From: Bob Olsen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 22:46:18 -0400
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: O16: Economic disruption hits Canada's capitalist heartland
Yesterday, Oct 16, 2001, our anti-capitalist demonstration
in Toronto, which was attended by approximately 800 police
officers, was a total success...........!!!!!!!!!!
Here is a report from a friend as well as several reasonably
accurate press reports.
Bob Olsen
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 01:45:56 -0400
From: Graeme Bacque <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: O16: Economic disruption hits Canada's capitalist heartland
The Ontario Common Front's fall campaign of economic disruption got off
to a flying start in Toronto early today as a series of 'snake marches'
paralyzed human and vehicular traffic into Toronto's financial district
for several hours.
The campaign, which is seeking to unseat the ruling Conservative government
in the province of Ontario by getting in the way of business as usual for
its numerous corporate backers, is the culmination of many months of
intensive networking with antipoverty groups, First Nation peoples,
students, social justice organizations, unions and antiglobalization
activists across Ontario and elsewhere. The initial call had come from the
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, but the campaign quickly assumed a life
of its own with more than eighty organization eventually signing on.
Much discussion on the way forward had taken place in the wake of the
September 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. , but it was
quickly recognized that the policies of the Mike Harris government were
not being shifted to the back burners by these events - if anything, the
September 11 attacks had caused Harris's destructive agenda to speed up. On
this basis it was decided to go ahead with the O16 demonstrations, with an
emphasis on organizing a militant, highly disciplined event clearly focused
on shutting down the financial district rather than engaging in battles
with the cops.
The latter appeared to be unavoidable at first, with the police engaging in
intense provocation from the time affinity groups began arriving in town
the previous weekend. Four plainclothes cops apparently attempted to crash
a Saturday night fundraiser for the Common Front's legal support team, but
were ruthlessly heckled out the door by attendees. A large contingent
arriving from Montreal and Quebec City on Monday were initially prevented
from leaving their buses, then were videotaped by the cops as they finally
disembarked. At least one of the Common Front organizers also received a
threatening letter from the Toronto Police service last week.
I had hooked up with the Quebec people on Tuesday morning because I lived
near the church they were billeted in. Nearly 200 of us assembled outside
the Sherbourne and Dundas St.-area site at 4:30 in the morning with the
plan of walking to the assembly point at Toronto's City hall in a group.
Almost immediately we picked up a red van packed with members of Toronto's
'public safety' (riot) squad. Several more police vehicles soon joined in,
including a video unit which photographed everyone.
When we neared City Hall we were blocked by a line of cops, who insisted
that everyone had to submit to being searched before entering the square.
We later learned the cops had been confiscating any protective gear people
had brought, including things such as gas masks or goggles, bandanas, or
even water bottles. (One member of our party even had his tube of
toothpaste squirted onto the ground by these control-happy clowns).
Obviously their intent was to intimidate people and leave them defenseless.
Our group refused to be searched, and began marching around the periphery
of the City Hall area in the rain, chanting anti-police slogans while
gradually accumulating more demonstrators as we went. After an hour or so
we wound up in a large city parking lot near Queen and York streets, about
a block west of City Hall.
We could clearly hear the sounds being made by the much larger
crowd across the street, but the two groups were blocked from joining by a
solid line of riot cops across Queen Street, and surrounding the City Hall
area. Finally, it was decided we would do an initial 'snake march' of our
own, and our group (which had by this time swelled to at least 400
strong) did a slow lap of the huge parking lot, then exited onto
University Avenue. Led by a lively group of drummers and other musicians,
the flag-waving crowd moved slowly south, turned west for a block or so,
then doubled back and actually slipped into the financial district itself
east of University.
After moving through the streets for about fifteen minutes we almost got
boxed in along Adelaide St. by lines of shield-toting cops. Rows of police
were advancing from both sides. A group of people who had congregated on
the steps outside an area building were roughly pushed back onto the street.
Eventually we were able to move back out past the cop lines to the west,
turning north along University to Dundas St., where we found out that the
larger group had taken advantage of the distraction to escape the square. A
huge cheer went up as the two groups merged, and suddenly we were more than
two thousand strong! Drums pounded and anti-government chants resounded as
the united group moved back to the south, again slipping past the riot cops
and re-entering the financial area. At this point the large group split
into two (and eventually three) smaller marches, 'snaking' through the
streets and leaving the cops completely bewildered!
