Topic: G8/G20 June 2010 Protest Watch

[milnews.ca]

This, from the Canadian Press:

Activists say Canada has betrayed its role as an international leader and can expect protesters to take that message to the streets during the G8 and G20 summits.

Stephen Lewis, former ambassador to the United Nations, says Canada will show up empty-handed at the summits in Huntsville, Ont., and Toronto this summer.

Lewis says Prime Minister Stephen Harper is out of step with the other leaders on foreign aid spending.

He also says the prime minister has broken a promise to commit 0.7 per cent of Canada's gross national income to eradicating world poverty by 2015.

Gerry Barr, president of the Canadian Council on International Co-operation, says there will be public demonstrations to bring "sharpness" to those issues.

Lewis and Barr were speaking in Toronto at the launch of a global campaign called "At The Table" being organized by a coalition of NGO's and faith-based groups.

Barr says protesters will question whether Canada is doing enough to help eradicate global poverty, alleviate climate change and bring about global economic recovery.

The campaign, aimed at pressuring international leaders to put more resources into fighting world poverty, also plans town-hall meetings and a Mother's Day of action, culminating in a global day of action in June.

The G8 summit will be held in the cottage-country town of Huntsville beginning June 25, immediately followed by a meeting of the G20 leaders in Toronto.

A few quick search resources (feel free to add any you think are useful):
- Official G8 Summit Site
- Official G20 Summit Site
- G8-G20 Integrated Security Unit - "Information for Demonstrators"

- G20/G8 Toronto Community Mobilization Network - Schedule of Events - Toronto Community Mobilization Network (Facebook)

- G8 & G20 PROTEST!! (Facebook)

- G20central.com:  "We started this site because we feel and think as much as you do. Care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone." - Twitter feed - Facebook

- Rabble.ca Tag Index "G20 protest"
- Centre for Media Alternatives "G8-G20"

- "This site - www.wombles.org.uk - collects news and information about anti-capitalist / anarchist direct action, protests and events." - G20 Actions - G8 2010 - Canada

[PuckChaser]

Out of step with foreign aid spending? How many of these "protesters" are on welfare? Welfare ain't free. Niether is the health care or the post-secondary education subsidies you're getting. It all costs tax dollars, and in the current economic climate we don't have any to spare.

I really hope the G8 and G20 protesters decide that peacefully putting a message across is far more effective than being belligerents. Otherwise, I've got no sympathy when the pepper spray and rubber bullets come out.

[milnews.ca]

This, from the Globe & Mail:

Nine years ago, Dennis Howlett's son was on the front line of protesters in Quebec City for the Summit of the Americas, tearing down fences and being sprayed with tear gas.

As this summer's G20 Summit in Toronto approaches, the senior Mr. Howlett, co-ordinator of Make Poverty History, said he is concerned about the possibility of a similar showdown between angry demonstrators and the unprecedented police presence planned for the city.

“We are concerned about violence,” he said Monday.

Along with a coalition of NGOs, labour and student groups, Make Poverty History launched a campaign Monday called At the Table, a series of events leading up to the G20 on June 26 and 27 aimed at pressuring the Canadian government to increase its commitment to foreign aid. But Mr. Howlett said the group also hopes to make its case before the summit's launch as a way to dissipate the possibility of violent conflict.

“We're trying the critical engagement approach,” he said. “Doing anything outside the security perimeter, it's going to be a nightmare with security.”

When world leaders arrive in the city, his group plans to be inside the security barricade. They have asked for 200 credentials for NGO representatives from around the world, allowing those who oppose the policies of G20 leaders to make their arguments directly to journalists inside the media tent.

But outside the security barricade is where the credibility of protesters could be lost, the group acknowledged, if police and demonstrators clash in the downtown core.

One Facebook group for protesters, RESIST TORONTO G20 SUMMIT 2010, has more than 800 people already confirming their attendance at a “day of action” during the summit. One of the group's administrators is vocal U.S. anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, and comments on the group's discussion page range from simple questions about the demonstration's itinerary to people typing “RIOT, RIOT, RIOT.” ....

