statism watch

Related: Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Toronto streets get 77 more surveillance cameras for G20 | Toronto G20 should address climate issues: Nicholas Stern, UN | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | Fighter jets buzz Toronto, Muskoka in G20 test runs | U.S. combat jets buzzing Ont. border city | Massive fortress Ottawa in the works | Public Safety Canada announces national plan to centralize operations in state of emergency | Canada’s military peers into future, sees drone patrols, draft, insurgency | CF-18s join B.C. Olympic security drill | Military helicopters over downtown Montreal for exercise | Sarnia resident plans ‘moon’ protest of US border spy balloon | Military spycraft patrols Ontario border from Fort Drum | New US border technology directed at insidious threat: Canadians | British Army to Police Medicine Hat During Urban Warfare Drills | Urban warfare drills coming to Medicine Hat | Military readies reservists for threats to ‘domestic front’ | Military may patrol bar zone in Barrie | Predator drones patrolling border irk Manitoba MLA | U.S. set to launch Predator drones to monitor Manitoba border | Military and police practice integration during Olympic security exercises | Canadian military getting 1,300 new heavily armoured trucks for ‘domestic use’ | Military Tech on the Home Front: Predator drones to begin surveillance of Canada-US border | Homeland Security Assuming Broad Powers, Turning Swaths of U.S. into “Constitution-Free Zone” | Surveillance on the Great Lakes: U.S. tightens security along border | Canada, U.S. agree to use each other’s troops in civil emergencies | U.S. Northern Command, Canada Command establish new bilateral Civil Assistance Plan | Nunavut taken aback by military plan for drone patrols | U.S. to patrol Manitoba border with drone aircraft

Brendan Kennedy, Jesse McLean, The Toronto Star
May 18, 2010

Residents at University and Wellington will need clearance to get home

Getting home will become a lot more complicated for residents of 33 University Ave.

The 28-storey financial district condominium is the only residential building slated to be stuck inside a fenced security perimeter when the G20 summit touches down in Toronto next month.

The only way in and out will be through police checkpoints.

“It’s definitely an inconvenience,” said Duyen Briggs, who lives at The Empire Plaza at University Ave. and Wellington St. “I guess that week I’ll feel like I’m going to be blocked inside my house for a while.”

As security details for the G20 summit continue to trickle out, downtown residents and businesses are beginning to understand how their lives will be affected.

Empire Plaza residents discovered over the weekend their homes will be enclosed within a security fence expected to go up about two weeks before the summit opens at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on June 26.

Residents will have to apply for advance security clearance to receive a special ID card to gain express access to their building.

The general public will be allowed to enter the fenced-in area – the borders of which haven’t yet been disclosed – but will be subject to on-the-spot security checks by police and will have to explain why they need to enter the area.

Councillor Adam Vaughan, whose ward will be home to the summit, said anyone living or working behind the fence should preregister with police to receive a swipe card with photo ID to bypass the public line, where the queue for admission could be several hours long.

Todd Reid, an Empire Plaza resident, said he will get the accreditation if it means skipping the long lines.

“If the wait’s only five or 10 minutes, I can deal with that,” he said. “It’s hard to say. We’re pretty much still in the dark.”

The building’s property manager said there are still many unanswered questions, and what he does know, he’s had to piece together from different sources.

“We’ve somewhat been left to fend for ourselves to try to get as much information as we can,” said Wes Posthumus, president of Post Real Property Inc.

“There hasn’t been one decisive document that says, ‘Hey, this is what it’s going to be like, this is what it’s going to look like, this is what you’re going to be subject to during that 10-day or whatever period of time.”

Among the many questions residents have is how – or whether – they’ll be able to access the underground parking garages.

While the Empire Plaza is currently the only residential building behind the fence, security plans can change and more buildings could be affected, Vaughan said.

“We’ve been working very hard to make sure that the residents of our ward have as much freedom during the G20 as possible,” he said.

Police say three security zones will surround the summit:

- A heavily restricted “red zone” will include the convention centre and nearby hotels. Only summit attendees and venue employees will be able to get in.

- The fenced security perimeter, which includes The Empire Plaza and contains 15,000 to 30,000 residents and workers who will be vetted by police at checkpoints.

- A traffic zone will comprise the area from Yonge St. to Spadina Ave. and King St. to Lake Ontario. Pedestrians will be able to come and go, but drivers will be met by officers at most major intersections who will ask them where they’re going and what they’re doing there.

