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G8/G20 June 2010 Protest Watch

"TTC wants $2.7M from feds for G20: The TTC is asking the federal government to foot a $2.7 million fare for expenses incurred during the G20.":
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/09/29/15521711.html

 
mariomike said:
"TTC wants $2.7M from feds for G20: The TTC is asking the federal government to foot a $2.7 million fare for expenses incurred during the G20.":
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/09/29/15521711.html

I'm sure they made some cash off those same protesters, they had to get downtown somehow.
 
TTC wants $2.7M from feds for G20
Of course they do.
Around $1.2 million was related to staff time while $1.5 million was due to lost ridership mostly from when the Saturday protests erupted into rioting, forcing a transit shutdown.

“Almost all of it was overtime,” TTC spokesman Brad Ross told the Sun, explaining the $1.2 million figure
Send the $1.2 million bill to the transit union and $1.5 million to the protesters.

Just keep Toronto's hands out of my tax-paying pockets
 
I wonder if the TTC offers to send back excess fares from increased ridership during events that draw tourists, such as the CNE, Toronto Indy, etc.

Oh, wait.
 
Baloo said:
I wonder if the TTC offers to send back excess fares from increased ridership during events that draw tourists, such as the CNE, Toronto Indy, etc.

Oh, wait.

Speaking of the CNE: Reply #611:
http://forums.milnet.ca/forums/threads/92495/post-950697.html#msg950697

Sun:
"Front St. wrong place for G20 leaders to meet: Editorial: This as opposed to the city-owned Allstream Centre at Exhibition Place, which has been recommended by city staff and makes much more sense.":
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/editorial/2010/02/18/12937011.html

 
Greeeeeeeeeeeat....  THIS is how to get to the bottom of things in an efficient, professional, non-partisan fashion  ::)
A House of Commons committee will look into questions about costs and police actions at the June G8 and G20 summits.

New Democrat MP Don Davies says the public safety committee will begin hearings this month into the billion-dollar security price tag for the summits and complaints that authorities breached the rights of demonstrators.

Hundreds of people were arrested at the G20 meeting of world leaders in Toronto after extensive damage in the city's downtown.

Some peaceful protesters complained of police violence, threats and mistreatment in custody.

The Conservatives initially balked at hearings, saying other investigations into the summits should be allowed to run their course.
Shared Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act. from the Canadian Press here.
 
October 14, 2010
"The Crown has dropped charges against more than 100 people who were arrested during the G20 summit in Toronto.":
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/10/14/g20-charges-dropped685.html



 
October 16, 2010
"G20 policeman seeks $1.2 million over cartoons":
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/10/16/toronto-g20-cop.html

Re:
"TTC worker caught in G20 police sweep: Man arrested and held 36 hours despite uniform, identification":
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/830858--ttc-worker-caught-in-g20-police-sweep

Update:
24 Sept 2010:
"So the update so far is, I have been off work since July 4th 2010.":
http://toronto.mediacoop.ca/story/letters-g20/4703

Interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTXMupeLN2U



 
Arrest and charges are seperate. Lots of people are arrested without charges only to be released later. All are articulated (at least the majority of them- bad cops exist). Such as Breach of the Peace Section 31 CC- no punishment section Just used to arrest people like unruly protestors. Or 175 CC Aresstable offence which often results in no charges.

These are not arbitrary. They are real and legal. Write your MP if you feel so strongly about it. Or go for ridealong and see why these sections exist.

As an aside- dont associate weak kneed prosecutors and political minded judges as the yard stick for whether someone can be arrested or not.
 
So there's nothing unusual about laying charges against only 2% of the people you actually detain?
 
Wonderbread said:
So there's nothing unusual about laying charges against only 2% of the people you actually detain?

LOL I would have questions about any police officer with that kind of track record. But I would need to see what people were charged with to make create an informed opinion. Riots and demonstrations are not usual circumstances. It IS certainly something that should be scrutinzed.
 
http://www.infomedia.gc.ca/rcmp-grc/articles/unrestricted/2010/11/rcm201011321184721_25.htm

From the Toronto Star:

'Technicality' freed protesters
Police didn't have warrant to arrest 100 people at G20, but still had grounds to do so, Blair says
Dan Robson Toronto Star

  A "legal technicality" forced charges to be dropped for about 100 people rounded up by officers as they slept in a university gym during the G20 weekend.