Eventually the various marches re-united near Front Street in the area of
the Royal York Hotel. Intersections were occupied and held. Speakers
identified the various corporations that were key funders of the Harris
government. At one point someone climbed onto the marquis of the Royal
York, spray-painting the word 'murderers' on an American flag which was
hanging there.
The 'Living River' (a blue-clad Pagan cluster which was also a popular
feature at the Summit of the Americas protests in Quebec City last April)
flowed and danced through the larger crowd. By then the action had
developed a decidedly celebratory tone due to its success, coupled with the
news that Ontario Premier Mike Harris was apparently on the verge of
resigning for what he said were 'personal reasons.' (After being elected to
two successive terms, this government is now sitting dead last in the polls
with two years left in its current mandate).
At about nine-thirty the group slowly moved west back onto University,
congregating outside the U.S. Consulate where several brief speakers
denounced the U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan and people chanted 'Stop the
war on the poor - at home and abroad!' before beginning to disperse. Just
north of there, we then witnessed the only really serious confrontation of
the day. A 'snatch squad' apparently made a move to arrest a couple of
people outside the Hospital for Sick Children at University The cops found
themselves surrounded by angry demonstrators, more police waded in with
batons, and the Emergency Task Force came screeching in, leaping out of
their van with gas launchers leveled at the crowd.
After this people moved slowly north to University and College streets near
Queen's Park, where everyone was being urged to disperse with friends or in
their affinity groups. The riot cops slid in a long procession along the
sidewalk to our east, but kept going towards the Ontario legislature itself
(which was not targeted that day). The larger crowd began to scatter, with
a group of several hundred walking over to Ryerson University for an
activist fair and food which was being served by the Common Front welcoming
committee and the People's Potato. (This site basically ended up being an
impromptu convergence space).
It is still uncertain just how many people were arrested. I've heard
estimates ranging from as low as nine to as many as 35 people being
grabbed, including a number of folks who were stopped and detained before
things even got underway at City Hall. One elderly man was beaten
unconscious and had his head bloodied, and several other people suffered
bruises from baton blows. Demonstrators showed remarkable discipline and
restraint, with the 'snake march' tactic proving highly effective in
evading direct confrontation with the cops. Aside from construction pylons
and newspaper boxes which found use as impromptu traffic barricades, and a
bit of graffiti, there was little property damage. A trailer loaded with
metal barricades was emptied near the U.S. consulate, with the barricades
being used by demonstrators to block off University Avenue before the
trailer itself was flipped over, landing with a huge crash in the middle of
the street.
This hugely successful event was just one of a number of actions that were
organized in Toronto for October 16. In addition to the snake marches there
was the activist fair at Ryerson (where the campus station CKLN 88.1 FM was
broadcasting continuous live updates of Common Front activities) and a
smaller 'green zone' rally organized by Toronto Mobilization for Global
Justice at noon just west of the financial district. A demonstration by 300
high school students had taken place on the previous day outside the
Ministry of Education office. As well, a caravan of vehicles had driven
slowly towards Toronto from both eastern and western Ontario, clogging
traffic on Highway 401. A rally organized by the Toronto and District
Labour Council had also been called for 5:30 PM that day. Further actions
have been planned in other Ontario cities over the next several
weeks. (Check out OCAP's website at www.ocap.ca for information.)
Graeme Bacque <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Toronto Star, Oct. 17, 2001. 02:00 AM
Poverty protest snarls traffic
Bay St. hit by demonstrators against Harris
Sonia Verma and Andrew Chung, Staff Reporters
JIM RANKIN/TORONTO STAR
WATCHING: Office workers in the lobby of a TD Centre building watch Ontario
Common Front protesters.
Commuters spilling into the financial district confronted eerie scenes of
black-clad riot police playing cat and mouse with 2,000 anti-poverty
protesters who snaked through busy streets, clogging intersections and
disrupting transit.
Despite police efforts yesterday morning to contain demonstrators, they
broke past a police wall around Nathan Phillips Square, snarling traffic for
more than three hours.
Members of the Ontario Common Front, a loose coalition of social justice
groups including the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), were
protesting the policies of the Mike Harris government, which they claim have
led to homelessness, a lack of affordable housing and poverty.
