The Toronto Star reports that, “The Toronto Police union is calling for Sid Ryan to resign after the labour leader suggested police may plant agent provocateurs among the G20 protesters to incite violence.”
Mike McCormack, president of the Toronto Police Association, says, “It’s a totally irresponsible, inflammatory and idiotic thing to say for someone in his position. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s a total insult to police everywhere.”
The article continues, “Ryan wasn’t the only one to raise the issue of agent provocateurs. The Council of Canadians called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to give his assurance that no agent provocateurs will be used during the G8 or G20 protests.”
WHY WOULD WE MAKE SUCH CLAIMS?
The article quotes Barlow’s letter to the prime minister which states, “I’m deeply concerned that neither you, nor anyone in the government, nor the Integrated Security Unit itself, have ruled out the use of agent provocateurs at the upcoming G8 and G20 summits. Three undercover police officers attempted to incite violence in 2007 at the Montebello protest against the Security and Prosperity Partnership. The proof of their actions was caught on film. The Sûreté du Québec was forced to admit that they were police officers, dressed in black and holding rocks. Yet, to date no one has been held accountable and through his silence, Harper appears to have given tacit approval of the use of agents provocateurs.”
POLICE WON’T RULE OUT USE OF PROVOCATEURS
And as noted in our recent action alert, when asked if agent provocateurs would be used at the summits, Constable George Tucker, a member of the G20 planning team responsible for Public Affairs, Communications & Corporate Relations, responded, “I’m not at liberty to discuss security issues in an open format.”
In a telephone interview with the Toronto Media Co-op, Constable Meghan Gray with the Toronto Police Services G20 Planning Team responsible for Public Affairs, Communications & Community Relations, was also asked directly whether agent provocateurs would be used. She replied, “Like [my co-worker], George Tucker, those are operational issues, I can’t speak to that.”
And when the Vancouver-weekly Georgia Straight asked about the use of agent provocateurs, Corporal Jen Allen of the Integrated Security Unit responded, “We are not in a position to detail a specific operational plan as to how we are going to fulfill that obligation.”
TAKE ACTION
Please respond to our ‘ACTION ALERT: Demand that agent provocateurs be ruled out at the G20’ at http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=3936.
The Toronto Star report is at http://www.thestar.com/mobile/news/gta/article/825094–police-union-calls-for-sid-ryan-to-resign-over-inflammatory-comment.
