statism watch

Archive for January 10th, 2009

Protests over Israel’s Gaza offensive held in Canadian, world cities

Saturday, January 10th, 2009

CBC News
January 10, 2009

Thousands of Canadians joined demonstrators around the world Saturday in a series of heated protests against Israel’s offensive in Gaza, with scuffles and arrests reported in several European cities.

Outside the Israeli Consulate in Toronto, police estimated about 2,000 people gathered in frigid weather to condemn the Israeli attacks, while a smaller group of pro-Israeli demonstrators made their presence known behind a police barricade.

In Montreal, about 1,000 marched in a protest organized by several large labour federations in support of the Palestinian people of Gaza. A crowd set at least one Israeli flag on fire.

In Vancouver, hundreds of people gathered in the pouring rain in front of the city’s art gallery, where the protest spilled on to a downtown street and stopped traffic.

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Posted in accountability, culture, militarization | 10 Comments »

Police forces withhold information on Taser use from public: audit

Saturday, January 10th, 2009

The police don’t like surveillance? Maybe they have something to hide – isn’t that the usual retort?

CBC News
January 10, 2009

Many of Canada’s municipal police forces are withholding information that shed light on how their officers use Tasers, while other government agencies and institutions, including the CBC, are slow to respond to access-to-information requests, according to an audit conducted for the Canadian Newspaper Association.

The annual audit released Friday was prepared by an investigative team for the CNA to test the length of time, cost and completeness of requests for federal, provincial and municipal agencies to disclose information that should be publicly available on request under access-to-information laws.

As part of the audit, a team from the University of King’s College in Halifax sent freedom-of-information requests last year to police forces in all 10 provinces and the Yukon. The researchers requested the forms that officers must complete each time they draw Tasers.

(more…)

Posted in accountability, militarization, police | 13 Comments »