What in the Heck Has Happened to Barack Obama?

Each visit would begin in more or less the same way, usually early in the morning or late at night, as a CSIS agent would ring the doorbell and flash his credentials.

Then the questions would begin: How long have you known Stefan Christoff ? Is Stefan Christoff an anarchist? Is he planning to protest at the G8 summit? But it's only when Canadian Security Intelligence Service agents continued to drop in on Christoff's friends and acquaintances, after the Vancouver Olympics and now into summit season, that the local activist became alarmed. "The first couple of visits were disconcerting, but now it has become a pattern," said Christoff, 29, a vocal opponent of the Harper government and an advocate for human rights( When CSIS rings your doorbell, By Catherine Solyom, The Gazette June 11, 2010)

From today's Washington Post:

FBI agents took box after box of address books, family calendars, artwork and personal letters in their 10-hour raid in September of the century-old house shared by Stephanie Weiner and her husband (shown with Obama above) ... The search was part of a mysterious, ongoing nationwide terrorism investigation with an unusual target: prominent peace activists and politically active labor organizers. The probe — involving subpoenas to 23 people and raids of seven homes last fall — has triggered a high-powered protest against the Department of Justice and, in the process, could create some political discomfort for President Obama with his union supporters as he gears up for his reelection campaign.

... They are “public non-violent activists with long, distinguished careers in public service, including teachers, union organizers and antiwar and community leaders,” said Michael Deutsch, a Chicago lawyer and part of a legal team defending those who believe they are being targeted by the investigation.

Several activists and their lawyers said they believe indictments could come anytime, so they have turned their organizing skills toward a counteroffensive, decrying the inquiry as a threat to their First Amendment rights. Those who have been subpoenaed, most of them non-Muslim, include clerical workers, educators and in one case a stay-at-home dad. Some are lesbian couples with young children — a point apparently noted by investigators, who infiltrated the activists’ circle with an undercover officer presenting herself as a lesbian mother.

Why is Obama supporting this?

He's getting as bad as Stephen Harper.

While the Tea Party carry signs of him sporting a Hitler moustache, the progressives will have signs showing the president with a big nose and cold as steel eyes.

"Where does Barack Obama think he is? Canada?"

Omnibus Crime Bill: Coming Soon to a Country Near You

One of Harper's campaign promises was to push through an omnibus crime bill, within the first 100 days of his new mandate.

What he has done is simply lumped several law and order initiatives into one huge missive, making it a bit more difficult to critique.

He has blamed the Liberals for the necessity of this venture, but the fact is that many of these individual bills died when he prorogued Parliament for naked self interest.

But with no real opposition now, he needn't worry. The most aggressive shift to Canadian justice is upon us and we are powerless to stop it.

Of immediate concern, is Internet surveillance, which will move us closer to becoming a police state.

According to Michael Geist:

...the Conservatives new commitment to lawful access - new laws that would establish massive Internet surveillance requirements and the potential disclosure of personal information without court oversight - is incredibly problematic for the Internet, privacy, and online freedoms. It requires real debate yet seems likely to slip under the public radar ...

There are several concerns with the Conservatives lawful access plans. First, it bears noting that these bills have never received extensive debate on the floor of the House of Commons and never been the subject of committee hearings. Police officers may support the legislation, but there has never been an opportunity to question them on the need for such legislation or on their ability to use lawful access powers if the bills become law. Federal and provincial privacy commissioners have expressed deep concerns about these bills, yet they have never had the opportunity to air those concerns before committee. Internet service providers, who face millions in additional costs - presumably passed along to consumers - have never appeared before committee. By making a commitment to passing lawful access within 100 days, the Conservatives are undertaking to pass legislation with enormous implications for the Internet that has never received parliamentary scrutiny and will receive limited attention.

Second, more important than process is the substance of the proposals that have the potential to fundamentally reshape the Internet in Canada. The bills contain a three-pronged approach focused on information disclosure, mandated surveillance technologies, and new police powers.

But that will not happen now. Why form committees, or hold hearings, when we know that absolutely nothing will change Stephen Harper's mind, once he decides to do something?

And it will be difficult for Jack Layton to argue against the crime bills, because according to James Laxer in his piece, 'Fake Left Go Right', Layton has also tapped into urban fears of gangs and rampant lawlessness.

His platform included the promise to add more police officers, and during the debates he caught Harper off guard when he accused him of promising more officers, but not delivering.

However, this could give the Liberals an opportunity to set themselves apart from both the Conservatives and the NDP. They need to raise holy hell about this. Accusations of being soft on crime must be brushed off, while instead focusing their debates on being smart on crime.

And they can tap into history to justify their arguments. Successive Liberal governments gave us our once envied Just Society. According to Michael Ignatieff in the Rights Revolution:

Our legal culture has roots in the three great legal traditions of France, Britain, and America, and yet we do not carry the baggage of an imperial past or the menace of an imperial present. We have few enemies and many friends, and we have the problems to which the world needs answers. So it is not surprising that when the chief justice of our Supreme Court, Beverly McLachlin, visited a judicial training college during a recent trip to China, she found Chinese judges discussing Canadian Supreme Court cases."

When I visited the Constitutional Court of South Africa, I discovered that the judges there make frequent reference to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The originality of Canadian rights culture may be obvious to South Africans, but it is not obvious to Canadians. (1)

Crime rates in Canada are the lowest in our history, and our unique rights culture can take much of the credit.

