TREATMENT OF PROTESTORS

TREATMENT OF PROTESTORS

G20 Summit

• Between June 25 and 27 2010, downtown Toronto hosted the G20 summit, the largest political meeting in Canada’s history. Their presence attracted hundreds of journalists and reporters, as well as large numbers of individuals wanting to express their points of view regarding government policy.
• Majority of the protests were peaceful, but a small anti-capitalist group started chaos. The group made their way through the financial district of Toronto breaking storefront windows and setting fire to four unattended police cruisers.
• Shortly after these acts of vandalism, the police began arbitrarily detaining and arresting hundreds of peaceful protesters, human rights monitors, members of the press, and bystanders. With over 1100 people arrested, the G20 summit in Toronto became the site of the largest mass arrest in Canadian history

Bill C-51

• Infringes on/restricts freedom of peaceful assembly
• many protestors/environmentalists will get caught in its broad powers

Importance

Issues

Issues

Possible Solutions

• There is no specific definition of "peace"
• In the existing laws the word peace is used several times; however, no rules, definitions, or guidelines are laid out to specify what breaching the peace is.
• It is left up to the police to decide whether or not a protest is breaching the peace

• Legislators must set out, with much greater precision, what the police powers are in regulating street protests.
• Provincial legislatures and the federal parliament must step in and give clear guidance to the police when they can break up street protests
• Protests should be regulated for the benefit of both the public and the protestors
• Guidelines should be created for protestors and law enforcers
• Laws should be more detailed and precise when defining what "peace" and "breaching the peace" is

• Law enforcers have too much power
• Police may use their powers whenever they deem that it is necessary.
• Protestors can be wrongfully detained, abused, or imprisoned
• Government officials may create new laws that prohibit certain protests if they go against their beliefs/ what they support

EXISTING LAWS

Protests

• s.2 c) (CCRF) Freedom of peaceful assembly
• s.63 Criminal Code
• s.31 Criminal Code
• s.42(3) Police Services Act
• Municipal By-Laws/ provincial & federal laws

• Protesting is an important aspect of Canadian democracy
• The organization of large groups of people increases public awareness of political issues
• It influences government decisions by putting pressure on political leaders.

s.63 Criminal Code

prohibits “unlawful assembly,” which is defined as “three or more persons” gathered in a way that causes reasonable people in the neighborhood to be afraid that the assembly will either disturb the peace or provoke others to do so

S.31 Criminal Code

gives the police a general power to detain people for “breaching the peace.”

s.42 Police Services Act

• the police can use their common-law powers to regulate protests (additional powers to maintain peace)

• the police have powers that are necessary to discharge their duties. One of the duties of the police is to preserve the peace. If it is necessary to restrict a street protest to preserve the peace, the common law gives this power to the police

Federal, Provincial, Municipal Laws

Finally, municipalities, provincial legislatures, and the federal parliament can pass laws, regulations, and by-laws restricting the freedom of peaceful assembly, but only for a good reason.

VOICE YOUR OPINIONS

By: Ramsha Rehan & Megha Ghandi