The march, which curved past some of the city's tallest buildings, was
punctuated by violent clashes and vandalism. Protesters launched paintballs
and scrawled graffiti on several downtown office towers with slogans
including "Eat the Rich," "Smash the Banks" and "Affordable Housing."
One protester climbed to the roof of the Royal York and spray-painted "Stop
murder" on a U.S. flag before setting it ablaze. Other protesters waved at
employees watching the procession from office towers. "Come join us," they
shouted. "You're in jail!"
Organizers called yesterday's action, intended to draw attention to poverty
issues, a success.
"This government refuses to listen to lobby, so we're going to hit somewhere
it hurts — the business class," said Sarah Blackstock, spokesperson for the
Ontario Common Front.
"The cops were saying they wouldn't let us into the financial district, and
we did it." Police would not detail how many officers were on the streets,
but admit they were outnumbered. The show of force cost the city $200,000.
At the end of the day, Chief Julian Fantino still claimed victory.
"We may not have been able to achieve everything that we hoped," he said,
"but OCAP failed miserably, and the forces of good won today."
Mayor Mel Lastman was enraged by the damage and threatened to sue OCAP for
its part in the action.
The march started with an early morning rally at Nathan Phillips Square.
Protesters from Ontario, Quebec and the United States applauded the
resignation of Mike Harris before defending the demonstration's timing.
"We have to continue with our fight, because Mike Harris and the Tory
government and their corporate allies are not going to stop with their
agenda — so if they're not stopping with their agenda we have to continue
with our struggle," said organizer Todd Gordon.
Police clustered along the square's perimeter frisked those who entered the
area, searching bags and asking for identification. Police dressed in full
riot gear confiscated goggles and gas masks used by protesters to guard
against identification and pepper spray. More than a dozen people were
arrested, photographed and detained before the march, mostly for
weapons-related reasons. The searches and arrests led to several verbal
clashes between police and protesters who objected to the extensive
security.
More than a dozen officers on horseback hemmed the crowd in, while lines of
police in riot gear warned pedestrians not to cross the street or police
lines. Protesters were told that if they left the rally they should not
expect to get back in.
"They're using Sept. 11 as an excuse to do this to us. We still have the
right to assemble," said Mark Greibeson.
Fantino tried to justify the show of force. "While some people may have been
honestly motivated, a significant number of people who attended the OCAP
demonstration came prepared and well equipped to create violence," he said,
adding that one protester and two officers were slightly injured.
Fantino cited a long list of weapons seized, including Molotov cocktails,
pepper spray, rocks, sticks, beer bottles, pieces of pipe, tear gas and
cases of tomatoes. He had vowed to bar protesters from the financial
district.
"Our difficulty was the size of the boundary we had to protect," said
Superintendent Aidan Maher. "A gap was left open and they were able to get
on to York St."
After initially being forced away, protesters broke through police lines at
York and Adelaide Sts. and took a circuitous route toward Bay St. The
strategy, called a "snake march," is a winding, unpredictable route designed
to confuse police and cause traffic chaos. The march quickly turned into a
game of cat and mouse.
Winding through the core — an area bordered by Queen St., Yonge St., Front
St., and University Ave. — protesters clogged intersections. Police tried to
contain the chaos by redirecting traffic and pedestrians, forming lines to
gradually edge protesters out.
The strategy led to several confrontations, some of them violent. Forty were
arrested on a total of 70 charges.
One man carrying a placard was hit in the head by a police truncheon. When
he fell to the ground bleeding, police raised their shields to form a wall
around him, preventing anyone from approaching or taking pictures.
Another man found himself at the centre of a tug-of-war in front of the
Hospital for Sick Children.
"Let him go!" demonstrators shouted, yanking at the fallen man's feet.
Police held tight and the scene was broken up by baton-wielding officers.
One group never imagined how precarious their situation would become when
they entered an alley near York and Front Sts. hoping to relieve themselves.
Several officers already in the alley confronted them. Katie Roult, 18, ran
away after being struck in the face as her friend was arrested.
"They don't have to hit me!" she screamed as she began to cry.
"They're not really hassling anyone, and I guess they have a right to get
their point across," said one Bay St. investment banker marooned behind the
doors of First Canadian Place.