Many believe that the NDP will have to move the centre, if they hope to compete with the Conservatives next election. But unfortunately, Conservatives on both sides of the border, have moved the centre. So just how far to the right is Layton willing to go?

The Liberals need to focus on the contributions that their party has made in shaping the Canada that most want to live in, offering themselves as the only option to restore both our image and our Canadian values.

And they have at least four years to do it.

Sources:

1. The Rights Revolution: CBC Massey Lectures, By Michael Ignatieff, Anansi Books, 2000, ISBN: 978-0-88784-762-2, Pg. 13

The Glimpse of a Police State in Kingston

Quite an ordeal in Kingston on Friday and a real eye opener.

We knew that Stephen Harper would be attending a rally at 1:30 at a local restaurant. So wanting to be early, my husband and I decided that we would have lunch there and that way possibly be inside.

We arrived about 11:45 but there was already a heavy RCMP presence and they had the sniffer dog combing the bushes. We waited a bit to see if there would be protesters. I knew the Prison Farm supporters were attending but not sure where they would be setting up.

I saw a small crowd gathering at the back of the lot, so while my husband waited in the car, I went over to see where they were from. It was the prison guard union. They plunked a sign in my hand and before I knew it I was marching. But mostly I just spoke with them. Imagine a group of prison guards marching against the injustice of Harper toward inmates?

My husband soon joined us, along with not only a large Prison Farm contingent, but youth groups, pensioners, the Native community and many ordinary citizens.

We were soon told that we would not be allowed on the lot. Big problem. Our car was there and my husband had locked my purse in the trunk. We asked if we could move the car (the lot was still just about half full and Harper not due to arrive for at least a half hour), and the police officer said that we could, but then we'd be charged with trespassing.

We were told we'd have to wait until the event was over.

As it was approaching 2:30 we grew concerned. The disabled grandson we are raising would be home at 3:30 and someone had to be there to take him off the bus. No cell phone and the protest was so noisy you'd have to move away from it to be heard.

So we approached a police officer, just to see if they'd let me get my purse. Again he said be my guest, but as soon as you set one foot on the lot you'll be arrested for trespassing. I explained the problem and he smiled and said I should have thought of that before I parked on private property.

I told him that we often eat at that restaurant and if they just got someone from inside, I'm sure they'd recognize us. He again just smirked.

So my husband ended up walking home (took him 45 minutes) and then took a cab back to get me.

The officer in the photo at the top was the worst. He warned us about crossing a line (an imaginary line). One woman asked where the line was and he said never mind where it is, but if you cross it you'll be arrested.

Jeff Peters, one of the organizers of the Prison Farm protest group, was walking along the curb with a megaphone, but he lost his footing on the curb and literally fell over the line. The police officers grabbed him, threw him across the car and arrested him on the spot. For falling.



Another man crossed the line (I didn't see where), and another arrest. For crossing an imaginary line.

Is this how Alicia Gordon is going to represent Kingston? With police brutality?

Jack Layton is in Kingston today, for some strange reason. The NDP are a distant third so the best he'll be able to do is split the vote and move us closer to a police state.

There was a day when I would have gone to see him. Now I can't stomach it. We are so close and yet sometimes I feel, so far away. He should be concentrating on ridings where he can win, not ones that could only guarantee a Conservative victory.

What is he playing at?

Lawrence Martin is Right Mr. Harper. Canada is Not a Police State ... Yet!

The image above is of an 88-year-old woman who was brutalized and arrested during the protests against the closing of the Prison Farms in Kingston. Harper brought in the riot squads. Absolutely unnecessary.

We already knew that the Harper government was using our tax dollars to keep track of us on Facebook and other social media sites. But the revelation that the RCMP is screening Facebook to remove "undesirables" (non-supporters of Harper) from Conservative rallies, is over the top. We pay their salary, not him. And we pay them to protect us, not stalk us.

Lawrence Martin has an excellent column: By the way prime minister, this is not a police state

A very good read.

I love the new Liberal ad. This is what they have to keep doing. Simple but to the point messages. This one couldn't be any clearer.

Scott Brison is Absolutely Right But we Have a Bigger Problem

The Globe and Mail ran a piece about the economy, quoting Scott Brison as saying that the only reason we survived the free market created economic disaster, was because of safeguards put in place by the previous Liberal government. I don't think anyone can really argue with that.

Stephen Harper pushed several times to have our banks deregulated, and fortunately no one listened, or we'd have been toast. In fact we're still not out of the woods, seeing as how the Canadian taxpayer is now the largest lender of sub-prime mortgages in the world, courtesy of Jim Flaherty.

Over at the Mark they are debating whether Harper is now just left of Obama because of his bloated government and record waste of taxpayer money.

But there is a much bigger picture here, and that's what we have to look at next election. And any journalist or columnist who is not sounding the alarm should be fired! Immediately!

Because we have no safe place in Canada to be Canadians. We have no safe place to debate and no safe place to discuss issues. We have no safe place to protest. And we are now isolated from the rest of the world because of so many things.

We have the most secretive government in our history. They will cry about freedom of speech, while denying freedom of speech to Canadians.

