"In the months to come, our government will undertake major transformations to position Canada for growth over the next generation" -- with these words, Stephen Harper has thown down the gauntlet. On Friday, in a grand, sweeping, blustering speech (see Aalya Ahmad on the new swagger), Harper has laid out his vision for the future. It is imperative that we understand it, to fight it.

Today, Leah, went to jail. For the last 18 months, I could not write to her, talk to her, argue with her. We could not hug, or hold hands. There was no texting, no phone calls, no emails. The one person that I talked to a few times a day every day, was someone I was not allowed to make eye contact with if I ever saw her on the street. 

And then suddenly a few weeks ago my bail conditions were gone. Our friendship, which was considered a threat for so long was now legal.

On November 22, 2011, 17 people charged as the "G20 Main Conspiracy Group" negotiated a plea resolution to our charges.

Please read our statement about it here.

This is my individual statement on the matter.

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I will not grieve Mandy, Leah, Alex, Peter, Erik and Adam going to jail for years.

I will not lament the past 18 months of "freedom" on bail where the 17 of us could live anywhere but in our own homes, could talk to anyone but some of our dearest friends, do anything but that which we truly love, say anything but know that it would be twisted and used against us.

Let us speak truthfully about what many of you are about to enter in to -- a crime. You are deciding that your beliefs are more important then the law. And that when laws are unjust, they must be resisted.

So Jason Kenney just wrote a blog in the National Post and, guess what, almost every paragraphs contains misinformation.

Well, that's not a surprise. Since 2009, I've been tracking his disregard for facts. (See an article from April '09, here) and it has really just been impossible to keep up.

One of this minister's most endearing tactics is issuing statements in different languages saying different things to different communities. A fact that the English-speaking mainstream press in Canada can't even begin to explore.

"We are just here to ask you some questions Syed."

Said the younger, shorter man who introduced himself as Ryan. This other one said his name was Dave. "We are from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Air Marshall Service." Badges flashed and taken away.

Its 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 28, 2011. I've just been put in an interview room with blood stains on the floor and clothes strewn around. I've been at the United States border, the Peace Bridge, since 4:45.

"I understand you are under house arrest, Syed."

"No, I am not."

"I see, why are you trying to enter the United States today, Syed."

A year ago today, I was at the first protest of the anti-G20 mobilizations in Toronto. We had decided to travel in pairs, and so I paired up with an organizer from Guelph whom I knew distantly. Lets call her B., and as many have suggested since, she was probably an OPP officer who had infiltrated activist organizations in Ontario for the previous two years, as part of a multi-million dollar police campaign against social justice. See Tim Groves' recent article in Briarpatch on infiltration here.