Monday, August 27, 2007

Nova Scotia activists demand inquiry in Montebello incident.

I wonder why it is just Nova Scotia activists. I expect there will be more such demands. The police explanation doesn't fit in with what can be seen on TV or with the reports of anyone else who was there. I doubt that Stockwell Day will do anything unless there is a lot more political pressure. Day's most positive accomplishment was not to cave in and agree with the US when he was shown some of their secret material on Arar. He was surprisingly steadfast in repeating his view that Arar was innocent. It just goes to show even the bad guys are not always bad. Of course nothing further has been done to challenge the US on Arar or Khadr or Benatta.

Nova Scotia activists demand inquiry into Montebello protest
Last Updated: Monday, August 27, 2007 | 7:10 PM AT
CBC News
Nova Scotia activists are calling for an inquiry into the tactics used by undercover police at the leaders summit protest one week ago in Montebello, Que.

About 15 human rights and labour groups gathered at a news conference in Halifax Monday to demand an investigation into why three Quebec provincial police officers dressed up like masked protesters and took part in the demonstration on Aug. 20, one of them carrying a rock in his hand.

"They've been exposed in this situation, exposed by a labour organization, but have there been others?" Rick Clarke, president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour, asked.

"We don't want to be suspicious of people that come out when we're having peaceful demonstrations."

Police came under fire Tuesday when a video surfaced on YouTube that shows the three disguised officers in the midst of protesters. At one point, the three are confronted by union leader Dave Coles, who demands they put down the rock and take off their masks.

Coles, who is president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, repeatedly accuses them of being police "provocateurs."

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On Thursday, Quebec police admitted their officers were undercover at the protest, but denied they were there to provoke protesters and instigate violence, as activists have been alleging.

Police insisted they were there to identify aggressive demonstrators, and said that one officer was holding a rock only because a protester gave it to him.

But activists at the Halifax press conference disagreed with this position.

"If that's true, it raises the question, 'Why were they still holding the rocks? And why were they holding them when one of the labour organizers was asking him to drop the rocks?'" asked Vince Calderhead, a legal aid lawyer who specializes in human rights.

"When I see the video and the photographs and so on, what I see are masked demonstrators, or masked men holding weapons in a threatening way, and that in and of itself is very problematic."

A 'chilling effect' on free assembly
Calderhead said Quebec police created a "shroud of criminality" over a legitimate protest when they went undercover at the event. He added that the police tactics had a "chilling effect" on people's right to assemble freely.

Other organizations, including the federal New Democrats and the Council of Canadians, have already called for an inquiry into the incident, but Public Security Minister Stockwell Day has so far refused. He has encouraged people to take their concerns to a formal police complaints board.

The protest at Montebello occurred outside the Fairmont Le Château Montebello hotel, near Ottawa, where Prime Minister Stephen Harper was meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon. The summit about border security, free trade and other issues began Aug. 20 and ended the next day.

Protesters said they gathered to voice their concern about Canada losing control of its energy and water resources and borders. Others decried what they called a high level of secrecy at the summit.

With files from the Canadian Press

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