Saturday, July 3, 2010

Canada Day 2010

It was a beautiful day. I was at the park in Hamilton with my little boy when I saw a young woman I recognized from the local activist community. She told me that she'd been arrested in Toronto at the G20 Summit. She wasn't there to protest though. She was visiting friends and they went out for something to eat. They were all surrounded and handcuffed and arrested with the police not even offering a pretence of having any justification. She was shaken to tell me about the terrible conditions of her 30 hour detention. How the police were abusive, calling them all by the c-word, threatening them with lengthy stays in prison. She was traumatized, afraid of being out by herself, afraid that at any moment the police might come back and take her away again.

That's the fear that people feel living in a lawless police state!

That is not what our leaders tell us that Canada is all about.

4 comments:

Fillibluster said...

These people who were detained should be receiving post traumatic stress counselling paid for by the government. I'm sure they all feel utterly violated and will be dealing with this for years to come.

thwap said...

Well, maybe her part of the class action can pay for it.

A class action lawsuit won't need a debased parliament's permission to continue and financial penalties are one of the few things these thugs comprehend.

Darren said...

If this is true, it's disgusting, but I find it very hard to believe. "Visiting some friends and getting something to eat. Suddenly..."

I'll admit I think the Black Bloc should be detained on sight, so I guess that will make me a fascist, but this story just seems to be missing some essential details.

Oh well, step on up with the class-action suit. The Canadian gov't will likely settle. They may settle it the way they settle abuse claims and everyone will be required to testify regarding how egregiously they were mistreated by the police. It should become quite fantastical in short order.

Personally, I'm just happy we will not have to host that stupid waste of time and money meeting again for a good long time. Can't wait to see the Black Bloc in China. If they dare show up, that would be worth a modest PPV fee.

thwap said...

Oh, I suppose everyone is lying then?

http://niagaraatlarge.com/2010/07/05/thorold-ontario-amputee-has-his-artificial-leg-ripped-off-by-police-and-is-slammed-in-makeshift-cell-during-g20-summit-%E2%80%93-at-least-one-ontario-mpp-calls-the-whole-episode-%E2%80%9Cshocking/

http://illicitpopsiclecollective.wordpress.com/2010/07/01/tommy-taylor-how-i-got-arrested-and-abused-at-g20-in-toronto-canada/

I like how you mention evil, authoritarian China but seem rather nonchalant about the use of police-state tactics here.