We have lost our democracy, because not only has Stephen Harper silenced elected officials in his own party, but he has silenced those in opposition. Because if anyone dares to bring forward our wishes to seek peace in Afghanistan, they are unpatriotic. Protest against closing the prison farms or building more prisons, they are soft on crime. Protest Israeli Apartheid and they are anti-Semitic.

So who speaks for us now? We don't even have a media because Stephen Harper even controls that.

We are told that our soldiers are fighting for our democracy. What democracy? In five years Stephen Harper has torn down every last bit of democracy we ever had.

How many Canadians know that our largest deployment next to Afghanistan is in Israel? Or that Peter Kent has claimed that a preemptive strike on Iran is a not a matter of "if" but "when"? But we have to read U.S. or UK papers to learn of that. Are we planning on waging war on someone? Who knows? No one's talking and if the media ask they face the wrath of Harper's goons.

There have been many times when I have been proud to be Canadian. Several times that I have been embarrassed to be Canadian. But this is the first time in my life that I have been afraid to be Canadian.

I don't like that feeling.

Will Canada Need a Liu Xiaobo to Draw Attention to Our Own Police State?

The Noble Peace Prize winner this year was not able to collect his award.

And that's because he is in jail, imprisoned for standing up for human rights in China.

The Chinese government did everything it could to prevent Liu Xiaobo from receiving the honour, but in the end, this champion of democracy won the day.

Watch the video at the end of this post, as they discuss his attempts to overturn a police state, at a time when Canada is drifting into one.

We also have the appearance of a modern open society, but that appearance is in direct contrast to what we saw during the G-20 weekend in Toronto. And it's in direct contrast to the treatment of protesters when they tried to peacefully oppose the closing of the prison farms in Kingston.

And it's in direct contrast to the number of people who have been vilified by our government for speaking out. The number of public servants fired and destroyed because they opposed arbitrary decisions.

And it's in direct contrast to civil servants being gagged.

The Chinese people are demanding the basic rights of freedom of expression, freedom of publication and freedom of association.

All things that our current government is trying to take away.

Jim Coyle in the Star suggests that it is no longer simply about public dissent, but public disgust.

It started with an attempt to steal our democracy:

In Ottawa, two years ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper locked and shuttered Parliament in order to avoid having his minority government face a non-confidence vote — the shameless means justifying the desperate end of saving his own political skin.

This was after already silencing the media and everyone else within the new Canadian gated community, that has a sign at the gatepost, "Welcome to Haperland. Enter at your own risk".

Is there a Noble Peace Prize in the future of some brave Canadian who is just going to say they've had enough?

All Too Familiar Scenes Means it's Time to Cancel the G-20

At the G-20 in Pittsburgh, in 2009; a wall of riot police attacked and cornered students on the stairs. Citizens were kidnapped, arrested and beaten, when they tried to protest against the bailing out of the corporate sector, while failing to address unemployment.

Journalists were also targeted and beaten.

Police Provocateurs were used to incite violence, giving reason for further brutality.

At the G-20 in London England, police brutality shocked citizens.

Police Provocateurs were used to incite.

One man was killed and others beaten, arrested and kidnapped. Journalists were targeted.

At the G-20 in Toronto, police brutality shocked citizens.

Police Provocateurs were used to incite.

Journalists were targeted beaten and arrested.

There is a pattern here. A message.

A committee is currently investigating complaints, but their scope is limited. We need a full public inquiry.

Only a full public inquiry will get to the bottom of the overwhelming evidence of civil rights abuses at the G20 meeting in Toronto, a New Democratic MP said Monday. Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway) told a news conference that to do otherwise is to accept Canada is becoming a police state where the toe of a cop’s boot or punch in the gut is the rule of law.

Davies said not only has it been proven that police falsified evidence to justify widespread arrests – the largest in Canadian history – they also manufactured evidence, including so-called weapons seized from completely separate incidents. “What we need is a full public inquiry, we need a judicial inquiry, we need an independent inquiry, we need an inquiry with full powers to hear sworn evidence, subpoena witnesses and compel the production of all relevant documents,” he said.

“If not, one of the most shameful and largest mass violations of Canadians’ rights by police and the state in Canadian history will go totally unredressed. We live in a democratic state. We do not live in a police state. We live in a country that is supposed to be governed by the rules of law, not the rule of force.”

I think it's time to put an end to these summits, because they appear to be a test for martial law, around the globe.

But if you want some bragging rights, there was a journalist being interviewed, who had covered all three of the above G-20s, and stated emphatically that Toronto was the worst he'd ever seen.

Go Canada.

Julian Fantino and Missing Taxpayer Money is Not About Politics. It's About Missing Taxpayer Money

In the run up to the byelection in Vaughan, the opposition parties were trying to get Julian Fantino to provide an accounting of the money under his control, for the OPP during the G-20 and G-8 summits, but to no avail.

Fantino was chief during the G8 and G20 summits and was in charge of the $56 million that was spent by the police force on security. Despite pressure from opposing parties, Fantino has yet to explain why and to itemize how this money was spent. The OPP spending alone is twice the amount that all security cost for the G20 Summit in South Korea earlier in November.

The OPP released some details of the $56 million after a Commons operations and estimates committee ordered them to on Nov. 24, but that information still left $8.4
million unexplained.

