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Weekend Newsstand: June 26, 2010
Illustration by Matt Daley/Torontoist.
Not summited out yet? The cool kids of global leadership will be motorcading their way down from the G8 meetings in Huntsville today to join lesser politicos in the Toronto Convention Centre for the full G20. If you’re lucky enough to get a glimpse of any heads of state, remember that they may look cuddly, but they’re not used to people—sticking your hands through the fence is a good way to get a finger bitten off!
Outside the Green Zone, the week’s biggest protest is scheduled for today. It will begin at 1 p.m. at Queen’s Park before heading down University to Queen, then west to Spadina, then north to College, and back to the legislature. While the “People First!” rally is sponsored by organized labour and billed as a family-friendly event, less friendly activists have made it known that they intend to diverge from the planned route and try to take on the security fence and the bazillion cops that come with it. Anyway, whether you’re worried about having your rights or your begonias trampled, Torontoist will be out there to keep you updated on whatever magic or mayhem the day brings.
Protesters are less likely to be sound-cannoned today, thanks to a ruling from the Ontario Superior Court. Justice David Brown ruled that police can use the Long Range Acoustical Devices (LRAD) to holler instructions or warnings, but that the ear-splitting “alert” mode employed for crowd control purposes elsewhere can only be used in five-second bursts to precede an announcement, and at a distance of no less than seventy-five metres. The decision was in response to a request from the Canadian Civil Liberties Union and the Canadian Labour Congress, who were seeking an injunction to limit the use of the devices. The truly unruly should be aware, however, that the Emergency Task Force and marine police are not bound by the restrictions.
While what’s going on in the streets is more visual and a hell of a lot more accessible, there is activity coming out of the meetings themselves. When not inviting wedgies from his fellow leaders with self-righteous harangues about fiscal responsibility, Prime Minister Stephen Harper secured pledges of five billion dollars toward initiatives supporting maternal and child health care around the world. The number was less than had been hoped for by advocacy groups, and a full 20% of the total will come from Canada, although many of the G8 nations have much larger economies.
Two thousand Via Rail workers who are part of the Canadian Auto Workers Union have set a deadline of tomorrow at midnight to go on strike if a contract agreement isn’t reached. White House sources have said that in the event rail service is disrupted, President Obama will return to Washington by Greyhound.
Jewish groups are promising a strong turnout at the Pride parade on July 4, following the reversal of a decision by Pride Toronto that would have banned the group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid from marching in the parade. The issue has been a contentious one for weeks, with numerous Grand Marshals and other honourees withdrawing from participation in protest of the original decision. Toronto mayoral hopefuls Giorgio Mammoliti and Rob Ford have also jumped into the fray, demanding that Pride return funding received from the city. Geez, who’d have thought a gay event could get political?