During Holy Week, the period leading up to Easter, we were reminded that Jesus, the Christ, was incarcerated, tortured, and put to death by one of the most effective regimes to ever exist on the planet. The Romans did have a rule of law for those who were considered citizens, but it was still harsh for those who challenged authority, and draconian for those who were subjects of occupied lands. So while Christians claim that the crucifixion of Jesus has cosmic significance, it was also a brutal form of execution employed to control those who might be considering insurrection. Crude but effective.
Yesterday a scathing 300-page report was issued about the tactics of police in Toronto during the G-20 meetings two years ago. Yes, there were anarchists on hand who were intent on mayhem. They deserved to be apprehended and punished. But most of the protesters assumed that they had the freedom of peaceful and lawful assembly, enshrined in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Instead police chose to aggressively suppress those assemblies, herd people together without cause, actually physically attack and humiliate some who were either peacefully protesting or passing by. Even journalists with credentials such as the one pictured above were rounded up.
The acts of the anarchists were shameful. So were the actions of far too many police officers and their superiors. What a dark stain on democracy, a form of government often argued to have grown out of Judeo-Christian values.
We know that policing can be tough work. But Canada is not a police state, not even temporarily, and I hope that message is being heard loudly and clearly through this report. Might does not make right. I hope as well that there will be repercussions for those who acted outside the law rather than enforcing it.
What was your reaction to yesterday's report?
5 comments:
The report did not surprise me. Anyone who was there or watching it unfold knew the police were way out of line. I hope they are punished for their actions but I doubt they will be. We are fast approaching a police state here in Canada. Don't really have to much faith in outr government to take any action on this. It will be talked about and then swept away with all their other disregard of our laws.
I cringe when I see unnecessary aggression by police officers.
I do believe the vast majority of police will act within the law and use verbal intervention when possible. Even when that isn't an option, utilizing control techniques is the preferred way to go rather than punching or striking. Only a relatively small number of demonstrators will need to be handled that way.
I firmly believe that the officers need to be held accountable for their actions, and there needs to be appropriate punishment. I feel the same way about officers who lie during court testimony, as was revealed recently in a case in Toronto.
The officers we see on TV who act that way are a black mark on the rest of the police who are always trying to do the right thing. Believe me, it angers them too.
Keep in mind we're also talking about a select few officers, here. In a sea of personnel, it's relatively small group that acted inappropriately.
It's also worth considering the extraordinary circumstances these officers were working in, and the pressures they were under. The summit and sea of people that descended on Toronto was clearly outside the experience of the force, and they did the best they could under conditions most of us couldn't even fathom.
That kind of environment is something we'll never have to appreciate. God knows if I were in those conditions, under that kind of pressure and public/media scrutiny, I'd likely crack too.
I also have little sympathy for anarchists and the vast majority of career protestors. It's been proven time and time again that protesting (though highly visible) is the least effective means of seeking political change. If many of these losers had their cause at heart, they'd be furthering it through more appropriate avenues.
Yeah...what Ian said...
Normally I would be with you on this one Ian because I am a great respecter of the role of police officers. But something went terribly wrong here. Forty five officers are finally facing charges, including several in the highest echelons of command. That's far more than a couple of bad apples.
We could reverse your argument and say that there were only a few serious trouble-makers amongst the protesters but hundreds of people were rounded up in violation of their civil rights. I remember an interview with one bewildered guy who was on his way to church at the Evergreen Centre on Yonge St. and was arrested without charge or access to a lawyer, essentially for being young and wearing a backpack. A pregnant woman was held and humiliated even though she and her husband were far from the focus of activity.If it had been you or me we would have been outraged.
The police were trained and paid millions in overtime to keep the peace at the G-20, not to do a fine impersonation of the KGB.
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