There were more protesters at the SPP meeting

Red Friday Rally in support of Canadian troops attracts 1,000 to the CNE

Even with a captive audience at the CNE, there were only 1,000 at the rally. I guess that just means Canadians don't respond to jingoistic propaganda.

There were even words of "wisdom" from the Rick Hillier.

Among the dignitaries in attendance was Canada's Chief of Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier, who delighted the crowd before his speech when he removed the top of his camouflage suit to reveal a bright red T-shirt underneath.

“From the soldiers' perspective, we do not believe a group of people who will whip women for wearing heels that click on pavement should be allowed to reassume control of their country and the lives of those people in it,” Gen. Hillier said in an interview.

They even put two of the badly injured soldiers on stage. What an awful thing to do. It might have inspired pity, horror or sorrow, but it won't stir up any support for the war. And we all know that this is what it's all about. There was never an question of support for the military in Canada. We hired them and we'll take care of them, but we don't support sending them somewhere where they don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning, even if we knew exactly what form "winning" would take.

I wonder if Stephen Harper turned his nose up at the spectacle and called it "...sad".

Okay, now that you know we're lying, we'll tell the truth

How are you supposed to trust people like this?

And they're the ones with the guns and the power.

Of course, the minister for Public Safety, Stockwell Day, tells the protesters to file a complaint and refuses to have anything to do with it himself. Who exactly is he protecting? Don't tell me - I already know, and it sure as hell ain't us.



From the Toronto Star this morning.

With the proof caught on video, Quebec provincial police were forced to admit yesterday that three undercover agents were playing the part of protesters at this week's international summit in Montebello, Que.

But the Quebec police force denied they were attempting to provoke protesters into violence. Rather, they said the three were planted in the crowd to locate any protesters who were not peacefully demonstrating. Police said the trio's cover was blown when they refused to toss any objects.

... [T]he police said after viewing a video clip from YouTube.com and video shot by police officers, they were able to confirm the three were Quebec provincial police officers.

Earlier, both Quebec police and the RCMP denied any of their officers were involved.

Earlier yesterday, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day rejected opposition calls for an inquiry into the role of suspect agents at the North American leaders summit.

Security and Prosperity Partnership in a nutshell

From Ish Theilheimer at Straight Goods:

What the Security and Prosperity Partnership means for Canada:

• our Canadian laws must conform with their American laws
• we will only let in people they will let in
• our military will be led by their military
• our energy is their energy, and that
• any laws that hurt the corporations' ability to earn profits must be struck down.

What's not to love about a deal like that?

I laughed so hard, I thought I'd never start

From a New York Times report on the SPP meeting in Montebello. Interesting to see that they had to put a hot link to Canada in the report, just in case any of the readers weren't exactly sure where or what it was.

Steven Harper does stand-up. (Don't give up your day job, Stevie. What am I saying? Please, please give up your day job.)

“A couple of my opposition leaders have speculated on massive water diversions and superhighways to the continent — maybe interplanetary, I’m not sure, as well,” Mr. Harper deadpanned.

Praetorian Guards, Part 2

It appears that agents provocateurs, planted by the RCMP, the QPP or CSIS, were trying to stir up trouble at the SPP protest in Montebello yesterday. While unions, student groups, and others were there to make a peaceful protest, even if the ever-arrogant Harper is unlikely to listen, the agents were hoping that any resulting violence would give the heavily armoured police a reason to use tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets - which they did.

There are a group of anarchists, the Black Bloc, who show up at protests all over the place. The police/government plants were apparently trying to pose as one of these. The "real" Black Bloc pointed them out as "policier".

If the RCMP have anything to do with this, their already in-the-tank reputation could drop even further, if that's possible.

A developing story - wonderful. I hope it comes back to bite those arrogant men on their collective, considerable and unlovely asses.

From the Harper Index:

Agents provocateurs active at Montebello?

"...[S]tuart Trew, of the Council of Canadians, saw the video and spoke with people who were there. "You'll hear them [the real "black flag anarchist" protestors from Quebec] screaming 'Policier, policier!' [police]. Eventually Coles looks the guy in the eyes and says 'You're a police officer'."

As Trew said, "They slip behind and start nudging the police line, you can't see if they're saying anything because of their bandanas, the police let them through eventually and take them down to the ground, and appear to arrest them." Trew points out that two agitators had matching bandanas and that there was "a substantial size difference, and what looks likes an age difference" from other anarchist protestors, but admits it is almost impossible to prove they were police officers.

The protest legal aid committee, however, received no report from authorities of their arrests, lending further credence to allegations the two were not genuine protestors. "Yes, these were definitely agent provocateurs, cops, and legal folks have no record of these supposed arrests," said Peoples Global Action (PGA) spokesperson John Hollingsworth at the Indie Media Centre.

By minimizing the significance, seriousness and size of the protest movement against his meeting with George W. Bush and Felipe Calderon, Stephen Harper is attempting to manage the messages coming from his summit. Whether he succeeds depends on which spectacle is seen as sadder: the protests - or the Prime Minister holding secret meetings about subsuming the Canadian military, Canadian energy, and important Canadian laws to the dictates of the US."