G20 Brings The War Zone To Toronto, Kanada
By Truth Excavator
During the much-hyped G20 summit that took place in Toronto, Kanada over the weekend, the world was exposed to the dark underbelly of one of the West’s dysfunctional democracies. From being caged on the streets by riot police, to being caged in a mass detention center, the voices of activists were shut tight. And the gathering of the world’s leading politicians produced little; skeptics say that the global government agenda is heading towards a cliff.
As The National Post says, national sovereignty remains intact and in demand: “But in fact the Toronto summits represent a near total collapse of efforts to create some kind of overarching centre of global power. Despite repeated reference to strong collective commitments to international cooperation, sustainable development and macroeconomic co-ordination, the G8/G20 separately and jointly agreed to go their own ways and avoid collective action as much as possible.”
Although it is good news that global leaders didn’t agree on any sweeping changes, it is too early for supporters of localism and small “C” capitalism to breathe a sigh of relief, because G20′s inaction could be reversed with the onset of major global crises, such as the total collapse of the global economy. And while the summit was brief, it did not pass without controversy. As Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and other elected leaders discussed global policy at the Metro Toronto Convention Center, blocks away G20′s Integrated Security Unit approximately arrested 900 people, the most ever in Canadian history.
Police forces repeatedly herded unsuspecting protesters into a corner, and then collectively arrested them without provocation or warning; intimidated and punched national and foreign journalists; disrupted peaceful and spontaneous protests; in short, they created disorder where there was order. And all of their actions were justified under the cover of “security.”
But what kind of threat can 10,000 peaceful protesters pose to 19,000 police officers that are trained in the dark arts of crowd control? It is an almost 2:1 police to protesters ratio. By comparison, in Seattle, during the 1999 WTO protests, there were 2,000 police officers, and over 50,000 protesters.
There have been voices critical of Toronto’s lukewarm protests, but from my understanding, the small divide between the number of police officers and protesters in Toronto reflects cowardly, and overtime-hungry cops more than tamed, and scared citizens. People who expected a larger citizen turnout similar to Athens, Greece should remind themselves of the difference between Greece’s economy, and Kanada’s economy.
The main thing to take away from Toronto’s summit is not the level of protests, but the level of police repression. In anticipation to the G20′s security challenge, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair requested, and was immediately granted, without question, and without public knowledge, draconian police powers. The grave measure is disconcerting to say the least. It has a created police appetite for complete domination of city streets in the event of any future civic emergency.
Jennifer Yang of The Toronto Star reported that the new law that was specifically created for policing during the G20 was done in absolute secrecy: “According to Vasey’s lawyer, neither he nor his colleagues at the law union were aware of this draconian new regulation. Des Rosiers said the CCLA and protesters have met with summit officials on several occasions and the regulation was never mentioned.”
The new law was used by police against any homosapien that did not bow down to a police officer’s demands. Jesse Freeston, a journalist for The Real News Network, was arrested, and so was Jesse Rosenfeld, a journalist affiliated with London’s Guardian.
Another cause for concern is that the police purposely avoided arresting black block “anarchists,” so as to create the impression of mayhem and lawlessness around the city, and then use that environment as a justification to crackdown on other civil and peaceful protests. It is a very cynical tactic, and it is practiced by many polices forces across the world, both in “democratic” countries, as well as in dictatorships.
Even more criminally outrageous was the obvious use of agent provocateurs in the black bloc group that hijacked a peaceful protest on Saturday afternoon and then proceeded to steer it towards a violent direction. In the article called, “The Toronto G20 Riot Fraud: Undercover Police engaged in Purposeful Provocation At Tax Payers’ Expense,” Terry Burrows informs us that the shoes worn by members of the black bloc exactly match those that were worn by police officers. He writes:
“The ‘black bloc,’ if they ever existed as an independent entity, have clearly been thoroughly infiltrated by undercover government agents. In classic covert counterinsurgency strategy these agents manipulate the group to commit violent acts which play directly into hidden government controllers’ hands. These controllers manipulate public opinion from behind the scenes through the commission of false flag acts of violence (these are acts falsely blamed on scapegoats other than those concealed perpetrators who are actually responsible.)”
It is obvious that message from the top was that black bloc thugs are free to destroy private property, and torch cop cars, but colorful hipsters, teenagers, and middle-class citizens can’t be allowed to move an inch without constant police surveillance and intimidation. One of the objectives by the police in using agent provocateurs was to have “controlled destruction,” so that the massive amount of money that was spent for security would be judged as acceptable, and even necessary.