![G20 2[1]](https://rabble.ca/wp-content/uploads/1970/01/G20-21.JPG)
1: The people of Toronto want it
2,500 people marched through Toronto’s downtown core in defiance of the police’s crackdown on all activists; including a sit-in at the corner of Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue where over 200 were trapped by police for hours in the rain Sunday night – citizens of Toronto took that corner back “Who’s Streets / Our Streets” style!
The next rally on Saturday July 17, 2010, is set to be even bigger and nation-wide as solidarity rallies are being planned across Canada to support us! Check out photos here.
Amnesty International backs the call for an independent inquiry into the G20 security measures. Shanaaz Gokool, the Chair of Amnesty International Canada, said what happened over the G20 weekend threatened the rights and freedoms of all Canadians.
3: Canadian Civil Liberties Association
The actions of the government and the police during the G20 Summit demonstrate the need for answers, accountability, and action. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) is calling for:
–An independent inquiry into the actions of the police during the G20.
–Repeal or amendment of the Public Works Protection Act to meet basic constitutional standards; and
–Law reform to ensure that the Criminal Code provisions relating to “breach of the peace”, “unlawful assemblies” and “riots” are brought in line with constitutional standards.
4: Ontario Federation of Labour
The Ontario Federation of Labour supports the call for a 20 public inquiry. “Harper and McGuinty should cut their losses and call this public inquiry,” Sid Ryan said at Saturday’s rally and march for Civil Liberties in Toronto.
The Citizens of Vancouver have released a solidarity statement calling for an inquiry.
“Pre-emptive arrests and mass roundups are indicative of a heightened Orwellian police state seeking to justify a bloated security budget. In addition to freeing those currently detained and dropping all charges, an impartial public inquiry into the conduct of the police is essential.”
6: Randy Hillier – Progressive Conservative MPP for Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington.
“Can you imagine a society of law and order that does not respect the inherent civil liberties and freedom of mobility, association and assembly? What is law and order if you can be arrested and detained arbitrarily without reasonable and probable grounds?” — Randy Hillier
7: Keith Forde – Deputy Police Chief; Toronto Police Services
“Whether the police were right or wrong, if the public believes we have done something wrong, we have fences to mend,” he said. “You can’t have the public saying ‘we hate the police.’ We just can’t ignore them – we need the public.” – Keith Forde.
8: Artist yukMC’s “State of Emergency” Video
Artist yukMC created a politically charged music video demanding a public inquiry into the police and government actions into the G20 Summit protests.
Editorial: “A full inquiry could ask what Harper was thinking when he decided to locate the summit in the downtown convention centre rather than (as Mayor David Miller had suggested) the Exhibition Grounds, why McGuinty chose to give police additional powers without telling the public, and why the police appeared first to under-react and then to over-react to events, with the result that constitutional rights were trampled upon.
Tackling all these concerns goes well beyond what a board-appointed review can accomplish. Only through a public inquiry can we be certain to have a forum with a broad enough mandate and sufficient power to address the lingering questions – and give the public confidence in the answers.”
The Facebook group – Canadians Demanding a Public Inquiry into Toronto G20 – currently has 52,882 members as of 11:00 am on Monday July 12, 2010.
Rebecca Harrison-White, one of the group’s administrators, said people are eager for “an unbiased independent source that will expose all the facts of what happened over the weekend.”
Now it’s your turn: Please log on to http://www.ricktelfer.ca/g20/ and send a message to all levels of government demanding a public inquiry into the G20 protests in Toronto.
If you have your own G20 story to tell, please send it to http://www.G20inquiry.org
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