As with everything else, the Harperites have decided to make this political, revealing that the Liberals had previously approached Fantino about running for them.

What does that have to do with more than 8 million dollars of our money that is missing?

A word from John Baird and up comes the rug.

This was a tight race and with a voter turnout of about 30%, Fantino is not the man of the hour. Had voters known about the missing 8 million, would they have still voted for him? It's a legitimate question.

It gave the neocons their first Toronto seat, but let's hope he's thrown out in a general election. Too many secrets.

But congrats to the Liberals for taking Winnipeg North.

The Tories Detest Julian Fantino. The Neocons Love Him.

"In August of 2006, Peter Shoniker, former Ontario crown prosecutor; pleaded guilty to money laundering and theft. The case came about after an undercover RCMP agent caught Shoniker on tape suggesting that he could launder money easily since he was "untouchable" by the police.This claim was not without merit, since he had been personally responsible for Julian Fantino being named the Toronto Chief of Police."

That was the start of a piece I posted in June, before Julian Fantino decided to run for the Neocons in the riding of Vaughn.

News is that Canada's Tories detest the man, and if we still had a Tory Party at the federal level, I'm sure he would be kicked out on his rump.

But we don't, and he won't.

A little light reading as the country formerly known as Canada, plunges deeper into the bowels of hell. The police state capital of the world.

Tory supporters slam Fantino’s bid for MP

Fantino defends his no-show at all-candidates' debate

Fantino blasted for dissolving plainclothes unit

Anti-Fantino group changes name to register as third party for byelection

I'm not normally of fan of Christie Blatchford. As an embedded journalist she often cheered from the sidelines for the War in Afghanistan, but she's spot on in this interview with Michael Coren (video below).

But if Rob Ford can get elected, so can Fantino.

Sigh.

Canada Now Officially a Police State

"Normal men do not know that everything is possible" David Rousset

Canada is now officially a police state. Stephen Harper can now send in the riot squad every time Canadian citizens "act up".

Those of us who have been sounding the alarm since the days when he promised soldiers in the streets, are more frightened then ever.

After getting a five year free ride from the media, he has been able to build his empire of state sponsored terror, without checks or balances.

Catherine Porter in the Star writes: Tales of horror from a police state — ours.

I sat in a plain, ordinary downtown hotel seminar room for two days this week, listening, one after another, to utterly jarring stories of police sadism at the G20. Tales of women forced to pee through their jeans. Naked students ordered to lift their testicles for inspection. A woman snatched from a downtown corner and dropped off near midnight in the shadows of Scarborough, no directions or hope of finding her way home.

The hearings by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and National Union of Public and General Employees were focused on the summit this past summer in Toronto. But it often felt like a history lesson on 1935 Germany.

And Murray Dobbin in the Tyee says: This is the Security State Steve Built

For those considering issue triage -- picking five or six issues to focus on -- in the fight to rid the country of the current government, one area that is critical to the outcome is exposing the Harper government's construction of the national security state.

I am referring here to the commitment of the Harper government to implementing policies that increase the importance of a war-fighting military in Canadian society, its preoccupation with tough-on-crime legislation, its blank cheque to security operations like the one "protecting" the G20 summit, and its continued efforts to convince Canadians that they face the constant risk of terrorist attack. The flip side of the coin: criminalizing dissent and trashing civil liberties so that opposition to this agenda can be kept to a minimum.

And yet there are still Canadians out there who believe that what the police did was just. They allowed the real terrorists to run amok, so Harper could get his Kodak moments, and then went after ordinary citizens.

Those advocating for the poor and homeless. Those protesting inaction on climate change. Those demanding that missing aboriginal women be looked for. Those seeking help for seniors. All of those "dangerous" Canadians who were attacked while sitting and singing "O Canada" or giving the peace sign, or blowing bubbles.

They were simply told by their fellow citizens, that they shouldn't have been there.

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
....Martin Niemöller

The G-20 weekend in Toronto was a test for Harper. Just how much could he get away with? He needed to know. And he got his answer. Canadians will let him away with anything.

Bob Altemeyer has studied the phenomenon of authoritarian followers. He speaks of how they allowed the Bush administration to literally get away with murder.

If some day George W. Bush is indicted for authorizing torture, you can bet your bottom dollar [they] will howl to the heavens in protest. It won’t matter how extensive the torture was, how cruel and sickening it was, how many years it went on, how many prisoners died, how devious Bush was in trying to evade America’s laws and traditional stand against torture, or how many treaties the U.S. broke. Such an indictment would grind right up against the core of authoritarian followers, and they won’t have it. Maybe they’ll even say, “The president was busy running the war. He didn’t really know. It was all done by Rumsfeld and others.

"Stephen Harper didn't know". "It was the Toronto police and that crazy Police Chief Blair who wants to take away our guns".

"Herr Harper spent a billion dollars for security to keep us safe". "What if some of those peaceful protesters walked on our lawn or something?" "If they were beaten they probably deserved it."

As Dawg's Blawg says:

There will be no punishment. And most people, in their ignorance, will support their local police with their eyes wide shut. No matter what. No matter the laws they break. No matter whom they assault. No matter whom they kill.

Welcome to Harperland. Seig Heil.

