Quebec Police Admit Infiltrating the SPP Protests

The true north strong and infiltrated.

Earlier this week, video of SPP protesters clashing with alleged "infiltrators" at the so-called Security & Prosperity Partnership summit in Montebello, Quebec was made publicly available on YouTube™. Immediate denials of police infiltration were issued by the Surete du Quebec and the RCMP.

The Mounties and the SQ, the two police forces involved in summit security, continued to refuse specific comment on three alleged undercover officers caught on camera in an apparent bid to incite a confrontation.

But they denied using agents to provoke violence.

"I confirm (to) you that there are no agents provocateurs in the Surete du Quebec. . . It doesn't exist in the Surete du Quebec," said Const. Melanie Larouche.

On Thursday, the Surete reversed course and admitted it had infiltrators at the protest:

QUEBEC - Quebec's provincial police acknowledged in a statement Thursday that their agents had infiltrated protesters demonstrating during the recent North American leaders summit in Montebello, Que., but denied that they acted as "agent provocateurs".

"They had the mandate to spot and identify violent demonstrators to avoid the situation from getting out of hand," the Surete du Quebec said in a statement. "The police officers were identified by demonstrators when they refused to throw projectiles."

That last statement is patently false.

Watch the video:

"At no time did the Surete du Quebec police officers act as agents provocateurs or commit criminal acts," the statement adds.

Wrong again.

As the article continues:

The video shows the three black-clad bandana-wearing men being singled out by union organizers and the crowd. Other protesters started pointing at them and crying "police."

One of the three men is seen shoving and swearing at Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union of Canada, who is angrily confronting the trio, demanding they put down the rocks, remove their bandanas, and identify themselves.

After being backed into a corner against a line of provincial police officers in riot gear, they try to force themselves through the police line and are arrested while the crowd cheers.

I'm sure that once the Surete realized there had been calls for a public inquiry along with escalating requests to have the arrest records of those provocateurs released, it knew the game was over.

The fact that it wasn't enough for summit security to insultingly create "free speech zones" out of the site of Bush, Calderon, and Harper and that a court decided to issue a "compromise" aka "Protest TV" which was supposed to comfort protesters by mandating that TV sets in the Chateau would broadcast video of the protests for the leaders to watch if they chose to shows just how much our speech is being stifled in this country. Our arrogant leaders even refused to allow the delivery of opposition petitions at the summit, treating citizens as mere hysterical peasants.

During the final SPP press conference, Bush joked about so-called "conspiracy theories" about the summit (and CNN's Suzanne Malveaux echoed that slur). What, exactly, is the public supposed to think when North American leaders meet behind closed doors with 30 corporate CEOs and refuse to openly inform the public about the content of those meetings? That's the issue - the secrecy - along with the fact that business and political leaders are setting policy about the future of North America without any input from the citizens.

That's not democracy.

You don't need to be a conspiracy theorist to demand transparency and to know something is wrong when it isn't provided.

Related: For more information about the history of the SPP concerns, visit the site of the Council of Canadians.

Watch the CBC news story about the Surete's admission of police infiltration:



Update: Our so-called Public Safety minister is clueless and in denial (as usual). (h/t penlan)

This really could be a Monty Python skit:

Public Security Minister Stockwell Day continued to brush of questions about a call for a public inquiry, saying in Vancouver that those with complaints can make a formal complaint.

"The thing that was interesting in this particular incident, three people in question were spotted by protesters because [sic] were not engaging in violence," Mr. Day said.

"They were being encouraged to throw rocks and they were not throwing rocks, it was the protesters who were throwing the rocks. That's the irony of this," Mr. Day said.

Mr. Day added the actions were substantiated by the video that he has seen of the protests.

"Because they were not engaging in violence, it was noted that they were probably not protesters. I think that's a bit of an indictment against the violent protesters," Mr. Day said.

