Hi all,

I don't think the PDF came through... So I've pasted the text of the 
Toronto Call below...

Dave

The Toronto Call: No More Police State Tactics
The police response to the protests against the G8/G20 in Toronto was the
largest mass arrest in Canadian history, surpassing the 1993 Clayoquot Sound
logging blockade. It constituted the most far-reaching single assault on 
political
rights in the Canadian state since the War Measures Act of 1970.
This response fits the pattern of militarized policing at global 
summits, which
consistently produce mass arrests. It also builds on long histories of 
police
brutality in this city and across Canada, particularly aimed at people 
of colour,
indigenous peoples, and poor communities. The use of these police state
methods is increasing as the social divides produced by neoliberal policies
deepen.
In Toronto, this ground was further prepared by extraordinary 
legislation passed
in secret by the Ontario government that designated the G20 security 
zone as a
“public work.” Police deliberately misled the public to believe that anyone
appearing within five metres of the four mile long wall surrounding the 
G20 zone
could be searched without warning and arrested for failing to state 
their purpose
for being near the fence.
As part of the $1 billion security buildup, there was a massive police 
presence on
the streets of Toronto, beginning days before the summit. Police stocked 
up on –
and paraded before the media – weapons ranging from sound cannons that can
cause permanent hearing loss, to water cannons, tear gas, riot gear, and 
other
devices.
The police presence significantly increased at the Indigenous Solidarity 
rally on
Thursday, June 24, where over 1000 people gathered to protest the G20 
and its
entrenchment of global racist colonization. On Friday, June 25, security 
tactics
were further escalated in response to the large community rally. A large 
section
of downtown Toronto streets was taken over by police in riot gear, in 
parked vans
and buses, in buildings and helicopters, on horses and on bikes. Within this
highly militarized atmosphere the police incited tensions with the 
violent attack
and arrest of a young, deaf, black man. It is a travesty of justice that 
he was
denied access to an ASL interpreter. That is the equivalent of being 
taken into
custody and having your mouth ducktaped shut.
On Saturday, June 26, the mass arrest of protesters began. The pretext 
for this
crackdown was the limited property damage in protests that day, which was
similar to recent hockey riots in various cities but treated very 
differently, as
pointed out by journalist Linda McQuaig. We believe it is important to 
openly
discuss and debate the effectiveness of various tactics used in activist
mobilizations. However, the key issue remains the security build-up and 
police
response that was completely out of proportion to Saturday’s events.
Over the course of the weekend, more than 1000 people were detained. Core
activists were arrested in their homes or grabbed on the streets by 
police snatch
squads. These targeted arrests reveal a disturbing degree of racial 
profiling of
both residents and visitors to Toronto, consistent with ongoing police 
practices.
On Sunday, June 27, people who gathered peacefully outside the massive
temporary jail set up on Eastern Avenue were beaten by police and shot with
rubber bullets and tear gas “muzzle blasts”. Scores of protestors and 
bystanders
were penned in for long periods by police at Queen St. and Spadina Ave. Many
in the crowd were eventually arrested, as were several activists 
blockaded in and
around the activist Convergence Space.
In the week leading up to the summit, Conservative Cabinet Minister 
Stockwell
Day signaled a particular focus on “anarchists” for this security 
crackdown. This
simplistic targeting of a long-standing political tradition was further 
used by police
to justify assaults on all demonstrators as well as the round-up of 
activists by
claiming they were hunting for the “Black Bloc”. This criminalization of 
activists
aimed to silence attempts to address the real issues presented by the G20.
It is clear that long-term police plans, including the heavy 
infiltration of activist
organizations, were at work in the mass arrests on Saturday and Sunday. The
closure of many public institutions, including the University of 
Toronto, attempted
to create a ghost town in the core of the city to facilitate the arrest 
of activists.
Statements by the Mayor of Toronto and Chief of Police have focused on 
labeling
non-Torontonians as the source of disturbances. The image of “dangerous
outsiders” draws on racial and ethnic stereotypes and suggests that it 
is not
legitimate for people from outside Toronto to exercise their rights to 
political
expression, free association and freedom of movement. The G20 is a global
assault that requires global solidarity in response.
The hundreds who were detained faced dismal and abusive conditions. People
were held in overcrowded cages and denied access to food, water, and legal
counsel. Friends and families did not have access to information about 
who was
detained or when they might be processed or released. The reports of those
released from detention reveal a pervasive pattern of sexual, gender, trans,
homophobic and racist harassment by police.
This assault on civil and political rights must never be allowed to 
happen again.
We the undersigned call for:
1. The immediate release of all those detained
2. A full campaign to defend the civil rights of those facing charges 
arising from
this extraordinary policing regime, especially those facing excessive 
charges
and/or punitive bail conditions that criminalize, limit mobility, and 
curtail rights in
the long term.
3. An independent public inquiry into police actions during the summit, 
including
disclosure on the role of police infiltrators leading up to and during 
events, and
the chain of command for the extraordinary crackdown on legal rights and
protests.
4. An end to the targeting of anarchists by the Conservative government 
and the
police.
5. The resignation of Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair
Signatories
Abigail Bakan Toronto Professor of Politics Studies, Queen’s
University
James Cairns Toronto Assistant Professor, Wilfrid Laurier University
(Brantford)
Kate Cairns Montreal PhD student, OISE/UT
Deborah Cowen Toronto Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
Sue Ferguson Toronto Wilfrid Laurier University-Brantford
Naomi Klein Toronto Author
David McNally Toronto Professor of Political Science, York University
Mary-Jo Nadeau Toronto Lecturer, University of Toronto, Mississauga
Eroca Nicols Toronto Toronto Dance Community Love-In
Jenny Peto Toronto Activist
Judy Rebick Toronto CAW Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice and
Democracy
Alan Sears Toronto Sociology, Ryerson University
Rinaldo Walcott Toronto Professor, OISE University of Toronto
Cynthia Wright Toronto York University, Member of CUPE 3903


Deborah Cowen wrote:
> Dear all- please consider signing.
> Thanks
> Deb
> 
> 
> 
> ** Please circulate widely to friends, colleagues, allies, networks,
> students, co-workers, activists etc.**
> 
> Dear friends and colleagues,
> 
> *PLEASE SIGN the Toronto Call*: *No More Police State Tactics* (see PDF
> attached).
> 
> We believe it is urgent to respond to the police actions in Toronto during
> the G8/G20.  We are writing to invite you to sign on to The Toronto Call.
> We are hoping to get signatures from trade unionists, faculty, students,
> community activists, legal workers and cultural workers among others
> (including those arrested and detained around the G20).   We believe it is
> possible to shift the terms to debate, and to shine a spotlight on the
> abusive police practices during the G8/G20.  But we need your help to do
> that.
> 
> Please sign on and circulate the call widely to friends, colleagues,
> allies and networks who might be willing to sign.
> 
> If you want *TO SIGN ON, PLEASE WRITE TO* [log in to unmask] and with
> your name, affiliation (as you would want it in the final version) and 
> which
> category you prefer to be placed in (trade unionists, faculty, students,
> community activists, legal workers, teachers, cultural workers, arrested 
> and
> detained)  if we decide to arrange signatures in that format.  We ask 
> you to
> sign on as soon as possible.  We will continue *collecting signatures until
> Monday, July 5 at 6:00pm* but may publish versions if it becomes useful to
> do so before that time.
> 
> *NOTE:* Please feel free to place a  * beside your institutional 
> affiliation
> if you want indicate you are signing in a personal capacity
> 
> Thanks very much - please pass the message on ...
> 
> 
> ----- End forwarded message -----