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Statement on yesterday’s events:
Yesterday, my office was appointed to represent a detained Canadian in the aftermath of a peaceful demonstration. I expected I would need no more than 30 minutes. 30 minutes turned into 15 hours
Yesterday, my office was appointed to represent a detained Canadian in the aftermath of a peaceful demonstration. I expected I would need no more than 30 minutes. 30 minutes turned into 15 hours
In the course of 12+ hours, I only spoke with my client twice: at 3:15 pm, 5 hours after I was appointed as Legal Counsel, and once closer to midnight. I submit this is a violation of Section 10b of the Charter which guarantees the right to counsel immediately and w/o delay
I worked closely with elected officials @JoshMatlow, @beyrima @chrisgovermpp @SuzeMorrison and was supported by @JILLSLASTWORD + @faisalhassanndp offsite. Police defied the calls of our elected officials and civil society to uphold the constitutional rights of their detainees.
Police dispatched a press release to the public and media at approx. 5:30 p.m. saying 2 of 3 detainees had been released, which I myself heard for the first time from a reporter. This was simply untrue. No one was released until after midnight.
At approx. 2:30 a.m., through support by orgs like @BLM_TO @letstalkjails & @notanotherblk and the community at large, the release of all 3 detainees was executed and confirmed. It is my view that overwehleming public pressure played a role.
The next court date will be on September 30th at Old City Hall Courthouse. We have to keep up public, legal and political pressure to ensure ALL charges are dropped which is a decision at the discretion of the Crown Attorney’s Office at Old City Hall.
I call for Canadian Deans, Legal Scholars and Experts to echo the leadership seen by our American legal counterparts exercising exactly this type of leadership in this climate recognizing the profound injustices faced by working class people in our judicial system
I want to end by saying I am disappointed but not surprised with Chief @marksaunderstps and Mayor @JohnTory who missed another opportunity to demonstrate leadership and stand up for their own citizens.
Canadians saw a side of Toronto they are not used to and our community had their democratic rights & freedoms eroded. It doesn’t have to be this way. There is mass suffering right now with two pandemics raging: systemic racism and Covid. The working class deserves so much better.
We need solutions that match the scale of the crisis we are facing or brace ourselves for a deep, long recession. An integral part of the solution is repurposing the police budget to allocate resources to housing, transit, employment and mental health services for all
