Putting the State on Trial
Putting the State on Trial
The Policing of Protest during the G20 Summit
Canada is often lauded as a model democracy that values the constitutional rights of its citizens. So when over a thousand people – most of whom were peaceful protesters or hapless bystanders – were violently arrested and then detained without charge during the G20 Summit in Toronto in 2010, many Canadians felt shock and outrage. Putting the State on Trial: The Policing of Protest during the G20 Summit examines the political, social, and economic conditions that “allowed” the policing of the G20 Summit to culminate in human and civil rights violations. Written by a multi-disciplinary group of scholars and legal practitioners, this book contextualizes events before, during, and after the summit from a range of perspectives. Although the G20 protests serve as a point of departure in every chapter, the contributing authors engage with larger questions about the control of dissent and the exercise of freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly and association, the impact of the securitization and internationalization of Canadian politics, the implications of legal uncertainty, and the accountability vacuum. Importantly, it asks what needs to be done to ensure the civil liberties of Canadians are safeguarded in the future.
This book will be of interest to students of law, policing, political science, sociology, and criminology, as well as civil rights advocates, policy makers, and citizens interested in the control of dissent and the exercise of freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, the impact of the securitization and internationalization of politics, and the impact of legal uncertainty.
State violence against peaceful protest at the 2010 G20 summit in Toronto is finally brought to account in this compelling collection. Contributors expertly dissect policing excesses and point to the failure of official channels of accountability. They also provide an important warning to Canadians about the looming threat to the rule of law and liberal democracy posed by the securitization of dissent in the era of globalization.
The essays in this volume make an excellent contribution to a subject of vital public interest. The authors are well qualified to speak on topics that will be of increasing importance in an age that requires a proper balance between democracy and security.
We live in a world of global risks, where global governance is often shaped locally. Filled with empirically grounded insights, Putting the State on Trial brings sharply into focus critical features of this contemporary reality, wrought through a tinder box of protection and protest during the G20 summit.
Federal government arrangements for major international conferences invariably fail to ensure either protection of ordinary freedoms or security for members of the public: Vancouver’s APEC conference; Quebec City’s Summit of the Americas; and, most spectacularly, Toronto’s disastrous G20 summit. This important volume brings much-needed attention to issues that should be ignored no longer.
Margaret E. Beare is a professor of sociology and law at York University and Osgoode Hall Law School. Nathalie Des Rosiers is the dean of the Faculty of Law, Common Law Section, at the University of Ottawa. Abigail C. Deshman is the director of the Public Safety Program with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
Contributors: Ronald G. Atkey, Paul Burstein, Andrew Clement, Meaghan Daniel, Bernard Duhaime, Julian Falconer, Veronica Kitchen, Nicholas Lamb, Colleen Matthews, Kate Milberry, Howard F. Morton, Leo Panitch, Jacinthe Poisson, George S. Rigakos, Kent Roach, Kimberly Rygiel, Liora Salter, James Stribopoulos, Ian Urquhart, and Lesley Wood.
Introduction / Margaret E. Beare and Nathalie Des Rosiers
Part 1: The Context of the G20 Summit: How Predictable Was the Protest’s Outcome?
1 States, Protest, and Global Capitalism: Putting the G20 in Perspective / Leo Panitch
2 Reorganizing Repression: Policing Protest, 1995-2012 / Lesley Wood
3 Post-9/11 Policing of Protests: Symbolic but Illusory Law Reform and Real Accountability Gaps / Kent Roach
4 Anatomy of a Breach of the Peace: The CCLA and the G20 Summit / Abby Deshman and Nathalie Des Rosiers
5 The Rule of Law on Trial: Police Powers, Public Protest, and the G20 / James Stribopoulos
Part 2: Policing the Event: The Role of Law, the Failures of Law, and Civil Society
6 Policing as Spectacle and the Politics of Surveillance at the Toronto G20 / Kate Milberry and Andrew Clement
7 Integrated Security Networks: Less, Not More, Accountability / Veronica Kitchen and Kimberly Rygiel
8 Investigative Detention and Street Checks / Howard F. Morton
9 International Law and the Silencing of Social Protest / Bernard Duhaime and Jacinthe Poisson
10 Pacification through “Intelligence” during the Toronto G20 / Nicholas Lamb and George S. Rigakos
Part 3: After the Event: The Continuing Impact -- Accountability Issues and Lessons to be Learned
11 Jury Nullification in Canadian Political Protest Trials: Turning Loose the “12 Angry Men” / Paul Burstein
12 Mass Arrest/Mass Epiphany: G20 Policing and the Canadian Wakeup / Julian Falconer and Meaghan Daniel
13 Perceptions of a Protest: Through the Eyes of the Newspapers / Ian Urquhart
14 Making the Best of Bad Choices: Inquiry Versus Investigations in the G20 Case / Liora Salter and Colleen Matthews
Conclusion: The Future of Protests in Canada / Nathalie Des Rosiers
Appendix; Bibliography; Index
Street Protests and Fantasy Parks
Globalization, Culture, and the State
Edited by David R. Cameron and Janice Gross Stein
Ancillary Police Powers in Canada
A Critical Reassessment
By John W. Burchill, Richard Jochelson, Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, and Terry Skolnik
