The protests last weekend at the G8/G20 summits and the police reaction in Toronto have, for the past week, been the subject of debate. The question of whether the Toronto police and the government went too far in infringing on civil liberties in order to suppress violence has yet to be answered, and certainly it is of utmost importance that the questions are answered. Our rights as Canadians are at stake.
But the media has consistently ignored the more important part of this story: There were ten thousand people marching in Toronto on June 26th. Why were they there? What did they stand for? What motivated them? I am very disappointed that the media has barely covered that at all. The violence and the issues with out-of-control police have changed the focus, but the media plays a pivotal role in allowing that to happen. Even rabble.ca has put the focus on illegal detentions and police brutality. Worthy issues, but certainly not the whole story.
I was in Toronto that weekend, and took part in two peaceful protests. The constantly repeated corporate media description of the protesters as “anarchists” who need to “get a job” is extremely one-sided and dehumanizing. I can tell you as a witness that the ten thousand protesters were there to represent many different causes and had many different reasons to be upset with the G8 and G20 leaders. We should be worried about our civil rights, but let’s not forget the reason we need those rights: we need to talk about these issues. We need to examine the questions the protesters are bringing up. If we aren’t prepared to talk about it, there’s no point in protecting those rights.
