Your civil rights are in danger.
Have you ever wanted to protest anything? The first protest I went to at Queen’s Park was to protest Ontario eliminating provincial OSAP grants for post secondary education. Later, when I was a young mom when I took my toddler to the next protest when Mike Harris was cutting social services and dismantling public education.
People are allowed to protest in a…
Have you ever wanted to protest anything? The first protest I went to at Queen’s Park was to protest Ontario eliminating provincial OSAP grants for post secondary education. Later, when I was a young mom when I took my toddler to the next protest when Mike Harris was cutting social services and dismantling public education.
People are allowed to protest in a…
Your civil rights are in danger.Have you ever wanted to protest anything? The first protest I went to at Queen’s Park was to protest Ontario eliminating provincial OSAP grants for post secondary education. Later, I was a young mom when I took my toddler to the next protest when Mike Harris was cutting social services and dismantling public education.
People are allowed to protest in a democracy. I know people who protested G7 and G20 and I know people who have never protested in their lives. All sorts of people who never thought they would ever protest anything came out to protest Bill C-51. The Harper Government (and the Justin Trudeau Government that followed) chose to ignore the protests. They can do that.
What they can’t do is stop people from protesting. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right of every Canadian to dissent.
Maybe you’ve never protested, and maybe you never will. But today you have the right to protest. No government approval required.
This is especially important in our unrepresentative representative democracy because its the only way to even get winner-take-all government to pat attention. But the City of Toronto is considering removing that right…preventing you or anyone from protesting on city or provincial property without permission.
If the City of Toronto goes ahead with this, if they stop peaceful protests from taking place on city or provincial property, it won’t just affect Torontonians. This could prevent Citizens from anywhere in Ontario from expressing their dissent at Queens Park without breaking the law.
This is a motion, not a law, but even so, with this in place, serious breaches of civil rights will undoubtedly follow. [As they happened at Toronto’s infamous G20.]
If it goes unchallenged, other municipalities will likely follow suit. Which is why I’m sharing this call to action.
No information, no process, no visibility – just privileged access to power.
Tell Mayor Tory and all councillors this ill-conceived and ill-considered motion will not pass in our city.
URGENT – Meeting this Tuesday (Nov 28 at 9:30 am)
Toronto City Council is considering an item that came to Council on Sep-19 from Councillor James Pasternak (Ward 10 – York Centre) who is seeking a motion to shut down or prohibit access to public demonstrationson city and provincial property for so-called “hate-infested” rallies and he particularly mentions “Al Quds Day” as an example.
According to Pasternak, the Al Quds Day rally is “hate-infested” and “anti-Semitic”. Moreover, Councilor Pasternak places the Al Quds Day rally in the same category as white supremacist and neo-Nazi rallies. He also writes that “for the past several years there has been an Al Quds Day rally held in Toronto outside Queen’s Park featuring speakers making anti-Semitic and anti-Christian remarks, spreading hatred, inciting violence and supporting of terrorist organizations such as Hamas. Al Quds Day was originally created to call for the destruction of the state of Israel.” (see link below for full text.)
Not only are the claims unsubstantiated, they are untrue, misleading and grossly defamatory. If Councilor Pasternak has a problem with Al Quds Day, he should pursue it directly and not try to implicate other groups, movements and protests in sweeping action which will harm our freedom of expression and protest.
It is obvious that the larger goal of this motion is to engulf and shutdown ALL protests or actions supporting Palestine solidarity. This is typical “thin edge of of the wedge” attack which can be eventually applied to ever-broader definitions and eventually include any protest against mainstream / corporate / institutional policies and programs. This motion is a blatant assault to responsible civil society – its role and conduct
And moreover it is being done behind the backs of citizens with no notice, no attempt to contact or inform the accused or affected groups or organizations. Another abuse of fair process and reliance on privileged access to power
Now is the time to cut down this duplicitous and vile initiative before it goes any further in the council decision process. The matter is being considered at Executive Committee on Tuesday Nov-28 (9:30 am) and will be brought to City Council the following Tuesday (Dec-05 at 9:30am)
We need to let the Committee and also Council that this is NOT OK and we categoricallyreject any attempt to silence the public’s natural right to protest against power, injustice and inequality
You can read the documents related to this item from the city website. The last item is from the City Deputy Manager and the Toronto Police Service, are very encouraging to public protest. We need to ensure that city politicians do not meddle with what is a relatively open policy.
Link to the item on Executive Committee agenda for Nov28
http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2017.EX29.42
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2017/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-109011.pdf
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2017/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-109012.pdf
This is the list of Executive Committee Members:
Attached is an excel sheet with contact emails (Executive Committee are indicated by “x” in a column). Alternate source of contact information for the Mayor and Councillors can be found at the following link. https://web.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/9612-council_offices.pdf
This battle is only beginning and you can expect more calls to action between now and City Council Meeting on December 5th, 2017.
[*NOTE: IF THERE IS ANY CHANCE YOU WILL WANT TO SPEAK TO COUNCIL, YOU MAY NEED TO REGISTER IN ADVANCE —LLR]
There is no online site or facebook page as yet. We are in midst of organizing… this is only an opening action. Please write NOW; you are welcome to some of the words or thoughts above in this email or use your own.
—
“We are heartbroken to share the news that Bassel Khartabil was executed by the Syrian government some time after his disappearance in October 2015 in Damascus, Syria.