The Politics of Authoritarianism: "I've Never Seen Anything Like It"

A CULTURE OF DEFIANCE: History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada

"In a democracy, a wannabe tyrant is just a comical figure on a soapbox unless a huge wave of supporters lifts him to high office." - Bob Altemeyer

When accusations arise that Stephen Harper is too controlling, his supporters will attempt to compare him to people like R.B. Bennett, Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chretien. All of these men took a disciplined approach to governing.

However, the most common remark heard from supporters and critics alike is that they have never seen anything like this before. Not in Canada. Not in a democracy.

Two years into his governance, the man who brought in the Accountability Act was already hearing complaints that he was one of the most unaccountable prime ministers ever. A couple of other words were being used more often to describe Stephen Harper: autocratic and authoritarian. (1)

Pierre Trudeau certainly expanded the size and power of his office, and Jean Chretien kept an iron grip on his caucus, but Harper surpassed even Chretien.

Chretien had nothing like the extraordinary vetting system put in place by the Conservatives. Advisers Eddie Goldenberg and the late Jean Pelletier did wield enormous power--especially in the later years, when Chretien faced an internal uprising from Paul Martin's supporters—but at least caucus members and civil servants felt free to talk to the media without prior approval. (1)

And over the past five years Stephen Harper has continued to wield enormous control, while refusing to be accountable for any of his actions.

We know why the corporate media let him off the hook, "corporate" being the operative word, but why do his followers?

You see it constantly as they come to his aid, leaving their comments at the end of articles, even when they expose corruption.

It's part of what Bob Altemeyer calls Authoritarian Submission.

Everybody submits to authority to some degree. Imagine a world in which people ignored traffic laws and sped through red lights. The cost of auto insurance would shoot through the roof (although the line-ups to buy it would become much shorter). But some people go way beyond the norm and submit to authority even when it is dishonest, corrupt, unfair and evil. We would expect authoritarian followers especially to submit to corrupt authorities in their lives: to believe them when there is little reason to do so, to trust them when huge grounds for suspicion exist, and to hold them blameless when they do something wrong. (2)

But what of the roughly 2/3 of the population who didn't vote for Stephen Harper?

They also appear to be submitting to his authority, questioning very little. They are the ones who frighten me more than the Harper devotees.

Is it just that it's become the new norm? According to Allan Gregg discussing Lawrence Martin's book Harperland:

Even though it has become a cliché to refer to Stephen Harper as a control freak, the power of Martin’s argument hits you like a jackhammer. Those of us who follow these things quite closely remember a number of occasions when the Conservatives have found themselves in hot water because of allegations of abuse of power, but we tend to forget just how frequently this has occurred and the myriad forms this malfeasance has taken over the last four and a half years. (3)

Maybe that's why it's working. We're shell shocked.

He was going to be a different prime minister and indeed he was. And though he was operating more like a monarch than an elected Member of Parliament, his people still defended him.

[They] were content to explain away the abuse of power with the rationale that other PMs had done it and therefore so could Harper. The line of reasoning hardly served to enhance the state of democracy. The system, said [Donald] Savoie*, had devolved into a "court government," with the leader and a few select courtiers, most of them unelected, exercising power with kingly presumption. Savoie had hoped that Harper would move away from such a model once he'd settled in to office. But in fact, he was going the other way. (1)

We've never seen anything like it.

Footnotes:

* Academic and specialist in governance and public administration

Sources:

1. Harperland: The Politics of Control, By Lawrence Martin, Viking Press, 2010, ISBN: 978-0-670-06517-2, Pg. 120-122

2. The Authoritarians, By Bob Altemeyer, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, 2006

3. Negative Statesmanship: Stephen Harper may end up being known for what he does not do more than for what he does, By Allan Gregg, Literary Review of Canada

Taking it to the Streets at the G-20. C'mon Harper. It's Time to Explain Yourself.

As expected, most of the charges that came about when peaceful protesters were brutally arrested during the G-20 weekend from hell, were dropped. Proof that they were fabricated. As one protester claimed “I have a problem with the criminalization of dissent." And that's exactly what this was about.

This is a government that does not allow dissent. (One of the reasons why the group Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper was formed)

And there is growing support for a full investigation, and demands that Stephen Harper and Dalton McGuinty explain themselves.

This winnowing process reflects well on Ontario Court, and its reluctance to criminalize dissent. But it does nothing to ease concerns about Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s unwisdom in holding the G20 in downtown Toronto, turning it into an armed camp of empty streets. Or Premier Dalton McGuinty’s decision to grant the police enhanced powers of arrest without properly informing the public. Or the police strategy that first let vandals run amok, then cracked down on non-violent protesters.

We deserve better than this.

What’s needed is a broad public inquiry by Ottawa or Queen’s Park into this wretched chain of events, from the Prime Minister’s fateful decision to turn Toronto into an armed camp, to police tactics that ranged from laissez-faire to abrupt mass arrests. We deserve a full accounting.

Thomas Walkom had an excellent column yesterday, that is well worth a read: The G20 protests and judicial farce

In some cases, hapless Crown prosecutors tried to cover their embarrassment by striking deals with the accused: Pay $50 or $100 to your favourite charity and we’ll forget the charges. In a standard court case, this tactic — a form of plea bargain — might make sense. But in this very political case, it’s hard not to suspect that the authorities were taking advantage of the fact that many charged without reason simply wanted the nightmare to end.

