Wednesday 8 December 2010

Caught in the Act

Yesterday, André Marin released the much-anticipated report on the G20 fiasco in Toronto, cleverly titled 'Caught in the Act'. (PDF at the link.)

I caught the last bit of the press conference and heard Marin say that events of that weekend constituted the 'most massive compromise of civil liberties in Canadian history' and instantly he became my new hero.

Finally, finally, after all the Facebooking, YouTubing, blogging, and protesting, Somebody is paying attention and coming to the same conclusion that hundreds of thousands of nobodies knew all along: Toronto was a police state that weekend.




I haven't read the whole 127 pages yet, but what I have read is clear, blunt, and unequivocal. What's also great is the use of social media by the Ombuds and the appendix listing a bunch of YouTubes of events.

Today, on the front page of the Star, Rosie DiManno, who is usually in a tie with Pitsy Blatchford for top cop-groupie, calls the chief out. Make it right, she says.

Well, looky here. The chief speaks from some shindig on the Wet Coast.
One criticism lobbed at Blair in recent weeks is that the investigations into police misconduct appear to be lagging so far behind that of black clad vandals. In those cases, police appealed to the public for help, releasing a swarm of pictures. In a more recent development, police announced suspects will be extradited from the U.S.

“I understand that may be the perception,” said Blair, adding that he has asked the public for any evidence, photographic or otherwise.

He went on to say that his own officers have and will be investigated with the same techniques and the same rigor as anyone else. And that every police officer is required to report misconduct.

Yeah, well, as they say, I'll believe it when I see it.

After all, the jackass who said 'I think the police were too nice. I would have had a zero tolerance approach' has a shiny new thing. Around his florid neck.


2 comments:

Unknown said...

Great post! Glad I found your blog.

Antonia Z said...

The Globe's editorial on this today was disgusting. I am glad I am letting my 25 year sub lapse as of yesterday. I wonder how long they will keep delivering it?

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