 

'Protest TV'

Protest TV via the Globe & Mail:

OTTAWA -- When the leaders of Canada, the United States and Mexico meet in the fortress-like Château Montebello next week, TV monitors inside the hotel will allow them to tune in or tune out live images of the protests raging behind the fences on the outside, government officials said yesterday.

As they discuss economic and security issues, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon will see live shots of demonstrators condemning their gathering - and maybe even burning them in effigy.

Wishful thinking on Daniel Leblanc's part. Those leaders won't see anything that they don't want to and the last thing they deem important is to actually listen to the protestations of the rabble. They must keep themselves insulated at all costs just in case reality might rear its ugly head and burst their power bubbles.

I'll tell you what: why don't we get a court order to get a live feed from inside the Chateau broadcasting exactly what's going on in these secretive meetings? Or is that just too much democracy for those guys to handle?

Related: For more information about the so-called Security & Prosperity Partnership, visit the Council of Canadians site. As they say "Integrate This!"
 

Tory Cabinet Minister Michael Chong Has Resigned

CBC TV reports that Tory Michael Chong (President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, and Minister for Sport) has resigned over his government's stance on the Quebec nation question.

As soon as I can find a news story to link to confirming this, I'll post it.

Update: Via CTV

Conservative cabinet minister appears set to resign his post over Prime Minister Stephen Harper's stand on Quebec.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Michael Chong (he also holds the sport portfolio) will reportedly announce his resignation at a news conference later today.

Chong opposes the motion, set to be voted on in Parliament this evening, that the Quebecois constitute a nation within a united conference.

Independent MP Garth Turner and other sources told The Canadian Press about Chong's impending move, saying he tendered his resignation today.

Other Tory MPs are upset about the motion, Turner said.

The Globe & Mail reports:

OTTAWA — Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Michael Chong quit the Conservative cabinet Monday to protest Prime Minister Stephen Harper's resolution recognizing Quebeckers as a nation, MP Garth Turner said.

Mr. Turner, who was forced out of the Conservative caucus earlier this year, asked Mr. Harper in the House if Mr. Chong was quitting.

The Prime Minister did not respond directly, but said the government will watch the result of the vote on the controversial nation resolution.

Update: Chong held a press conference in which he explained that he believes in civic nationalism as opposed to ethnic nationalism. Further, he said he's resigning his cabinet post so that he can abstain from the vote this evening while sitting in the back benches as an MP.

CTV has more on Chong's press conference.

Israel/Lebanon War Updates

Updated throughout the day.

- Hezbollah leader accepts UN ceasefire

Hezbollah's leader has said his group will abide by a ceasefire plan agreed at the UN to end fighting with Israel.

However, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said on TV that Hezbollah would continue fighting as long as Israeli soldiers remained in Lebanon.

The UN resolution called for a "full cessation of hostilities".

But Israel has since tripled its troops in south Lebanon and Israeli radio says some have reached the key strategic target of the Litani River.

Meanwhile, Israel's army chief said that Israeli troops won't actually leave Lebanon until an international force is in place, which is a rather vague statement considering that, according to the UN resolution, UNIFIL troops will be responsible for peacekeeping in southern Lebanon and Halutz has not said how many of those soldiers would actually have to be in place before Israel would withdraw.

- More mixed messages from Israel:

A United Nations-brokered cease-fire would go into effect on Monday morning at 7 A.M., a senior Israeli government official said Saturday afternoon.

By then, Israel Defense Forces troops are expected to reach the Litani River, some 30 kilometers inside Lebanon, with the purpose of cutting off Hezbollah forces further south, toward the border with Israel. In the event that the fighting resumes, IDF forces will then be in a position to move more effectively against Hezbollah militants.

I heard this statement last nite and it bothered me:

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Saturday that Israel would press ahead with its military offensive in south Lebanon until the Cabinet approved the cease-fire deal. "The logic would be that even in the framework of this successful outcome, if you hand over to the Lebanese army a cleaner south Lebanon, a south Lebanon where you have Hezbollah removed from the territory, that makes their [the Lebanese] troubles a lot easier," Regev said.