In effect, what occurred at the G20 was a massive and quite possibly illegal array of pre-emptive arrests. People were picked up and charged not because they were doing anything wrong — not even because they were about to do anything wrong. Rather they were arrested and charged because those in charge of the police found civil liberties inconvenient. Their thinking: If everyone who might conceivably cause trouble is put in jail, there can be no trouble. It is the totalitarian’s recipe for public order. Very China. Very Zimbabwe. Not very Canada.

Not Very Canada. Exactly. Protesting is not only about civil disobedience, but it is also about performing a civic duty. If we are not allowed to stand up for ourselves or others, how can we possibly believe that we are living in a democracy?

James William Fulbright once said "In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but its effects."

"An act of faith" that we will not be beaten up and arrested for the simple act of disagreeing with our government. Canadians have now lost that faith. Only a full public inquiry will restore it.

Guy Giorno Says He's Not Leaving. You Wanna Bet?

So if you were overjoyed to learn that Guy Giorno was leaving, apparently the rumours weren't true.

The most hated man in the country next to Stephen Harper, says he's sticking around. Clearly he hasn't done enough damage yet.

Personally, I'm glad. "Rasputin" helped us to get rid of Mike Harris, and this Karl Rove wannabe is doing the same with Herr Harper.

Giorno will have to find a new fascist he can control. I hear Tim Hudak may be hiring.

Thank You Natalie Gray. You are Indeed an Inspiration

I posted the other day on a young woman who had faced an horrific ordeal at the G-20, but instead of hiding under the covers in fear, she faced her fears and spoke at the rallies protesting the abuses.

She is not a thug or an anarchist, but a bright and articulate young woman.

The video of her speech was posted on CAPP and I found it very inspiring. I'm so glad that I can now put a name to this young heroine.

Natalie is sharing her story on Rabble, and is launching a lawsuit. I will be pulling for her all the way.

At the end of June, I went to Toronto to exercise my civil rights and march in active opposition to the G8 and G20 meetings being held there. On Sunday June 27th, I attended a jail solidarity protest that was peaceful. Without warning a line of riot police started moving towards us, and while running away, I was shot twice with rubber bullets, then arrested and incarcerated for 30 hours. I have been charged with obstruction of a peace officer. I have never been more terrified, more dehumanized or more in pain than I was that day. I wish my story were unique.

I wish her story was unique too, but sadly it is all too common.

And after much denial, the police now admit that they did indeed use rubber bullets on peaceful protesters. It was tough to deny with so much video evidence.

Rubber bullets were fired at the crowd outside the Eastern Ave. set up during the G20 Summit, a Toronto Police spokesman said Tuesday — one day after releasing erroneous information. Mark Pugash corrected a statement he made Monday to the Toronto Sun saying no rubber bullets were fired outside the temporary prisoner processing centre, saying he had received the wrong information.

And Joe Warmington, who first broke the story that the police were told to "stand down", when they were in a position to stop the vandalism, is again raising the question about the untendered 453 million dollar contract that Stephen Harper gave to an American firm.

Just how much of the $453-million RCMP budget from the federal government did Contemporary Security Canada receive for its contract for last month’s G8 and G20 summits? Could this work — given to a previously unlicensed company with roots in British Columbia and Utah — have been accomplished for less by licensed Ontario security companies? Was the tendering process fair and were appropriate conflict of interest guidelines followed to see who got to work the Hunstville and Toronto events? And how many out of town people were flown in?

Auditor General Sheila Fraser will be investigating the matter. Harper may wish he had jumped into "fake lake" when he had the chance.

Canadians Demanding a Public Inquiry now has 56, 682 members. Be sure to join and show your support.

Stephen Harper's War on Canadian Citizens is About More than Physical Beatings

The horrendous scenes at the G-20 of ordinary citizens being beaten and abused, may have caused debate, but there is an eerie sense that something is wrong in this country, that goes beyond that.

The media is suggesting a culture war, but they are missing the big picture.

As we are being told that many social programs will have to be cut, including health care, what is getting funded? 1.3 billion for riot police, 16 billion for military jets, billions and billions (and billion and billions) for a law and order platform, that includes the construction of more prisons, at a time when our crime rate is again on the decline.

This is not normal and this is not Canada.



More and more, I'm hearing people use the word "frightened". They are "frightened for this country and they are "frightened of this government. I don't remember a time in our history when citizens either lived in fear or in complete denial.

Alice Klein wrote a very good article for Rabble: NGOs risk all in standoff with Harper over civil society crackdown, discussing the war that the Harper government has waged against human rights organizations who dare to defy him.

Many of these groups advocate for us and yet they live in fear that advocating for us, could force them out of business.

You have to admire the political logic. If there is no data to research, there will be no facts to account for. How perfect the Tories' ditching of the mandatory long-form census data collection is for themselves -- and how dangerous for the rest of us. This crazily arcane little issue is just the latest example of how the government is craftily tearing down the foundational infrastructure of democratic accountability.

After four years of the same, we're close to a tipping point -- at least that is what an unprecedented number of NGO watchdogs (aka civil society orgs) are risking their necks to tell us right now.

Is this the tipping point? There is definitely a sense that we are on the threshold. It's like we've become victims of guerilla warfare, where we don't know that we are in some one's cross hairs until the shots are fired. You cannot defend yourself from that kind of assault.