  The problem is that police didn't have a warrant, says Police Chief Bill Blair.

  Regardless, the officers acted on "reasonable and probable" grounds when they made the arrests on June 27, Blair told the House of Commons safety committee on Wednesday.

  They didn't think a warrant was necessary, he said.

  "Officers don't always need a warrant to make an arrest," said police spokeswoman Meaghan Gray. "It was after the fact that the Crown attorney determined that they did."

  On Oct. 14, the Crown dropped all charges against the group, which hailed mostly from Quebec and was invited to stay in the University of Toronto gym by the graduate students' union.

  The Crown agrees police had "reasonable and probable grounds" to make the arrests, but it couldn't find a "reasonable prospect of conviction" against any of them, said spokesman Brendan Crawley.

  Police say many of those arrested had black clothing and "weapons of opportunity," such as rocks, bricks and sharp objects. It was the same style of clothing and weaponry used by the Black Bloc during the violent rampage that tore through the downtown core the day before.

  Those arrested say they were threatened with rubber bullets. Some say they were kicked in the ribs. Some had their hands bound with zip ties. Some spent more than two days in a makeshift detention centre. To police, the arrests were a practical tactic to prevent more destruction.

  To those detained, they were a violation of rights and an unwarranted show of force.

  The lack of a warrant does "not negate the fact that they had evidence to make the arrest," Blair told the safety committee.

  That evidence has only been seen by police investigators and the Crown, which found no grounds for conviction.

  "The charges were dropped before any disclosure was provided," said lawyer Luba Szkambara, who represents four people arrested in the gym. "So, I really can't tell you very much about what (evidence) there was, except that there wasn't enough evidence to proceed," Szkambara said.

  Etienne Poitras, a Montreal lawyer who represented eight people rounded up in the gym, said the undisclosed evidence and the Crown's dismissal of the charges tells the story. "They didn't have any proof against them for any charge," he said.

  Blair, however, was steadfast in his defence of the Integrated Security Unit's actions. "The courts determine guilt or innocence," Blair told the committee. "The police have to act on reasonable and probable grounds," Blair said. "And that's what took place in this case."

  Of more than 1,100 people were arrested during the G20 weekend, only 315 were charged. Of those, fewer than two dozen still face trials

*****

The Crowns suggestion that a warrant was required is bizarre. Unless an unreasonable amount of time lapsed between the offence and the officers identifying the people in the crowd a warrant is not required.

I think its more political than anything else.
 
Container said:
The Crowns suggestion that a warrant was required is bizarre. Unless an unreasonable amount of time lapsed between the offence and the officers identifying the people in the crowd a warrant is not required.

My understanding (acknowledging that I don't have all the facts) is that the police had infiltrated this particular group for months prior to the arrests made during a (presumably deliberate) early morning raid on the U of T campus.  Would that make a difference?
 
My understanding is that this group 'sponsored' (in given a place to stay) by U of T persons, was several bus loads of Anarchist groups from Montreal and Quebec who had openly posted that they were going to the G20 to conduct Black Bloc tactics.


Remember the girl who complained that her car was stopped by police because "she had Quebec plates" and that they found "black clothing, a baseball bat, anarchist literature" etc. in her trunk.  I suppose she could have been related to the guy who rode in on the GO Train with his "Midevil weapons"........ Both a few bricks short of a load........and their elevators didn't go to the top floor.
 
George Wallace said:
My understanding is that this group 'sponsored' (in given a place to stay) by U of T persons, was several bus loads of Anarchist groups from Montreal and Quebec who had openly posted that they were going to the G20 to conduct Black Bloc tactics.

That's the way I understand the situation as well - which is why the story doesn't seem to jive. 

If the police had infiltrated this group in the months prior to G20, they had all sorts of online postings regarding Black Bloc tactics, and they had the time and wherewithal to plan and conduct an early morning raid to arrest these people, then why did they not bother to get a warrant?

One interpretation would be that the police knew that even under their intense scrutiny, there was not enough evidence against these people to get a warrant for their arrest - but they went ahead and arrested them anyway.

 
More than likely a judge would want exact names and numbers to every last detail as he/she sits all high and mighty in the safety cocoon that LEO's provide for them whilst they play demigod.

Not that I have an opinion or anything. ;D
 
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