Are extraordinary police powers and cuts to people's safety net the G20 plan for the future?
They are sending a message through the Canadian police about how the countries of the G-20 might deal with opposition to their plans. Where thousands of Toronto police turned the downtown core into something resembling martial law, especially so in the area of the Toronto Convention Center which was covered by some archaic act called the Public Works Protection Act. This legislation essentially suspended probable cause, giving police the rights of search and seizure to anyone, anywhere in the area. It removes any right of assembly and much more.
Police would tell people if you don't move immediately, then it's an illegal assembly. In other words, we found out this weekend that there is no right to a freedom of assembly, there is no freedom of speech, as long as the circumstances are such that you can rationalize some extraordinary measures.
Is the Toronto G-20 the shape of things to come, an attack on people's social safety net and living standards, and thousands of police with extraordinary powers?
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