This is just the opening shot of a statement that connects the dots over a four-year period, linking the de-funding of public policy partners critical of the feds (risk factor number one for many of the signatories), attacks on outspoken civil servants (including dismissed nuclear safety commissioner Linda Keen, derided Afghan detainee witness and diplomat Richard Colvin, and more), and the "unprecedented level of secrecy that now shrouds a long list of government activities and decisions."

It's a long list indeed. This is just a sampling:

Margaret Atwood Reminds Us of All We Have Lost

Now More Than 45,000 Canadians Demanding Full Public Inquiry

Stephen Harper's Contempt For Human Rights and the Rule of Law is Charting a Dangerous Course

Jason Kenney and the NGO Monitor on a Rampage to Destroy Humanitarian Organizations

Attack on KAIROS Was the First to Reflect New Direction for Aid Agencies

Aid Workers in Haiti Live in Fear ... of Stephen Harper!

Reformers Use Stall Tactics to Avoid Accountability

More on Harper's Hostile Take Over of Rights and Democracy. Who are These Guys?

Asadullah Khalid May be Gone But His Legacy Lives on

Harper's Abuse of Power Makes International News

Harper Unleashes Vengeance On Richard Colvin

Stephen Harper's G-20 Debacle Now Includes Sexual Assaults

Before anyone suggests that the police are incapable of such misdeeds, I will remind you of a recent report:

An internal RCMP report shows that 56 members of the force were formally disciplined during the 2008-2009 fiscal year for a range of code of conduct violations, including soliciting a prostitute, sexual assault, masturbating in a vehicle and impaired driving.

So when allegations are made that women were sexually assaulted during the G-20 from hell, we have to take them seriously.

Allegations of abuse by women detained during the G20 summit are included in an alternative report presented Thursday into how Toronto police investigate sexual violence against women. “The word of the police is not reliable,” said the activist known as Jane Doe at a news conference Thursday to detail those allegations. Women “hesitate to come forward because of fear of violence.”

The police watchdog is promising an investigation, but this is one situation that will require more than a rug and a broom.

1.3 billion dollars was spent so that the police could target, arrest and beat up anyone who opposes Harper's reign of terror, and I will stay on this like Jason Kenney on a gay man.

The group demanding a full public inquiry now has 56, 129 members and growing. Please join and show your support.

Canada's Crime Rate Continues to Fall so Why do we Need More Prisons?

With Stephen Harper once again pandering to some Neanderthal base, by spending billions of dollars of our money on super prisons and an "invasive", Draconian law and order agenda, Canada's crime rate continues to fall.

Numbers, they say, don't lie. And the numbers say that once again, overall, Canada last year became a safer place in which to live. Statistics Canada is reporting that the national crime rate -based on the number of crimes reported to police -dropped three per cent last year compared with 2008, and has declined 17 per cent since 1999.

In the meantime, the Crime Severity Index (CSI), a measure of the seriousness of all crimes reported to police last year, dipped by four per cent nationwide, compared with 2008, and has sunk 22 per cent since 1999.

It's no wonder he wants to get rid of Stats Canada. Can't let silly little things like facts, get in his way.

To Harper's Base. The RCMP Are Not Infallible

With people like John Snobelen, Michael Den Tandt, Monty Solberg and Tim Hudak, all coming out in defense of the police, this is something they might want to think about:

An internal RCMP report shows that 56 members of the force were formally disciplined during the 2008-2009 fiscal year for a range of code of conduct violations, including soliciting a prostitute, sexual assault, masturbating in a vehicle and impaired driving.

Four officers — all constables — were ordered to resign. Others received reprimands and forfeitures of pay for up to 10 days.

Another 231 members of the force were informally disciplined for less serious cases. They typically result in reprimands, transfers or some form of counselling.

One more reason why we need a full public inquiry into the G-20 violence, to help restore their good name.

Even Green Haired People Have Mothers Stephen Harper

Bruce Anderson of the Globe and Mail asks today: Will census cost Harper skeptical centrist votes?

Any one such decision may not influence many votes; the real issue is whether too many of them, over time, have a corrosive effect. Do they leave the accessible but sceptical voter feeling they can trust the idea of a Harper majority to govern for the centre, or not?

Anderson makes a good point. I think as the media and pundits weigh every bad decision this government makes, based solely on that single issue, they are missing the big picture. And I think that wonderful young woman with the green hair, who is telling her story of unprecedented abuse during the G-20, will represent Stephen Harper's downfall.

Please watch the full ten minutes. It's worth every second. There are several very compelling statements that the government should be paying attention to, because despite his best efforts, Stephen Harper cannot simply walk away from this.

Bill Blair and Dalton McGuinty must also shoulder some of the blame, but so too does Harper. Was it his decision to tell the police to stand down and leave the vandals to do their job? He used those images to justify the enormous cost of security, and yet with such an enormous cost and nineteen thousand police, why was there so much vandalism? We certainly didn't get our money's worth, but did he?

And she is not the first to suggest that certain groups were targeted. Those kinds of complaints are all too common. Bogus signs, staged photos, all appear to be directing blame, until viewed in the light of the day. I even saw one gentlemen being arrested because he was wearing a 'Save the prison Farms' T-shirt. This government does not allow dissent.