More resources....
- "Make Poverty History" Summit page
- RESIST TORONTO G20 SUMMIT 2010 (Facebook)

- G20 Youth Summit (part of regular summit, partly funded by DFAIT) - Facebook

[TimBit]

I remember talking with a friend's friend shortly after the Quebec Summit, and he told me he was there throwing gas canisters back at the cops and bringing down fences. I did not know him to be particularly politically witty so I asked him why he did that, to which he replied: "It was fun to challenge the coppers". Hmm...

Asked him what the summit was all about, and he said "globalization and stuff"... hmm...

I have no problem with peaceful protest to express an opinion... but why is it that violent protest is 90% of the time the action of those who have no real opinion to express?

 

[milnews.ca]

I have no problem with peaceful protest to express an opinion... but why is it that violent protest is 90% of the time the action of those who have no real opinion to express?

 

Often carried out by maybe 3-5% of the protesters that the rest of the groups 1)  can't keep a grip on;
2)  may be too scared to try to keep a grip on;
3)  choose to defend by saying "oh yeah?  well the police were bad, too". 

Also, methinks the real hard core of the worst rabble-rousers (the 1-%ers?) wouldn't be speaking to media (they have other rabbles to rouse elsewhere, which they can't do from jail), leaving the other, dopier, more gullible 2-4% to babble to MSM.

[Jim Seggie]

Often carried out by maybe 3-5% of the protesters that the rest of the groups 1)  can't keep a grip on;
2)  may be too scared to try to keep a grip on;
3)  choose to defend by saying "oh yeah?  well the police were bad, too". 

Also, methinks the real hard core of the worst rabble-rousers (the 1-%ers?) wouldn't be speaking to media (they have other rabbles to rouse elsewhere, which they can't do from jail), leaving the other, dopier, more gullible 2-4% to babble to MSM.

Its well known that the hard core demonstrators/rioters hold training sessions that inform/instruct "usefull idiots" in how to disrupt and defeat police tactics.

[milnews.ca]

More from the Toronto Star and NOW Magazine.

- "At The Table 2010" Campaign web site

[zipperhead_cop]

It will be interesting to see where they decide to protest.  The G8 are the really powerful countries, but the G20 is nice and close to Hippie Central. 
It will also be interesting to see how swiftly the riot protest organizers get shut down.  Having fielded more than a few of these things now, I think the security organizers will be swift to locate, identify and extricate the anarchist idiots that like to turn these things into a Gong Show. 
I continue to be curious how fighting with the police manages to promote any sort of message. 

[milnews.ca]

This, from Judy Rebick at rabble.ca, denouncing the black balaclavas:

.... if diversity of tactics means that people who aim to commit vandalism and sometimes violence can come into the middle of a demonstration with black face masks and break up whatever takes their fancy when the vast majority of people involved don't want them to, then I draw a line.  It's true that violent action gets more publicity, but it's the wrong publicity that is about the violence itself, not about the issue ....

This from the linchpin.ca anarchist site:

.... While I understand the motivations behind those who smashed the windows, and also appreciate the tactical benefits of masking up and dressing all in black to thwart detection from integrated state surveillance and to avoid arrest, I think that it is time to seriously question the tactical benefits of largely symbolic property damage that has become synonymous with black bloc actions ....

And in response, this at the infoshop.org "independent media" site:

.... It is true that the State is not a window, but neither is it just an abstract concept. Breaking windows is not a revolutionary act and neither is any other act if taken out of context and presented as an abstraction, ignoring the intentions and strategy of those who break the windows.

The State or Capital or colonialism cannot be attacked as abstractions. They can only be attacked in their material forms, their social relations and their institutions. It is not possible to attack all forms and material components of oppression at once, so they must be attacked in pieces at different times and locations.

Like oppressive systems, a social revolution is more than the sum of its parts, but neither can it exist without its parts working in relation to each other. A social revolution can be seen as an accumulation of diverse activities over a period of time. It is not a switch that can be flipped instantly. It can’t be understood in a purely abstract way or by ignoring the different particular factors and actions that compose it ....

[milnews.ca]

Media Advisory - G8/G20 People's Summit in Toronto will call for 'system change, not more of the same'

TORONTO, March 18 /CNW Telbec/ - Three months from today the 2010 People's Summit will begin in Toronto, and is inviting people from across Canada and around the world to come to Toronto to challenge the policies of the G8 and G20 this June.