A group in black with hoods and bandanas overturned a police trailer near
the U.S. consulate. One pulled out a knife and punctured the tires.
Chanting, "This is what democracy looks like," some overturned mailboxes,
newspaper boxes and even a small statue. The vandalism angered others taking
part in the demonstration, who tried to clean up some of the mess.
Democracy looked a lot like gridlock to drivers stranded in a noisy sea of
people and placards. Protesters urged them to kill the engine and placed
flowers plucked from nearby flowerbeds on windshields. Many drivers were not
amused.
A woman whose BMW was blocked by a barricade on University Ave. angrily
jumped out and yanked it away from a female protester. The protester yanked
it back.
"All right, I'm calling the police," said the woman, getting back in.
Protesters surrounding the car laughed and pointed to a distant line of
police.
"They're over there. Call them," taunted one protester.
Rallies continued at Simcoe Park and at Toronto and York Region Labour
Council, outside the University Ave. courthouses. As 20 officers videotaped
them, a group peacefully marched to the Nathan Phillips Square Peace Garden
for more speeches, then quietly dispersed.
----
With files from Jim Rankin, Christian Cotroneo, Cal Millar, Katherine
Harding, and Phinjo Gombu
Copyright 1996-2001. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All
Toronto Star, Oct. 17, 2001. 02:00 AM
Protesters clog the downtown core
Police confront marchers for five hours
Katherine Harding, STAFF REPORTER
CRUSH HOUR: Traffic was tied up and tempers were frayed yesterday morning
when anti-poverty protesters flooded the downtown.
Anti-poverty protesters didn't shut down the city's financial district, but
they definitely slowed sections of it to a headache-inducing crawl.
Thousands of commuters rushing to work yesterday morning were caught in the
five-hour chess match between more than 2,000 demonstrators and hundreds of
police officers in Toronto's downtown streets.
Road traffic was backed up in the core all morning, including Yonge St.,
where ongoing construction magnified the problems. At 6:30 a.m., police in
full riot gear formed a line across Queen St. W. at York St. and also at Bay
St. to prevent protesters from marching toward the financial district.
Once protesters got into the downtown core, police began blocking off side
streets to confine them to University Ave.
As the protesters marched, they stopped in the middle of different
intersections — for up to 30 minutes in one case — to block traffic. Some
even pulled out skipping ropes, others placed flowers on gridlocked cars and
some demonstrators threw newspaper boxes on to roads to stop motorists.
There were many skirmishes between frustrated drivers and the demonstrators.
Joseph Amodio, who owns a limousine company, confronted balaclava-covered
protesters who spit on his gleaming Lincoln as they blocked Queen St. W. and
University Ave.
"Get a job like everybody else!" Amodio seethed. "Try spitting on that car
again a--hole! You're taking money out of our pockets to help your cause!
You're useless!"
Hospital worker Victor Omelchenko was a little more laid back. Literally. He
sat in his car in the middle of the intersection, seat tilted back, and let
protesters cover his windshield with flowers.
"I will be late for my job," he said. "The biggest problem. It's kind of
unexpected."
The head of Toronto police traffic services, superintendent Gary Grant, said
that while there were "serious disruptions" to traffic, mainly between 8 and
10 a.m., there were no reported injuries.
"Safety was our main concern because of all the pedestrians, motorists and
cyclists down there," he said.
Detective Steve Irwin, who confronted protesters throughout the day, said
inconveniencing commuters and businesses was the least of his worries. "Yes,
it may inconvenience people. We can deal with that."
Irwin was more concerned about people getting hurt by some of the equipment
protesters carried.
"That's the second one in the last 50 feet," he said after police
confiscated a long shield made of aluminium siding.
Several subway stations, including Union and Osgoode, were shut down around
8 a.m. for several minutes because TTC officials were worried about damage
to their property and the safety of riders.
"We didn't want our customers walking into a mob situation," said TTC public
affairs director Marilyn Bolton.
She said, overall, disruptions to the subway system weren't a "large
problem," but the rainy weather "didn't make it easy to walk to work."
An unimpressed Irma Joeveer had to walk farther to work because of the
subway station shutdown, making her 25 minutes late. "This is a tremendous
waste of everybody's time and I haven't heard a word of wisdom from any one
of them."
