weaken public trust in the G20 itself."

Helicopters land at CN Tower in G20 exercise

Posted by TJ on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 , under , , , , , , , , , , , | comments (0)



Downtown Toronto got a taste of security preparation for the upcoming G20 summit Tuesday morning as two military helicopters completed a test flight around the Metro Toronto Convention Centre before landing in front of the CN Tower.

The CH-146 Griffon helicopters were spotted at about 9 a.m. circling the area above the convention centre, which will play host to the international meeting in June.

Canadian Forces Sgt. Maj. Sylvain Gallant said the flight was to test the capability of the landing area between the CN Tower and the convention centre.

The helicopters were flown in from CFB Borden, looping around the convention centre, the CN Tower, and nearby condos before landing on a stretch of grass on the south side of the CN Tower.



After the landing, witnesses reported seeing men wearing black suits getting out of the helicopters and walking towards the centre.

Gallant said the exercise included practice in transporting VIPs to the site.

A handful of Toronto police officers were also on site during the exercise.

Source:The Toronto Star

U.S. wants Canada to stay in Afghanistan: Clinton

Posted by TJ on Tuesday, March 30, 2010 , under , , , , , , , , , , , | comments (0)



The United States would like Canada to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2011, the year Canada is scheduled to end its combat mission in the country, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told CBC's The Hour.

"It's up to Canada to decide how you deploy your forces," Clinton told host George Stroumboulopoulos in an interview that will be aired Tuesday evening.

"But I'm not going sit here and tell you we're happy about it because … that wouldn't be telling you the truth. We'd love to have Canada stay in this fight with us. But again, you know, you've got your own considerations and we respect that."

Clinton is in Ottawa attend a meeting of G8 foreign ministers to prepare for the G8 leaders summit in Toronto in June. She also attended a meeting of representatives from the five Arctic coastal states near Gatineau, Que., on Monday and will meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Tuesday morning.



To date, there has been no formal request from NATO for Canadian troops to stay in Afghanistan past 2011. Canada began its Afghan mission in 2002.

Last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon reiterated in the House of Commons that the end date has not changed despite a Globe and Mail report saying the U.S. government would ask Canada to keep as many as 500 to 600 soldiers in Afghanistan. He again ruled out any form of military mission beyond 2011 late Monday evening.

However, he added the government is looking at non-military roles past that deadline, which was something Clinton mentioned to Stroumboulopoulos.

"We do need non-combat forces, for example, for training and logistical work," said Clinton. "The Canadians and the Americans get along so well."

In 2008, Parliament passed a motion to keep soldiers in Kandahar until 2011. Leaving military trainers in Kabul after the 2011 pullout date would still comply with the federal government's commitment to end Canada's role in the fighting.

In December 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama committed 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan but also pledged to begin withdrawing U.S. forces beginning in July 2011.

The additional U.S. troops will include about 5,000 trainers, underscoring Obama's emphasis on preparing Afghans to take over their own security.

Canada has at least 2,500 soldiers in Afghanistan serving under NATO. Since 2002, 141 Canadian soldiers and two civilians have died during the mission.



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/03/29/clinton-canada-afghanistan.html#ixzz0jf0V090L

Police across Canada rolling out armoured vehicles




Article by: Douglas Quan
Canwest News Service


They're big. They're bad-ass. And they could soon be barrelling down a street near you.

Numerous law-enforcement agencies across the country have recently acquired armoured vehicles for their tactical operations.

The Ottawa Police Service on Wednesday unveiled their BearCat — sort of like a Hummer on steroids. And RCMP in British Columbia announced this week that they had acquired two six-wheeled, all-terrain vehicles from the Canadian Forces.



Armoured vehicles are also in use in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Victoria and several other municipalities.

Police forces say these bulletproof vehicles — none of which are equipped with any artillery — provide an extra layer of protection for officers when responding to dangerous situations, such as gun calls or high-risk search warrants.

Authorities say they also help protect the public in situations such as in hostage-takings.

"It's certainly a comfort to be able to deal with the calls we go to using the protection of a vehicle like that," said Ottawa Police Const. Jim Hutchins.

The Ottawa service purchased its Lenco BearCat for $341,147. The vehicle's oversized tires allow it to go off-road and its height offers improved visibility, police said.

The vehicle will be used by the department's tactical team, which responds to about 50 incidents each year and is tasked with protecting Canadian government buildings, embassies and consulates. The team also responds to incidents at the Ottawa International Airport.

Unlike Ottawa's armoured vehicle, which was manufactured for police use, the B.C. RCMP's armoured vehicles — known as TAV IIs and which can travel up to 120 km/h — were originally designed for military use and have since been retrofitted.

The vehicles, which were acquired free of charge, are necessary because of Metro Vancouver's escalating gang violence, said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Peter Thiessen.

"Gang members are well-armed. Many times we have to be in a position to respond to that and ensure our safety as police officers," he said. "We know what these individuals are capable of doing."

Thiessen said an armoured vehicle was deployed earlier this week when officers went to execute a search warrant at a home in Surrey, B.C. The occupants in the home came out peacefully, he said.

Is it possible that the mere sight of the vehicle could make criminals think twice about engaging police?

"Visually, it is an aggressive looking piece of equipment," Thiessen said. "It does look intimidating."

Robert Gordon, director of Simon Fraser University's school of criminology and a former police officer, says armoured vehicles might make sense in the United States where there's a wider availability of guns, but he wonders whether they're necessary in Canada.

"What kind of urban warfare do police services think they're going to be encountering?" he said. "I think there is an element of this equipment being purchased because it's new toys for boys."

Gordon said, in his opinion, the line between civil police service and military service in the country is blurring.

"We're talking about the streets you and I occupy. We're not talking about Kandahar," he said. "What will they do next? Drive them into the fronts of people's houses?"

Staff Sgt. Kirk McCallum of the Calgary Police Service, which acquired a Canadian-made Armet Balkan MK7 for $250,000 in 2008, said Gordon's remarks are short-sighted.

He said his agency's armoured vehicle is used on a weekly basis.

It is not uncommon for officers to drive the vehicle, which is equipped with lights and sirens, right onto someone's lawn, he said.

"We have to go into those dangerous situations. This let's us safely do that," he said.

McCallum cited the remarks of Alberta provincial court Judge Peter Ayotte, who led an inquiry into the 2004 shooting death of RCMP Cpl. James Galloway by a mentally-ill man west of Edmonton. In his recommendations, Ayotte wrote that having access to an armoured vehicle "almost surely" would have prevented Galloway's death.

"What value do you put on the cost of a life?" McCallum said.

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