On the weekend before the official G20 Summit, the People's Summit will take place at Ryerson University in Toronto. The People's Summit will educate, empower and ignite positive change, through a wide array of workshops, presentations, skills training and cultural events. Planning for the People's Summit has been underway for several months, and is the latest counter-summit in a long lineage of grassroots responses to international summits.

"The people of the world are demanding system change, not more of the same economic, social, and environmental injustices that are perpetuated by the G8 and G20," says Marya Folinsbee, coordinator of the G8/G20 People's Summit. "And so the People's Summit will have more legitimacy in representing the aspirations of the people of the world than the G8 and G20 can ever claim."

"The Canadian government, host of the G8 and the G20 Summits, has lost credibility on a broad range of issues that do not reflect the opinion of the average Canadian, such as on climate change, foreign policy and now maternal health," says Dylan Penner, a People's Summit spokesperson and media officer for the Council of Canadians. "People in Canada and around the world have lost faith in this government."

"The G20 wants to maintain the status quo for its own benefit. The rest of the world wants change," adds Folinsbee. "The People's Summit is building solidarity across movements to ensure all voices are represented, and unlike the G8 and G20, this is what democracy looks like."

The People's Summit will bring together people from all walks of life working for solidarity, self-determination, human rights, a people's economy, justice, peace, a healthy planet, and transformative social change against current economic policies.

The steering committee of the People's Summit includes the Council of Canadians, Canadian Labour Congress, Canadian Federation of Students - Ontario, Canadian Peace Alliance, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), CUPE Ontario, Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, Greenpeace, Ontario Council for International Cooperation, Polaris Institute, Rainforest Action Network, Toronto Community Mobilization Network, and the United Church. The website of the People's Summit is www.peoplessummit2010.ca.

Following the People's Summit, a week of G20 protests will take place throughout Toronto, between the 21st and 27th, organized by the Community Mobilization Network, a network of Toronto-based organizations of people of colour, indigenous peoples, women, the poor, the working class, queer and trans people and disAbled people. For more details visit www.g20.torontomobilize.org.

For further information: In Toronto: Marya Folinsbee, (905) 218-5131, coordinator@peoplessummit2010.ca; In Ottawa: Dylan Penner, Council of Canadians, (613) 795-8685, dpenner@canadians.org

People's Summit Home Page - Facebook Page - "Basic Principles of Activities of the People’s Summit 2010"

[milnews.ca]

This from the Canadian Press:

Protest groups say they plan to fill the streets when G8 foreign ministers meet next week in Gatineau, Quebec.

A small coalition of anti-war and social justice groups says it is arranging for buses to take protesters to the ministers' meeting across the river from Ottawa.

The group says it wants a peaceful but vigorous demonstration to tell the ministers they should be doing more to ban nuclear arms, stop climate change and be more accountable.

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon meets Monday with his G8 counterparts in preparation for a summit to be held in Huntsville, Ont., at the end of June.

Cannon says the ministers will focus on nuclear proliferation, global security, and the stability of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Beforehand, he will meet ministers from four other Arctic countries to discuss economic development and the environment in the region.

The protest groups say the exclusion of aboriginal groups from the Arctic discussions is "catastrophic."

"How can they think they have the right to discuss this without their presence?" said Francine Dumas, of the Rassemblement Outaouais contre la guerre ....

This, from the Toronto Sun:

G8 and G20 meetings and protesters go together like ice-cream and pie.

And Monday’s G8 Foreign Minister’s meeting in Gatineau will be no different, with protesters outlining their plans Thursday.

Dylan Penner, a spokesman with the Council of Canadians, said they protest the global economic leaders’ meetings whenever they can because it’s a “fundamentally undemocratic institution” that is a “barrier” to social, economic, and environmental “justice.”

The protest, outside the Chateau Cartier in Gatineau, will kick-off a whole year marked by demonstrations as G8 and G20 summits are planned in Huntsville and Toronto this summer.

While anti-globalization protests have occasionally turned violent — even deadly — Penner said Monday’s is expected to be “family-friendly.”

