Adam Vaughan hints that front line cops are perhaps the latest victims of the disastrous planning now shielded by politics. Ottawa's part in this debacle will never be truly known without a full public inquiry, which is just how Stephen Harper likes it. Adam Vaughan's talk left me hopeful there will be some 'accountability' in this matter, at least at the municipal level. It's significant that Adam Vaughan is himself a past member of the Toronto Police Services Board, and it was his downtown riding that was the site of many of the protests. The banks, Money Mart cheque cashing stores,
gold buyers, furriers and high-end fashion chain stores, GAP and other clothing outlets were the prime targets of the angry mob. No compensation has ever been paid to these retailers who lost so much money in both property damage and lost business. The government had months to plan for this Summit, but instead they built gazebos in Muskoka Lakes and erected a fence around the downtown core. Instead of sensitivity training, security forces were indoctrinated in Harper's autocratic politics which are decidedly anti-protest.
It was a widespread violation of Canadian civil rights. People were stopped and searched on ferries and LRT trains coming into the city. In one case a young lady was detained and material was confiscated on a VIA Rail trains at Union Station, others were maligned coming into the Province in
Niagara Falls and in Ottawa / Hull. Lots and lots of good people were arrested and their civil liberties were completely removed for 48 hrs. Over 1100 people were arrested and not charged. It was the largest mass arrest in the history of Canada, and there will never be a full public inquiry into the ordeal because the Harper government is almost entirely responsible.
If you watch the clip above, you'll see
Adam Vaughan says all of the same things that I have been saying for years. He's been saying them too perhaps. Beyond the standard rhetoric of, 'those who erred need to be held accountable' which is a polite way of saying that Chief Bill Blair should resign, he says that a full public inquiry into the ordeal will reveal a lot more about the gazebos in Tony Clement's Muskoka Lakes political riding than Stephen Harper's Conservatives would be comfortable with... Its a fact, the costs of the 2010 Toronto G20 Summit exceeded one billion dollars.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20100526/summit-costs-100526/
"I think the police chief, the police service board, myself included, all played a roll in this," Vaughan said. "I think we need to have public accounting and, where necessary, be brought before courts of justice, or disciplinary action, where we failed to protect the public and the city." Adam Vaughan also said there will be more reports to come on the file as the Toronto Police Services Board works on its own report on actions at the G20.
The Police Car was Abandon, Like Others Before it, in Hopes it would Be Vandalized on Camera
Without a Royal Inquiry we will never know the truth to the allegations that senior security forces administrators ordered that at least three different Toronto Police squad cars be left unwatched in angry crowd situations. They wanted them to get damaged because they had to justify a billion dollar budget and some well documented acts of brutality that were currently playing on the news channels. Sacrificing one or two squad cars to local idiots was an absolutely brilliant way to collect PR footage of 'radical elements rioting in Toronto' and make the visuals that are now so iconic and key to the defense of forty eight Toronto police officers now charged with offenses under the Police Act.
The burning police car was a PR stunt from start to finish. It was planned and executed earlier on other streets that day, but didn't find the right combination of hooligans, accelerants and news cameras until Sunday afternoon
Of course Toronto defense lawyer
Gary Clewley references that burning cop car when he says police actions must be taken in context with the events of the day. This is the first line of defense for police and was created as such. Gary is perpetuating the notion that there was a riot in Toronto and things were really out of control. Its not true. But his statements find a ready audience in all of those people who watch the news and yet don't really understand the news (and how TV news is made). Without a full public inquiry into the maelstrom there is no reliable accounting for the senior most administrators - the ones who did the most wrong(s).
These first eight police officers will likely be the worst offenders and the hardest punished. This list was in the newspaper very shortly after the report was published and to me that evidences that these charges had been looming for some time and these officers are the first to be sacrificed for the good of the force. These really
Bad Lieutenants for Sacrificing include,
- Const. Blair Begbie,
- Const. Alan Li,
- Const. Jason Crawford,
- Const. Michael Martinez,
- Const. Vincent Wong,
- Const. Micahle Kirpoff,
- Const. Ryan Simpson,
- Const. Donald Stratton
But are these tough cops also just more victims of the Harper Government dirty closed-door politics? And lets remember too that nobody is going to lose their jobs over this; even Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair will not resign.