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Mr. Michael Ignatieff
Liberal Party of Canada
81 Metcalfe Street, Suite 400
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 6M8
As you are certainly aware, there were many incidents that occurred during the G20 weekend in Toronto, June 26-27, 2010. Both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty have refused to call an inquiry into actions taken by their offices, hoping that this situation will just fade away. It will not. Too many Canadians are dismayed and angered at what took place in Toronto that weekend.
I am very surprised that the opposition has remained silent, particularly since you served as Director of the Carr Centre for Human Rights at Harvard University. You have not made any statements about the G20 weekend that I am aware of; in fact the last mention of G20 on the Liberal party website was on June 4, 2010. We ask you to explain your position on these proceedings.
Please do not take the stance that police response was necessary due to actions of the ‘Black Bloc’; we want to know why 19,000 police were ordered to stand down while 100 hooligans broke windows; we also want to know why subsequently hundreds of innocent citizens were brutally assaulted, arrested and detained, many without charges being laid. We also want to know why more than $1 billion dollars of taxpayer money was spent for this weekend.
Please make public your position on the request for a federal inquiry into the actions and strategies of the Integrated Police Services along with investigation into the choices made by the Prime Minister’s Office and the Liberal Party of Ontario. If you wish to be our leader, now is the time to show leadership.
Sincerely,
Glenn Coles, Toronto
PS: This open letter has also been posted to the facebook group ‘Canadians Demanding a Public Inquiry into Toronto G20’ with over 56,000 members. We await your response.
CC:
Mr. Stephen Harper, Conservative Party of Canada, #1204 - 130 Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 5G4
Mr. Dalton McGuinty, The Ontario Liberal Party, 10 St. Mary Street, Suite 210, Toronto, ON, M4Y 1P9
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http://www.liberal.ca/newsroom/news-release/liberals-call-for-minister-toews-to-come-before-committee-to-explain-g20-fiasco/
ReplyDeleteThis Liberal letter (of July 8) calls for Minister Toews to explain himself. The letter states: "civil rights groups are calling for an independent inquiry".
There is no official position on the Liberal website about whether or not there is even a need for a public inquiry.
Here is a copy of the letter I received from Iggy's office:
ReplyDeleteSir/Madam
On behalf of Michael Ignatieff, I would like to acknowledge receipt of your recent email regarding the G8 and G20 summits.
G20 leaders left Toronto with only a vague consensus on future directions, putting off decisions on the most pressing issues until the Seoul Summit in November for a more productive agreement, and leaving Canadians to question the value they got for $1.3 billion spent on two summits.
While summits like these are and will remain important, the lasting impression of Canada’s summits under Stephen Harper is improvisation, poor security planning, wasteful spending and generally a missed opportunity for Canada to make a significant mark on the world.
Mr. Harper is squarely to blame for the decision to hold the G20 in downtown Toronto – a decision that led to exorbitant costs and a nearly impossible security situation for police.
In the aftermath of these summits, Auditor General Sheila Fraser should conduct a broad review of all $1.3 billion in G8/G20 spending – much of which was indefensible waste.
Following the violence and large number of arrests on the streets of Toronto, the Liberal Party also supports a review of the Conservative government’s mismanagement of security preparations and the decisions that led the G20 to be held in downtown Toronto.
Canadians can clearly see the fallout of Stephen Harper’s poor judgment – both in terms of the wasteful costs of the summit and in terms of the destruction on the streets.
Thank you for taking the time to write to the Leader of the Opposition.
Yours sincerely,
The Office of Michael Ignatieff, M.P.
Leader of the Official Opposition
This response is virtually no response. It links the arrests and violence in the same sentence which is the same view as the police and Conservatives have been trying to promote. I was essentially disgusted by this absolutely craven response. I told them so but received no answer to that. Maybe the more public demands that people are making will have some effect. I didn't have much use for the Liberals before and have even less now. Totally lacking in leadership, overly cautious and trying to maneuver for political gain when they should be shouting from the rooftops with the rest of us. They do not have the excuse of the general public i.e. ignorance of the facts.
Today I received the same form letter; my response:
ReplyDeleteThank you for responding, however this form letter does not answer the serious questions asked in my original letter. We want Michael to do more than support a review, we want him to demand it. As leader of the opposition it is his duty to question what went on.
I am also disturbed by mention of 'destruction in the streets'. The real questions are why 19,000 police were ordered to stand down while 100 hooligans broke windows ('destruction' was staged, we have video proof) and why hundred of innocent people were brutally assaulted by police, so far without any repercussions.
This situation will not go away; if Michael wishes to be leader it is time to step up and challenge status quo.
Please ensure that Michael is aware of these comments.