But Christine Jones, co-chair of the Canadian Peace Alliance, said violence at many rallies isn’t instigated by the protesters, but rather the government — by embedding “agents provocateurs” amongst the protesters — trying to “criminalize” the movement.

At the North American Leaders Conference in Montebello, Que. in 2007, the Quebec Provincial Police later admitted it had three undercover officers dressed as protesters, complete with bandanas covering their faces. They denied they were there to incite violence.

Penner said before large protests get underway in Huntsville and Toronto, he wants the government to promise it won’t do that again.

This, from the Ottawa Peace Assembly blog:

MOBILIZE FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE

4-6PM, MARCH 29, 2010

PROTEST THE G8 FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING
CHATEAU CARTIER, IN GATINEAU

The G8 will be meeting once again in an effort to undermine economic, social, and environmental justice. Invite your friends to the event on Facebook. Spread the word far and wide. And join us in the streets to reject the policies of the G8 and G20 on Monday, March 29 .... FROM OTTAWA, TAKE STO BUS #40, 41, 44, 45, 46, OR 47 FROM THE RIDEAU CENTRE TO CHATEAU CARTIER. There is a bus stop across the street from Chateau Cartier. For a map of the area around Chateau Cartier (which is located at 1170 Chemin Aylmer), visit: http://tinyurl.com/yjmzzvu ....

- Rassemblement Outaouais contre la guerre - "Qui sommes-nous ?" (Google English translation of "Who Are We?")
- Ottawa Peace Assembly
- No War web page (remember their "Send a zucchini for peace" campaign?), which includes some anti-war, anti-globalization protest information

- edited to add Toronto Sun coverage -

[milnews.ca]

G20 summit security to be 'massive'
Inner security zone will be protected by a 3-metre fence and five layers of security
Jennifer Yang, Toronto Star, 23 Mar 10
Article link

Access to the innermost security zone during the G20 weekend will be controlled by a 3-metre-high fence and five levels of security screening, a summit official said Tuesday.

These were among the few details shared with more than 100 property managers and company representatives who attended Tuesday morning’s “G20 summit preparedness workshop,” hosted by the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA).

BOMA represents more than 700 commercial real estate companies in the GTA, and workshop attendees included everyone from Ryerson University representatives to financial district property managers, all anxious to know how they can prepare for June 26 and 27, when the world descends upon their neighbourhood.

Speaking at the workshop was Const. Ed Boltuc, a Toronto police officer and community liaison with the Integrated Security Unit, the RCMP-led team tasked with overseeing security for the back-to-back G8 and G20 summits.

Security efforts are already promising to be bigger than anything Canada has seen before, and in Toronto, many residents and businesses have expressed concern. On Tuesday, Boltuc reassured workshop participants that G20 organizers are striving to minimize the summit’s footprint.

But when describing the scale of the impending security efforts, Boltuc didn’t mince words.

“The Olympics that you saw recently in Vancouver was actually the largest security event ever to take place here in Canada. The G20/G8 surpasses that completely,” Boltuc said. “There’s going to be a massive — absolutely massive — presence of police and security on the ground like you’ve never seen before.” ....

More on link

[zipperhead_cop]

“The Olympics that you saw recently in Vancouver was actually the largest security event ever to take place here in Canada. The G20/G8 surpasses that completely,” Boltuc said. “There’s going to be a massive — absolutely massive — presence of police and security on the ground like you’ve never seen before.” ....

That just means the gear boxes will wreck stuff outside the perimeter.  No idiot is going to be denied his chance to break windows and throw heavy objects at police from a distance. 

Sucks to be a small business owner along the outer perimeter  (Good luck to any Starbucks in those areas)

[mariomike]

That just means the gear boxes will wreck stuff outside the perimeter.  No idiot is going to be denied his chance to break windows and throw heavy objects at police from a distance. 

There will be no Paramedic vacations in this city during it. They have scheduled 6,000 hours of overtime. That sounds like just the tip of the iceberg.

[milnews.ca]

That just means the gear boxes will wreck stuff outside the perimeter.  No idiot is going to be denied his chance to break windows and throw heavy objects at police from a distance. 