Bolton said a delay on the Yonge-University subway line between 10 a.m. and
11 a.m. put more pressure on the frazzled system. The delay was caused by a
"suspicious package" found on a southbound subway car at the King station.
As a precaution, service was halted for 50 minutes between the Bloor and
Union stations.
People riding streetcars and buses downtown would have also noticed
substantial delays, Bolton said. Many were rerouted and hundreds of riders
were advised to walk because vehicles were gridlocked.
GO Transit officials reported minimal bus service disruptions.
One bus route — Hamilton to downtown Toronto — was rerouted from 7:30 a.m.
to 1:30 p.m.
"Hundreds of people were affected. We couldn't pick up or drop people off on
University Ave. for six hours," said GO Transit spokesperson Ed Shea.
----
With files from Christian Cotroneo and Andrew Chung
Legal Notice:- Copyright 1996-2001. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited.
Toronto Star, Oct. 17, 2001. 02:00 AM
Police security cordon keeps demonstrators moving
`They didn't have the opportunity to do what they wanted'
Cal Millar, Staff reporter
Police set up a massive security cordon to foil demonstrators attempting to
shut down Toronto's financial district yesterday.
The plan called for hundreds of police officers to block streets in an area
bounded by Front St., University Ave., Queen St. W. and Yonge St. to prevent
protesters from interfering with people going to work.
Members of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty had sent out leaflets and
posted information on a Web site urging people to participate in the
protests.
"We intended all along to maintain the public peace and ensure the city was
not shut down," said Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino.
Investigations conducted by members of Toronto's intelligence squad
suggested the protest would turn into a full-scale riot if demonstrators
made their way into the financial district.
Police learned a number of hard-core activists from the Toronto area would
be joined by a group made up of anarchists and skinheads who planned to
travel here from Quebec.
Some 500 Toronto police officers were mobilized shortly after 3 a.m. to take
up positions.
They were backed up by several hundred other officers brought in from York,
Peel, and Durham regions, Hamilton, Barrie and the Ontario Provincial
Police.
Scores of off-duty police officers were also hired by property managers of
downtown buildings to bolster their security staff.
Fantino said the security effort prevented a major disturbance and serious
damage to the downtown core.
Before demonstrators began their march, police arrested about 30 people. A
variety of weapons and other items, including bottles, wicks and a flammable
substance were seized from five people.
Fantino said it was shocking to see the type of weapons that police seized
from demonstrators as they attempted to make their way to a gathering spot
yesterday at Nathan Phillips Square.
"If they had the opportunity to use these weapons they would have," he said.
"You don't bring that kind of armament. .. to a lawful demonstration. They
came prepared with all kinds of implements and weapons such as masks, tear
gas, balaclavas and a whole assortment of sticks and paint jars."
Superintendent Aidan Maher, who supervises policing operations in Toronto's
downtown area, said demonstrators faced a show of police force whenever they
attempted to make their way into the financial district.
"We kept them moving," he said. "They didn't have the opportunity to do what
they wanted."
Legal Notice:- Copyright 1996-2001. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited
Toronto Star, Oct. 17, 2001. 02:02 AM
Mayor: We'll sue `thugs'
Angry Lastman says OCAP must pay the price
Paul Moloney and Bruce DeMara, City Hall Bureau
Anti-poverty protesters walk up University Ave. past a sleeping person.
The City of Toronto will take court action against the Ontario Coalition
Against Poverty and its financial backers to recoup the costs of damage and
policing following yesterday's downtown protest.
"I will be asking the city solicitor to initiate a court action against
OCAP, its directors and its financial backers to recover the costs of
today's so-called protest and all future illegal activities by this group of
thugs," Mayor Mel Lastman said.
Lastman said he was shocked to learn "professional paid agitators" from as
far away as Pittsburgh were bused in to take part.
"Enough is enough. If OCAP can afford to pay these animals, they can afford
to pay the taxpayers back for the cost of policing their so-called
demonstrations," the mayor said.
"If (union president) Sid Ryan and CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees)
can afford to spend union dues to finance OCAP's campaign of intimidation,
then they can afford to spend those union dues cleaning up OCAP's mess," he
added.