Cleaner. Cleansed. Not a nice picture. Especially since those who have been cleansed from the area are innocent Lebanese civilians who have either been killed or displaced. That just sends chills up my spine.

The more I read about the results of this UN resolution, the more I wonder just exactly what was settled.

Haaretz Diplomatic Correspondent Aluf Benn reports that an agreement reached between Israel and the United States on the disputed Shaba Farms area, located on Israel's border with Lebanon, enabled a breakthrough in reaching a cease-fire resolution at the United Nations on Friday.

In letters exchanged between U.S. and Israeli leaders, U.S. officials assured Israel that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan would be authorized to determine whether the area belongs to Lebanon or Syria, but that the future status of the territory would only be determined in negotiations between Israel and Farms' rightful owners.

A senior government source said that Israel would not be obligated to withdraw from Shaba Farms, even if Annan's investigation determines that they belong to Lebanon.

Annan has 30 days to make a decision, but it looks like Israel won't go along with it anyway, so what's the point of that excercise in futility?

- As'ad, the angry Arab blogger, believes Lebanon shouldn't accept the resolution and provides a point by point breakdown of his objections.

- One of the most important points in all of this is that the issue of Israel's aggression in the occupied Palestinian territories is not even mentioned. It has, of course, been addressed in numerous previous UN resolutions which Israel has chosen to ignore. And what drives terrorists like bin Laden to continue his rampage? His objection to the treatment of the Palestinians - which has been his raison d'etre for decades. So, until that issue is addressed, OBL and others will still have fuel for their worldwide campaign. Palestine: the situation that no one even seems to want to discuss anymore - much to the detriment of the world's citizens everywhere.

- Siniora in Saturday's Guardian: 'Put an end to the aggression'

- Resources:
Open Lebanon: Real-time news & blogs
toot: The Arab blog network

- The Lebanese government has voted unanimously to accept the UN resolution with some noted reservations:

An official source said the "unanimous reservations ... came because resolution did not condemn large-scale Israeli destructions in Lebanon." "It was also vague about the issues" of the Lebanese prisoners in Is jails and the Israeli-occupied Shebaa farms, a border area seized by Israel from Syria and now claimed by Lebanon with Damascus' approval, he said.

- Thousands protest war in Lebanon outside Israeli consulate in Toronto

Some protesters expressed their anger with the Canadian government's stance on the war with signs reading "Stephen Harper War Monger."

While some refused to lend their support for Hezbollah, a group commonly referred to as terrorists, many agreed that Israel should pull out of Lebanon.

That's an interesting interpretation, isn't it? "Some refused to lend their support for Hezbollah"...as if, out of the thousands of people there, only "some" were not supporters of Hezbollah? Biased much, Canadian Press?

- Ha'aretz reports:

Twenty-four Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed and another 11 seriously wounded in heavy clashes Saturday with Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon, after Israel dramatically expanded its ground operation in the area.

Five air crewmen were believed to be dead after an Israel Air Force helicopter was shot down by Hezbollah fire late Saturday, the IDF said. Hezbollah claimed the helicopter was struck by an anti-tank missile. IDF sources confirmed a helicopter had gone down and that the five crewmen were missing.
[...]
Sources in the IDF General Staff said four to seven days would be needed to complete the occupation of the area.

A ceasefire on Monday morning? Not bloody likely...

Five Congressmen Arrested in Protest Against Sudan Atrocities

Breaking news from Washington:

(AP) WASHINGTON Two Massachusetts representatives are among five congressman[sic] arrested and led away from the Sudanese Embassy in plastic handcuffs today.

They were protesting the Sudanese government's role in atrocities in the Darfur region and were expecting to be taken into custody.

Representatives Jim McGovern and John Olver were among the eleven protesters willingly arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly.

Olver says the Sudanese government needs to be held accountable for attacks on their own citizens.

Dozens of demonstrators carried signs, some reading "Stop the slaughter."

The protesters called on the Sudanese government to accept a U-N peacekeeping force in Darfur and allow humanitarian relief organizations full access to victims.