Maybe even (foolishly stupidly) have a go at the fence itself?  Note highlighted bit below, here from Anarchist news dot org:

.... Join us in Toronto for an anti-capitalist, anti-authoritarian, anti-colonial, anti-racist, anti-patriarchy, anti-ableist, and queer positive convergence June 25-27, 2010. Below are the actions we are calling for...
   [This call out is one part lefty code words and one party crazy talk. Could someone translate it?]

Get Off the Fence! June 26, 2010
Saturday afternoon, after the permitted march.
Exact time and location TBA

A 3 meter high perimeter fence, with military style checkpoints will be erected in downtown Toronto during the G20 meetings, offering us a hint of the world they seek to impose. It’s time to stop sitting on the fence and start tearing that ****** down. Join us on Saturday afternoon, immediately following the Labour Union rally, for a militant march to the summit!

Saturday Night Fever! June 26, 2010
Late night Saturday
Exact time and location TBA

On Saturday night, before we run them out of town the next day, there will be a radical dance party in the streets. Put on your fiercest clothes and boogie like Emma Goldman. frig the clubs; there's no cover but your mask.

Autonomous Direct Action! June 27, 2010
Location: EVERYWHERE
Time: Sunday

As the G20 delegates wrap things up and prepare to spread like a virus across the globe, our resistance will do the same. This will be a day of diverse, decentralized actions against the corporate and state structures that have dominated our lives far beyond the G20 summit. These coordinated actions will end at a specific (to be announced) time, and will culminate in a...

Victory demo! June 27, 2010
Sunday Afternoon
Exact time and location TBA

Don’t leave town just yet, we’re going to end the convergence with a bang - not a whimper.

We support a diversity of tactics. We encourage everyone to form affinity groups and execute strategic action throughout the summit and beyond. But please remember to respect local communities, develop your knowledge of local background, and remember that, good or bad, the effects of your actions endure long after the convergence has ended.

These are just a few of the actions that will take place during the convergence. We strongly encourage all those who would fight alongside us to also support the other actions called for from the 21st through the 27th, coordinated by the Toronto Community Mobilization Network, and to do so in the spirit that those actions were called by taking direction from communities on the ground. These callouts will be refined and developed over time. This is our first Call to Action ....

[Journeyman]

Put on your fiercest clothes and boogie like Emma Goldman.

Emma Goldman; party animal 

This will be a day of diverse, decentralized actions against the corporate and state structures that have dominated our lives

Yep, Starbucks is going to take a beating.... for oppressing the latte crowd....bastards.

[milnews.ca]

Emma, partyin' like it's 1869!!!

[zipperhead_cop]

It’s time to stop sitting on the fence and start tearing that ****** down

I would bet a paycheque that the clown that wrote that will not be within ten blocks of one of the fences.  Big words. 
Doubtless the pathetic glob that does attempt climb the fence to his everlasting regret will truly believe he is striking a devastating blow for social justice 

[Sierra Kilo]

I put my name in for these...  they're starting to look exciting!   

[zipperhead_cop]

I put my name in for these...  they're starting to look exciting!   

Make no mistake; unless all hell is breaking loose, anybody in green will be kept well under wraps and out of sight.  Look forward to deep woods biting insect OP's and GD's inside the perimeter. 

[Greymatters]

That just means the gear boxes will wreck stuff outside the perimeter.  No idiot is going to be denied his chance to break windows and throw heavy objects at police from a distance. 

Sucks to be a small business owner along the outer perimeter  (Good luck to any Starbucks in those areas)

The same types of clowns who launched their 'affirmative action' at the Olympics and really taught society a lesson... not.

[milnews.ca]

This, from MERX (highlights mine - PDF attached if link doesn't work):
".... The intent of this Letter of Interest (LOI) is to invite contractors to express their interest and availability to participate in a project to supply Coach Buses for the transportation of RCMP/OPP personnel and their personal duty-related belongings, to and from various facilities for the 2010 G8 and G20 Summit(s). This service requirement will be broken out into several work streams required to transport varying numbers of individuals, at different times, to a variety of locations over several days. For the G8 Summit, the RCMP/OPP will require approximately 4000 personnel with duty-related belongings to be transported at different dates, times and locations. For the G20 Summit the RCMP will require approximately 5600 personnel with duty-related belongings to be transported at different dates, times and locations.