"Whatever court action or injunction can be taken will be taken and whatever
we can do, we will do. Because they (OCAP) are not going to get away with
this, they are not going to pull this again.,"
Sue Collis, a spokesperson for the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, said
she wasn't overly concerned with Lastman's threats.
"To suggest that people fighting social injustice be made to pay for the
cost the state has accrued is totally absurd," Collis said.
"I think everybody knows that Mel Lastman has the tendency to shoot his
mouth off," Collis said. "At this point we are not really concerned with the
threat and really have no great concern that, should we be served papers, we
will easily find counsel more than able to handle it."
Ken Nebone, an OCAP spokesperson, said they can barely afford to pay staff,
let alone hire agitators.
Lastman urged businesses that suffered damages to launch civil actions of
their own. Lastman He will also ask to meet with the provincial
solictor-general and attorney-general "to examine what steps we should take,
including new legislation or court actions, to prevent these local thugs
from threatening our city again."
"We have got to put these bullies out of business.," Lastman added.
Lastman said he had been told protesters - whom he described as "animals" -
were throwing bottles at the Hospital for Sick Children and intimidating
doctors, nurses and patients.
"The hard-working people of Toronto should not have to deal with organized
thuggery on their way to work - and make no mistake,: that's that's exactly
what this is," he said.
"Peaceful protesters don't carry body armour. They don't carry gas masks and
they don't carry Molotov cocktails. They don't come armed with 2x4's-by-4s
with screws in them to hurt our police officers, horses and dogs.," Lastman
said.
Lastman said he he mayor said he was sickened to hear of vandalism and
flag-burning at the U.S. Consulate on University Ave.
The protesters failed to shut down the city, Lastman noted. "They
(protesters) did not shut down our city - nor will they ever - but these
paid political protesters have caused a lot of damage in attempting to hold
our Toronto hostage,." Lastman said.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., employees of high-rise
office buildings have already endured anxiety and fear, Lastman he said.
"The last thing in the world these working people needed today was the
threat of more violence on their doorstep."
Lastman said he urged businesses in the financial district he office towers
of the financial district to stay open, despite the protest.
----
Legal Notice:- Copyright 1996-2001. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited.
Toronto Star, Oct. 17, 2001. 02:00 AM
Are protesters now terrorists under new law?
That depends on how you define `legal protests'
Catherine Porter, Staff Reporter
They damaged property, caused subway stations to close temporarily while
aiming to shut down the city's financial district, and some were caught with
fixings for Molotov cocktails - all for a political cause. Does that make
yesterday's OCAP protesters terrorists under the new anti-terrorism bill?
"That's a reasonable question to ask," says Alan Borovoy, general counsel
for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. "The legislation of the bill
is such that it creates an argument that they would be covered by it."
The bill, introduced in response to the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S., states
clearly that it doesn't affect lawful protests and strikes. But what is not
clear is what constitutes lawful protest and the point when legitimate
protest becomes terrorist activity.
"The definition is much too broad," says Bob Kellermann, spokesperson for
the Law Union of Ontario and OCAP's legal counsel. "Sometimes ordinary
political dissent is unlawful in Canada, and it has been forever. But these
are not terrorist acts. It's unlawful to trespass and to throw a rock into a
window. But that doesn't make you a terrorist."
Civil libertarians like Kellermann worry the bill will be used to crack down
on protests not unlike yesterday's OCAP demonstration.
But University of Ottawa law professor David Paciocco says the only
protesters affected by this bill will be those using terrorist tactics to
further their cause.
"Before you get a judge who's going to take a statute intended to deal with
people slamming planes into buildings and use it to stifle forms of protest
that have to be tolerated in a democracy, you're going to need a pretty
outrageous set of circumstances," he says, such as individuals threatening
people or property, or actually doing serious property damage or hurting
people.
The Canadian Police Association's Dale Kinnear agrees. "It's not just, `Oh
well, I don't like what they're doing today, now you're a terrorist group.'
It has to be as a result of the action they're engaging in meeting the legal
definition of terrorism."
The bill defines terrorist activity as an action taken for political,
religious or ideological purposes that threatens the public or national
security by killing, seriously harming or endangering a person, causing
property damage likely to injure people or by disrupting an essential
service or facility, not including lawful protests or strikes.
Legal Notice:- Copyright 1996-2001. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited.
............................................
Bob Olsen Toronto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Capitalism is war
............................................
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