(ACTIVIST) MAN BITES DOG (POLICE)

Every once in a while the saying "every dog has his day" comes true. In this case no disrespect is meant to activist Julian Ichim in referring to him as the dog having his day. Today's Waterloo Region Record advises us that Julian is suing both the Crown and the Police for their behaviour prior to the G20 conference in June 2010. The title of the record story is "Julian Ichim plans $4-million lawsuit against police and Crown". It is my understanding of the situation that police behaviour in Canada prior and during the G20 was far more suitable to a third world country ruled by the likes of a Ghaddafi or a Hussein. Nevertheless while I applaud Mr. Ichim's initiative in suing, I do hope that he has both an excellent lawyer and some financial support for this undertaking. To my mind Mr. Ichim is the canary in the coalmine. As he is treated for his political outspokeness, should be the same as all Canadian citizens are treated. Unfortunately it appears that there is a huge double standard ongoing. Our police and apparently Crown seem to feel that it's O.K. to abuse and mistreat certain Canadian citizens. Unsurprisingly those citizens would be the marginalized, the poor and the very loud. This is not O.K. and I'm hoping that Mr. Ichim's lawsuit is a wakeup call to our authorities.

Interestingly all charges relating to the G20 conference against Mr. Ichim were dropped. His alleged treatment by the authorities both before and during custody however were reprehensible . The fact that he has since been charged in connection with his Blog (Julian Ichim) certainly appears as nothing more than pettiness and personal attack by the Crown and clearly demonstrates the lack of power citizens have, compared to the state. It also demonstrates that citizens are always accountable and our authorities rarely are.