Source | See Also under Toronto: Anarchists plan ‘militant’ protests at Toronto G20 | Toronto streets get 77 more surveillance cameras for G20 | Toronto G20 should address climate issues: Nicholas Stern, UN | Toronto labour, native protesters ready for G20 demonstrations | Toronto G20 protest area moved to Queens Park | Fighter jets buzz Toronto, Muskoka in G20 test runs | Press For Truth Arrested While Reporting On The G20 Summit | Downtown Toronto To Be Transformed Into Locked-Down Police State This Summer | All Toronto G20 protests will be directed to Trinity Bellwoods Park | Police State Canada 2010 and the G20 Summit | Protesters and police get ready to square off at G20 summit | First Nations protest against HST | GTA road tolls are inevitable, professor says | Militarized police integrate with private security for G20 Toronto concourse drill | Toronto mayor David Miller uses subway PA to push for funding | TTC opens door to electronic payment | University of Toronto, Peter Munk to reveal new School of Global Affairs | Small army to protect Toronto during G20 summit | Nine charged after marijuana compassion club raided | Toronto braces for G20 logistics crunch | Hundreds of Toronto G20 delegates granted diplomatic immunity | Toronto G20 summit security to be ‘massive’ | RCMP needs 5,500 rooms during G20 summit | Toronto’s partial lead pipe replacement program may cause spike in toxicity | Plan to put more police on Toronto transit | Downtown Toronto to become a fortress for G20 summit | G8/G20: Gearing up for the biggest security event in Canadian history | Toronto braces for G20 disruption, Ottawa to pick up security tab | Convention centre confirmed as location for Toronto G20 summit | G20 security could strangle downtown | G20’s Metro Convention Centre location to bump baseball, pride activities | Cellphone fines up to $500 for Ont. drivers start Monday | Toronto Star Columnist Fiorito: The cops came and took my gun | Toronto drug officers face more corruption accusations | Police corruption case killed by delays | Harper confirms June G20 summit in Toronto | Anti-HST protest at Ontario legislature spills onto Toronto streets | More HST debate fallout after Ontario Legislature sit-in | Is G20 more than Toronto can handle? | With only seven months to go, G20 site may be moved to Toronto | Top Mountie says Huntsville too small for G20 | GPS Tracked Road Tolls Back On Agenda for Toronto Metrolinx | Report suggests road tolls, parking and fuel taxes for GTA | More police security cameras approved for Toronto | Students Protest Cops In School After One Of Their Own Arrested | Security may soon test ‘virtual strip search’ at large Canadian aiports | Toronto Police Union picks controversial new president Michael McCormack | Pulitzer winning anti-racism classic ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ faces censorship in Toronto schools | Toronto police seize 400 guns in ’safety push’ | ‘Freedom lover’ behind ‘Obama Joker’ posters | Security guards stop MPs, students from distributing fair use flyers at Toronto copyright townhall | ‘They were looking for the ideal Manchurian Candidate’ | Toronto TAVIS special police corps demanding ID on city streets | 50 Toronto high schools to have armed police presence | Toronto police ready to take over transit patrols | Toronto council approves stringent green-roof rules | U of T’s Trinity College tainted by secret society | Toronto police board challenges chief on CCTV deterrence, demands ‘phase-in’ | Unannounced Toronto school lockdown drill backfires, police descend on neighbourhood | Police laud Toronto surveillance cameras, critics not so sure | Google PowerMeter to track home energy usage in Toronto test drive | Oshawa truck plant closes | ‘Smart meters’ set to boost prices, track your power consumption by time of day in Toronto | Ontario’s high-tech driver’s licences pose privacy risk: watchdog | Lunchtime lockdown to promote healthier eating: T.O. school plan | Tamil protesters blockade Gardiner expressway to highlight Sri Lankan plight | Cars moving, but Toronto Tamil protest questioned | Toronto: New bin regime spawns new rules, confusion for avid recyclers | Province assumes control of transit board, pays Toronto $9 billion for projects | Munk Centre researchers discover botnet, call for international cyberspace ‘legal regime’ | Metrolinx’s draft report called for supporters to infiltrate public meetings | Nine city staffers removed for alleged fraud | Schools seek more police as crime drops | Police presence in high schools makes the grade | Plan to add Toronto red-light cameras on hold | Toronto School Board to ‘review’ The Handmaid’s Tale on one parent’s complaint | A decade later, Lastman proud he called in army | Toronto surveillance project to enter new phase pending review | GTA Transit plan needs taxation, ‘governance’ powers | Is road-tolls fix running out of gas? | Three Toronto cops to stand trial on corruption charges | Toronto council approves plastic bag charge, bottle ban | Safety report author Falconer on armed police in schools: “Facile” | Toronto Mayor David Miller hails new taxes on water, trash | Toronto finds more new ways to make itself look ridiculous, launches propaganda zine | Toronto’s New Garbage Tracking Bins Delayed for Many | Toronto councillor seeks to establish landlord licensing body | GTA Transport Plan Defers Road Tolls, Focuses on Centralization, Intensification | Toronto Mayor delays garbage tax grab for twelve months | Garbage bin fee hike possible before new RFID bins even hit the kerb | Red light cameras not going up fast enough for Toronto budget | Frequent school lockdowns raise questions | 27 Toronto schools to get armed police presence | The Millershevik Revolution: Centralization of Power in Toronto’s City Hall | Two trustees stand opposed to armed police in schools | Armed police officers heading to high schools | Citizens Witness Gunplay, Black Uniforms as ‘Flashpoint’ Shoots Drama in Heart of Toronto | “Pilot Project”: Private security guards to patrol Toronto’s Chinatown | Turning Toronto into a nanny state | Public conditioning continues: Ratings reach ‘Flashpoint’ for tactical assault squad drama | Chicago, awash in gun violence, gives Toronto advice: You need a gun ban like ours | Toronto artist seeks explanation for police raid | Cellphone use potentially risky for kids, teens: health agency | Armed Police to Roam Toronto High Schools | Toronto bans gun clubs from city property | Miller makes “concession” for shooting ranges, pushes ahead with gun ban | Municipalities Join Miller in Calling for Final Citizen Disarmament | Pistol Pendant Causes Airport Holdup | Youth Worker Subjected to Warrantless Raid on Secret Evidence | $4 Million Earmarked for Cameras, “Respect” at Toronto Schools | Toronto Residents Furious Over RFID Garbage Bins | The monster (blue bin) that ate downtown | Crown complained of lack of Toronto police support in drug squad case | Tough new penalties proposed for motorists who run red lights | Metrolinx Proposes Satellite Vehicle Tracking for Road Tolls | Toronto Council Rules Objection to Tasers ‘Out of Order’ | T.T.C. Starts Camera Installation On Buses & Streetcars | Toronto police seek feedback on installing security cameras | Premier Thinks Yonge St. Cameras Should Stay, John Tory Wants Them In Ent. District | Ontario Police Chiefs travel to Israel to study police tactics

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 at 3:00 pm and is filed under globalization, militarization, prohibitions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.