The proposed service will be required between June 10th, 2010 and June 30th, 2010 services will mainly be required within the general vicinity of Huntsville, Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Other locations requiring this service include Dryden, Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie ...."
Reference Number     PW-$TOR-002-5310
Solicitation Number    08A33-090442/A

- edited to fix title -

[milnews.ca]

I've cobbled together all the resource links listed above here - let me know if there's more out there that are useful.

[milnews.ca]

Toronto braces for G20 logistics crunch
Late-June summit could cause trouble for commuters, island airport users and baseball fans, as well as downtown residents
Anna Mehler Paperny, Globe and Mail, 2 Apr 10
Article link

When the G20 comes to Toronto in June, it promises to bring not only the planet’s most powerful leaders and a cast of thousands but a slew of logistic and transit hassles in the city’s downtown core.

Subway lines and the underground PATH system pass through a security zone – an “interdiction" area – that will feature identification checkpoints and traffic diversion.

Baseball fans, as many as 40,000 of them, could have a difficult time getting to the June 26 game to see former Jay Roy Halladay pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies because of disruptions to local traffic, the TTC and GO Train service. The GO trains that run directly behind the convention centre will likely be halted at specific times during the two-day summit, depending on the whereabouts of heads of state.

RCMP Sergeant Michelle Paradis, a spokeswoman for the Integrated Security Unit, said none of these services will be shut down entirely due to G20 security, but it's still not clear where there will be delays or rerouted traffic, and what aspects of the PATH will be closed – and when.

“There will probably be restrictions, whether it be traffic restrictions or pedestrian," Sgt. Paradis said, adding that the goal is for transit restrictions to be minimal ....

Limited Access
Ottawa Citizen, 3 Apr 10
Article link

As the dean of activist organizations, Greenpeace ought to be above self-defeating publicity gimmicks, but apparently not. The group did the public no favours by climbing on top of the Parliament Buildings last December.

Briefing notes obtained under an access to information application show that the Privy Council and the RCMP were, not surprisingly, highly disturbed by the security breach.

(....)

The isolation of public officials is certain to define the G8 and G20 conferences coming up in three months in Huntsville and Toronto. Already Toronto is mounting the biggest security operation the city has seen. Businesses near the conference area, from small restaurants to the TD Bank, are telling employees to stay home that day.

The tight security will affect 28,000 residents of the immediate area, plus tens of thousands coming to the stadium just east of the conference, where former Blue Jay Roy Halladay will pitch for the first time since he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Weddings at some downtown churches have been cancelled.

Canada will survive a few postponed weddings. But how times have changed. The CBC recently showed footage from the 1950s of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip touring Ottawa. The royals visited Parliament Hill in an open convertible, with the public lining their route. No metal detectors, just a thin line of relaxed police officers.

We can't go back to those days. But it does no good for Greenpeace, PETA and others to push us into tighter and tighter security, until an American-style cordon of soldiers and fences divides the leaders from the people completely.

[milnews.ca]

Taxpayers’ group decries spending on G8, G20 summits
Linda Nguyen, Canwest News Service, 4 Apr 10
Article link

It is being billed as one of the largest security events ever held in Canada.

But just three months before the tiny community of Huntsville and Toronto play host to the G8 and G20 summits, respectively, a taxpayers group is questioning whether the-millions of dollars spent to prepare for the events is worth it.

The federal government is expected to spend $179.4-million on security and planning for both summits, which begin June 25 in Huntsville in the heart of Ontario's cottage country and end June 27 in Toronto, about 200 kilometres to the south.

The majority of these funds will go toward the RCMP, with the force getting $131.7-million. The remaining cost is split between the Department of Public Safety, the Department of National Defence, Industry Canada and Canada's spy agency -- CSIS. The Canadian Forces, along with provincial and municipal police forces will also have a presence during the three-day event.

Kevin Gaudet with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation said that instead of spending-millions the government should rein in the cost of these "lavish" events, particularly since the country is getting over a recession.

"They shouldn't spend a penny," he said in Toronto. "There's crazy spending going on and we don't need these events. How many times do we need to get politicians together to have champagne and caviar at the taxpayers' expense?" ....