Certainly the situation looks suspicious. Maybe the police or whomever is training people and used the demonstration as a practice session. Given that at least one of the persons clearly had a rock ready to throw the cops could have charged him, but no they did not. As a result no names are released. Convenient.
Undercover cops tried to incite violence in Montebello: union leader
YouTube video shows union leaders trying to push back masked men
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 | 4:06 PM ET
CBC News
Organizers of the protests at the North American leaders' summit in Montebello, Que., say they have video that shows police disguised as masked demonstrators tried to incite violence on Monday.
The YouTube video shows Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, ordering three masked men back from a line of riot police.
(CBC)
About 1,200 protesters were in the small resort town near Ottawa as Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon at a two-day summit to discuss issues under the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America pact.
The video titled Stop SPP Protest — Union Leader stops provocateurs, posted on YouTube Tuesday, was shown at a news conference held Wednesday in Ottawa by protest organizers, including Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, who appears in the video.
In the footage filmed Monday afternoon, three burly men with bandanas and other covers over their faces push through protesters toward a line of riot police. One of the men has a rock in his hand.
Continue Article
As they move forward, Coles and other union leaders dressed in suits order the men to put the rock down and leave, accuse them of being police agents provocateurs, and try unsuccessfully to unmask them.
In the end, they squeeze behind the police line, where they are calmly handcuffed.
In this handout photo provided by CUPE, police and protesters clash in Montebello on Monday. Union leaders say photos and video taken by protesters raise troubling questions about police actions during the summit.
(CUPE/Canadian Press)
"The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union believes that the security force at Montebello were ordered to infiltrate our peaceful assembly and to provoke incidents," Coles told reporters. "I think the evidence that we've shown you today reinforces the view."
Coles showed photographs of the masked men's and police officers' boots taken during the handcuffing, in which they appear to have identical tread patterns on their soles.
He also questioned why other activists have been unable to identify the three men whose images have been broadcast worldwide and demanded to know who the masked men were.
"Do they have any connection to the Quebec police force or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or are they part of some other security force that was at Montebello?" Coles asked, adding that he wants to know how the Prime Minister's Office was involved in security during the protests.
He suggested that the government might want to provoke violence in order justify its security budget for the summit and discredit protesters.
"They want to defuse our questions ... by trying to make it look like some radical group trying to create a confrontation," he said.
The RCMP has refused to comment, while Quebec's provincial force has flatly denied that its officers were involved in the incident.
It said it is not releasing any names as no charges were laid.
Retired police officer believes masked men were cops
Meanwhile, a retired Ottawa police officer who was formerly in charge of overseeing demonstrations for the force said he questions who the masked men really are, after viewing the video.
"Were they legitimate protesters? I don’t think so," said Doug Kirkland.
"Well, if they weren't police, I think they might well have been working in the best interests of police."
He added that if the situation was as it appeared, he did not approve of the tactic. "It's pretty close to baiting," he said.
On Wednesday, the mayor of Montebello thanked police and protesters, praising the fact that there wasn't a single report of damage during the two-day summit.
The Security and Prosperity Partnership pact, signed in 2005, is intended to forge closer trade and security links between the countries.
Opponents say negotiations about the agreement are secretive and undemocratic, and the treaty itself erodes Canada's control over its natural resources, security and defence.
Showing posts with label Protests at Montebello. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Protests at Montebello. Show all posts
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
Protests at Montebello.
It is good that at least some protesters are going beyond the pens. Harper's dismissive comments should be good from the PR point of view. Those with access to the leaders are 30 big business executives. I haven't seen the list yet. Aquino's remarks are even more fatuous than Harper's. Now if he had recommended that the protestors should also be granted 30 representatives to attend the meetings that would have been nice! If what is going on is so beneficial and harmless one would think that at least the press should be in on the meetings. Better still liven up CPAC by having the sessions televised.
Clashes break out at summit protest
Last Updated: Monday, August 20, 2007 | 6:15 PM ET
CBC News
Police used tear gas and pepper spray against protesters who were hurling rocks and branches during confrontations outside the leaders summit in Quebec on Monday.
Police arrested at least one protester in the small resort town of Montebello, near Ottawa, where Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon to discuss issues including border security and free trade.
The leaders began their talks Monday inside the Fairmont Le Château Montebello hotel, which is being protected by a four-metre security fence and police in riot gear who are patrolling the area on foot, in cars, on motorcycles and in helicopters.
At least 500 protesters took part in a march outside the hotel, carrying signs with slogans such as "No to Americanada." Others held a peaceful family-friendly rally away from police lines.
Continue Article
Many protesters arrived to the site by the busload from cities including Montreal, Kingston and Ottawa.
Harper dismissed the demonstration after he was told hundreds of protesters were involved.
"I've heard it's nothing. A couple hundred? It's sad," he said.
'We're going to protest where we want to protest'
Police and protesters clash in Montebello, Que.
(Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)
Some of the demonstrators went to designated protest areas — one in an empty field and the other a picnic area — while others chose to walk down Route 148 toward the hotel.
Some protesters decried the use of designated protest areas, calling them "protest pens."
"They're like cages and they want to keep people in an area where they can manage them," said Trevor Haché, who was part of a caravan of cyclists who rode from Ottawa to join the protest. "We're going to protest where we want to protest. It's our democratic right."