Some of the lawmakers issued news releases in advance about their expected arrest.

But, on a day when ordinary people are outraged about gas prices and a new Republican sex scandal, I doubt the fact that the UN has had to cut food rations for Sudanese refugees due to a lack of funding will get much attention. After all, shady sex and issues about me, me, me and how bad off I am are just far more important to too many people. I know those gas prices hurt and are causing financial hardship. Imagine if one million people decided to use public transit for one day and gave the money they saved from doing so to help these refugees.

If you would like to help the people of Sudan and are able to afford to do so by making a donation, please contact The World Food Programme. They desperately need your help. Governments are not honouring their commitments and the only thing left is citizen advocacy and action. The Sudanese refugees do not deserve to suffer from malnutrition on top of all they have already gone through. We can and must do better as a global community. Put pressure on your government representatives to take emergency action today.

UPDATE: Politics TV has video of the arrests of the congressmen.

This Week's Honourary Canadian Citizenship Award

Welcome to the second installment of liberal catnip's Honourary Canadian Citizenship Award!

In case you missed it, last week's honouree was Cheney's latest hunting trophy, Harry Whittington, who exemplified the great Canadian tradition of apologizing for everything - even when it's not your fault.

This week's winner is a fine example of one of our best Canadian attributes: humour.

Yes, when Democratic State Sen. Robert Hagan of Ohio "sent out e-mails to fellow lawmakers late Wednesday night, stating that he intends to "introduce legislation in the near future that would ban households with one or more Republican voters from adopting children or acting as foster parents" as a protest to the Republican drive to ban adoptions by gay couples, he assured his selection as my latest Honourary Canadian.

To further lampoon Hood's bill, Hagan wrote in his mock proposal that "credible research" shows that adopted children raised in Republican households are more at risk for developing "emotional problems, social stigmas, inflated egos, and alarming lack of tolerance for others they deem different than themselves and an air of overconfidence to mask their insecurities."
link

Canadians don't buy that old "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" cliche. We prefer "if you can't beat 'em, mock 'em until they get really mad and embarassed and smack you in the face so you can charge them with assault and sue them civilly - thereby making judges work harder for their money" philosophy. When you have unelected judges, you have to keep them on their toes and away from their Playstation(TM) machines somehow.

Canada has produced many great comedians: Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Howie Mandel, Dan Ackroyd, Stephen Leacock, Rich Little, Phil Hartman, Celine Dion (admit it - you know you laughed hysterically when you saw the pics of her outrageously pompous wedding for which I revoked her Canadian citizenship...we're a humble people, Celine: humble. I did restore her status, however, when she had a complete meltdown on Larry King's show over the slack aid response to the tsunami . I'm still waiting for the thank-you letter though, Celine.)

Anyway, as a new, honourary Canadian citizen, Senator Robert Hagan is now entitled to these rights:

1. The right to use a strategically placed, maple leaf-shaped whoopee cushion the next time you meet publicly with George Bush.
2. The right to emulate some of our best political satirists: Rick Mercer, the casts of This Hour Has 22 Minutes and The Royal Canadian Air Farce, and new Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. No - wait...I think he's actually being serious when he appears in public. It's so hard to tell sometimes...
3. The right to find even more uses for duct tape than any American can possibly imagine.
4. The right to replace Diebold voting machines with Canadian technology: pencils and paper. (Democrats will get the last laugh next time!)
5. The right to bring a TV into the next house session so you never miss another hockey game again.
6. The right to pound on your desk and yell "Hear! Hear!" whenever you feel like it.

As a bonus, you are hereby granted all of the rights allotted to previous award winner Harry Whittington (which are too numerous to list here and which I'm just too lazy to cut and paste. Plus, the Olympics are on and I'd be a bad Canadian if I didn't watch at least some of what's going on. Oh Canada!).

So, keep your tongue firmly placed in your cheek (whatever that means), Senator Hagan. We, in Canada, salute you!