“Bassel Khartabil, also known as Bassel Safadi, was born in Damascus, Syria on May 22, 1981. He grew up to pursue an education and career in computer engineering. He was the co-founder of the collaborative research company Aiki Lab, and the CTO of the publisher Al-Aous. He served as the first project lead and public affiliate for Creative Commons Syria, and contributed to numerous Internet projects, such as Mozilla Firefox and Wikipedia.
“On March 15, 2012, Bassel Khartabil was arrested in the Mazzeh district of Damascus. For more than three years he was detained by the Syrian government at Adra Prison in Damascus. On October 3, 2015, Bassel was removed from his prison cell, and was sentenced to death by a Military Tribunal. We know now for a fact that Bassel Khartabil was executed by the Syrian government some time in October 2015, and we are demanding to know the exact date he was tried and then executed. No information at all was provided to his family until July 2017. The details of his sentencing and execution, and the whereabouts of his remains, are unknown at this time.
“Bassel Khartabil is survived by his wife, Noura Ghazi Safadi, as well as his mother and father.
— The Free Bassel Campaign: STATEMENT ON THE DEATH OF BASSEL KHARTABIL
“At the request of Bassel’s family, Creative Commons is announcing today that it has established the Bassel Khartabil Memorial Fund to support projects in the spirit of Bassel’s work. Creative Commons is accepting donations, and has seeded the fund with $10,000. Bassel was our friend and colleague, and CC invites the public to celebrate Bassel’s legacy and support the continuation of his powerful work and open values in a global community.
Contributions to the fund will go towards projects, programs, and grants to support individuals advancing collaboration, community building, and leadership development in the open communities of the Arab world. The fund will also support the digital preservation, sharing, and remix of creative works and historical artifacts. All of these projects are deeply intertwined with CC’s core mission and values, and those of other communities to which Bassel contributed.
Visit the Bassel Khartabil Memorial Fund page for more on how to get involved. Learn more about Bassel and his work at Wikipedia, FreeBassel.org, EFF, BBC, CNN, and Al Jazeera.”
Here in the “free world,” extraordinary efforts to silence and shut down free software and free culture by large corporations are ongoing. If software freedom was the unquestioned norm I have to wonder: would Bassel even have been arrested?
Today the EFF released these letters Bassel wrote from jail before he disappeared.
What an extraordinary young man. My heart goes out to his family.
“Around the world, activists and advocates seek the sharing of culture, and open knowledge.
Creative Commons, and the global commons of art, history, and knowledge, are stronger because of Bassel’s contributions, and our community is better because of his work and his friendship. His death is a terrible reminder of what many individuals and families risk in order to make a better society.”
— Creative Commons Statement on the death of CC friend and colleague Bassel Khartabil
Image Credit: Bassel Safadi by Joi Ito is released under a Creative Commons Attribution License
guarding Toronto’s Old City Hall.
This seemed appropriate for another day of the
Commission of Inquiry Respecting the Death of Donald Dunphy.
The Inquiry has an excellent website; you can watch live, or download the video after the fact:
Tomorrow morning they are starting at 9am NL time which for me is
Why did Constable Smyth go to Don Dunphy’s home on April 5th, 2015 ~ Easter Sunday afternoon?
5 lingering questions in the fatal shooting of Don Dunphy
After almost 2 years answers may be forthcoming via the Commission of Inquiry Respecting the Death of Donald Dunphy.
This morning Cletus Flaherty (representing The Don Dunphy Community Coalition) will likely finish his cross examination of RNC Constable Smyth, the man who shot and killed Don Dunphy that day.
Livestream:
http://www.ciddd.ca/
http://video.isilive.ca/nfld/remote.html
This was what one of the many ordinary Canadians who spoke at the first Stop Bill C-51 Day of Action in Waterloo Region last year had to say.
Today is the last day Canadians can participate in the online consultation.
Please participate, even if it is only to tell the government to repeal Bill C-51
If you’re new to this issue, Bill C-51 – The Antiterrorism Act, 2015 is my backgrounder to this most concerning issue.
Today is the last day Canadians can participate in the online consultation.
Please participate, even if it is only to tell the government to repeal Bill C-51
If you’re new to this issue, Bill C-51 – The Antiterrorism Act, 2015 is my backgrounder to this most concerning issue.
Yesterday I reblogged 33 other bloggers posts here, even though they are probably not free culture. Although I try to keep Canadian politics in the Whoa! Canada blog, limiting political articles on this blog to issues around copyright and free culture, Bill C-51 has crossed the line. This law the Harper Government is planning to pass, (maybe today, probably this week) in the face of strong opposition from a clear majority of Canadians, will certainly have a devastating effect on Canadian Culture. The removal of free speech protections will cause a massive chilling effect ~ self censorship ~ on all Canadian culture.
Some brave souls will continue to publish their art, just as the stubborn ones did in the early days of the Third Reich. I realize many of you will think this hyperbole, but the parallels between then and now are striking. I can tell you that I am not a brave soul, that’s why I am doing everything I can to stop this now. I don’t want to see Canadian civil rights undermined to the point of meaninglessness, not just for myself, but for my family, and all the generations that will come after.
But if my little voice, in concert with all the other Canadian voices goes unheeded, although it will surely break my heart, I will continue to do as I always have; I will continue to follow the law.
But it isn’t law yet, so today I will share and reshare as much as I can manage. Because I care. Because it matters.