The two-day summit is set to focus on the broad-ranging Security and Prosperity Partnership pact signed in 2005 by the Canada, Mexico and the United States.
The SPP, meant to compliment treaties such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, was created to boost co-operation on security, trade and public-health issues among the three countries.
But protesters say the SPP is anti-democratic because it didn't require a vote in Parliament or a change in the law.
Demonstrators carry signs to protest the leaders summit in Montebello.
(Loreen Pindera/CBC)
"If this is such a wonderful deal and it is about protecting North Americans from shoddy products or whatever they're now saying … then be proud of it, stand up, tell us what's in it … and send it to our Parliament for oversight," Maude Barlow, head of the Council of Canadians, told CBC News in an interview from Ottawa Monday morning.
Barlow said the SPP forces Mexico and Canada to adopt Bush's notions of security, "kind of putting a zip-lock of a security perimeter around North America."
Concerned about Canada losing control
Many protesters said they are concerned about Canada losing control of its energy, water resources and border as initiatives such as the SPP treaty increase and expand.
While Harper has offered assurances that won't happen, many of the protesters said Sunday they don't believe him.
"I think ultimately, his allegiance is to the corporate kind of world," demonstrator Andy Elliott told CBC News. "He doesn't seem too concerned for the average person."
The demonstrators are also decrying the secrecy surrounding the meeting and that the only people with access to the three leaders at the summit are 30 chief executives of some of the biggest corporations in the world.
But Thomas D'Aquino, president of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, said getting access to political leaders is not the only way to be heard.
"I do not say to myself, 'If I don't get an hour with the prime minister in the next six months, I'm going to go out and protest and reject the system outright,' " he told CBC News.
"I don't do that because civilized human beings — those who believe in democracy — don't do that."
Canadian government officials said the three leaders will be able to see and hear the protesters through a video link inside if they choose to watch.
Clashes break out at summit protest
Last Updated: Monday, August 20, 2007 | 6:15 PM ET
CBC News
Police used tear gas and pepper spray against protesters who were hurling rocks and branches during confrontations outside the leaders summit in Quebec on Monday.
Police arrested at least one protester in the small resort town of Montebello, near Ottawa, where Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon to discuss issues including border security and free trade.
The leaders began their talks Monday inside the Fairmont Le Château Montebello hotel, which is being protected by a four-metre security fence and police in riot gear who are patrolling the area on foot, in cars, on motorcycles and in helicopters.
At least 500 protesters took part in a march outside the hotel, carrying signs with slogans such as "No to Americanada." Others held a peaceful family-friendly rally away from police lines.
Continue Article
Many protesters arrived to the site by the busload from cities including Montreal, Kingston and Ottawa.
Harper dismissed the demonstration after he was told hundreds of protesters were involved.
"I've heard it's nothing. A couple hundred? It's sad," he said.
'We're going to protest where we want to protest'
Police and protesters clash in Montebello, Que.
(Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)
Some of the demonstrators went to designated protest areas — one in an empty field and the other a picnic area — while others chose to walk down Route 148 toward the hotel.
Some protesters decried the use of designated protest areas, calling them "protest pens."
"They're like cages and they want to keep people in an area where they can manage them," said Trevor Haché, who was part of a caravan of cyclists who rode from Ottawa to join the protest. "We're going to protest where we want to protest. It's our democratic right."
The two-day summit is set to focus on the broad-ranging Security and Prosperity Partnership pact signed in 2005 by the Canada, Mexico and the United States.
The SPP, meant to compliment treaties such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, was created to boost co-operation on security, trade and public-health issues among the three countries.
But protesters say the SPP is anti-democratic because it didn't require a vote in Parliament or a change in the law.
Demonstrators carry signs to protest the leaders summit in Montebello.
(Loreen Pindera/CBC)
"If this is such a wonderful deal and it is about protecting North Americans from shoddy products or whatever they're now saying … then be proud of it, stand up, tell us what's in it … and send it to our Parliament for oversight," Maude Barlow, head of the Council of Canadians, told CBC News in an interview from Ottawa Monday morning.
Barlow said the SPP forces Mexico and Canada to adopt Bush's notions of security, "kind of putting a zip-lock of a security perimeter around North America."
Concerned about Canada losing control
Many protesters said they are concerned about Canada losing control of its energy, water resources and border as initiatives such as the SPP treaty increase and expand.
While Harper has offered assurances that won't happen, many of the protesters said Sunday they don't believe him.
"I think ultimately, his allegiance is to the corporate kind of world," demonstrator Andy Elliott told CBC News. "He doesn't seem too concerned for the average person."
The demonstrators are also decrying the secrecy surrounding the meeting and that the only people with access to the three leaders at the summit are 30 chief executives of some of the biggest corporations in the world.
But Thomas D'Aquino, president of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, said getting access to political leaders is not the only way to be heard.
"I do not say to myself, 'If I don't get an hour with the prime minister in the next six months, I'm going to go out and protest and reject the system outright,' " he told CBC News.
"I don't do that because civilized human beings — those who believe in democracy — don't do that."
Canadian government officials said the three leaders will be able to see and hear the protesters through a video link inside if they choose to watch.
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