"We are hurt, we are sad and we are angry" the young woman says to applause. "We are enraged, inspired and united."

It might be very easy for the Harper government to dismiss this young woman with the green hair. She is clearly not one of their base they pander to, or the centre, they are trying to woo. But they are forgetting one thing:

"We stand here with our parents,

We stand here with our siblings

We stand here with our children

We stand here with our friends

We stand here with our lovers,

We stand here with our cousins.

We stand here with our neighbours,

We stand here with our Co-workers."

And look at the ages of the others that show up now and then. Not street punks as they have been described by many in the media, but voters. Lots and lots of voters; who are hurt, sad, enraged, inspired and united. And they are not all from Toronto, which seems to a nemesis for Harper's base, but from across the country.

The following Horsey cartoon, was directed at Sarah Palin and represents those marginalized by neoconservatives, who remind Palin that they are Americans too.

All of the above groups have been dismissed by the Harper government, because he forgot that they are Canadians too. And while as Anderson suggests: " .... the real issue is whether too many of them, over time, have a corrosive effect", I think that Harper has been corroding his support by forgetting that even people with green hair and piercings have mothers, fathers, cousins, siblings, friends, etc., who are now all united in anger.

I think she is wonderful and part of a broader grassroots movement for change.

Canadians Demanding a Public Inquiry into Toronto G20 now has 55,827 members who cannot be ignored.

Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament, which began as a protest over Harper's power grab in December, is now a group motivated to get rid of this destructive government. We have more than 212,000 members who are ready to mobilize next election.

Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper has almost 5,000 members who are more pro-active. We raise money, and whenever we get enough, we run ads in newspapers reminding Canadians of what Stephen Harper stands for. We have a website and forum, and are also ready to mobilize next election.

One of the girls from CAPP and Unseat Harper has designed T-Shirts and other items that will help us get the word out.

Harper's Reform Party was started with a grassroots movement, and it will be a grassroots movement that will be his downfall.

Because we are angry and we are united in a common cause.

And as the man yelled out at the end of the video above: "Bye, bye Harper".

If Guy Giorno Can't Rein in the Crazies Like Clement, Harper Never Will

Tony Clement is looking rather haggard these days. It must be exhausting carrying around such a big head.

He was one of the Whiz Kids when they were controlling Mike Harris (former dictator of Ontario). But now Guy Giorno, a fellow Whiz Kid has his hands full just making sure that Stephen Harper can keep his mouth shut.

Everything choreographed. Nothing left to chance. And when there's trouble as we've seen with Tony Clement and Dean Del Mastro, where's Stephen Harper? At a photo-op. He governs with photos and press releases. I'm still not convinced he even exists. If it wasn't for the damn nightmares.

This was how Giorno did it for Harris:

TV newsmakers need vivid images to illustrate their stories. Harris's Tories, easily the most communications-savvy provincial government this country has ever seen, are delighted to oblige - on their terms. They dodge negative coverage at every chance and will go to ridiculous lengths - giving preferential treatment to friendly reporters, shutting out critical ones and staging elaborate, unrelated events - to avoid it ... "This government, unlike any governments before it, is absolutely obsessed with image," he says, "whether it's what shirt the premier wears or what the bus looks like or what backdrop he's in front of. I don't remember governments before being that concerned. If they stood in front of a grey curtain, they stood in front of a grey curtain. I've seen these guys change the curtain because it clashed with the premier's suit."

So when Bob Hepburn asks: Why is Harper escaping G20 aftermath scot-free? We already know the answer. Guy Giorno has shuffled him off to keep him from the fray. The only problem is with the risk of Harper putting his foot in his mouth as he so often does, there's no one to look after the loose cannons (Harper's caucus) and they are now running amok.

Since he became Prime Minister 4½ years ago, Stephen Harper has tormented the press gallery with an almost complete lockdown on government communications, with even cabinet ministers informed that the public is not entitled to their opinions. The assumption has always been that he is just a weapons-grade control freak, but a pair of recent exchanges suggest an alternative theory: that Harper knows something about the ideological leaning of his cabinet that he’d prefer to keep quiet. Last week, Minister of Industry Tony Clement was given the task of defending the government’s decision to eliminate the mandatory long-form version of the census and move those questions to an optional survey. According to Clement, the long census—which asks questions about respondents’ ethnicity, education and income—is “heavy-handed” and intrusive. Clement mounted his libertarian high horse: “You try to limit the amount of state coercion that you have, you try to limit the intrusiveness of government activities, and that’s the balance that we’ve struck,” he said.

Imagine his surprise, then, to find that some of the people most upset by the decision were members of the business community and economists, all of whom stressed the importance of the census data to the crafting of public policy. Clement then took his case to the Twittersphere. In response to one follower who argued that making the long form of the census voluntary will skew the data by eliminating the statistical randomness of the survey, Clement answered, “Wrong. Statisticians can ensure validity w larger sample size.” This was promptly pounced on by Laval economist Stephen Gordon, who corrected the minister: “Wrong. Large samples can’t fix sample selection biases.”

I am so looking forward to the fall when we will have a new prime minister. At least Michael Ignatieff talks to people. And he's smart, and his MPs are smart. I miss smart.

I mean Harper didn't even consult Statistics Canada before making this decision. But then why would he need stats when he's now spying on us.