Public Safety Committee on Oct. 27th, 2010

[Nathalie Des Rosiers]

Yes, certainly. I think several of our own monitors were searched. The searches were done during the week, throughout the week, I think, and were far removed from around the fence. There were people being detained, people being searched. I did my own tour as part of the monitoring schedule, and I saw someone being stopped and searched by nine police officers.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Did any of your observers hear any reports of people having their goods or property illegally seized?

[Nathalie Des Rosiers]

I think we saw some property being removed from bags. Police officers seemed to believe that they were obeying orders or that they had the right to do it. We've documented not only what was happening but what was said, because it seemed to us that there was a fundamental problem of understanding the law during that time.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

My understanding of Canadians' rights when they are arrested is that they are to be given the right to contact counsel and to instruct counsel without undue delay. Did you hear any reports of Canadians who were arrested who claimed that they were denied their right to counsel within an appropriate amount of time?

[Nathalie Des Rosiers]

Our own monitors were denied the right to counsel when they went to the detention centre. We had someone trying to reach them, a lawyer, and I was trying to reach them through the night, and it was not to be so.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

You've quoted the Hughes report. It's interesting that the Minister of Public Safety came to this committee on Monday and also quoted the Hughes report. You quoted Mr. Hughes' conclusion that part of the state's obligation is to facilitate a number of the constitutional rights of Canadians.

In your opinion, based on what your 50 observers saw at Toronto this summer, did the police facilitate peaceful assembly?

[Nathalie Des Rosiers]

Certainly we recognize that it was a difficult job, but in our view, the incidents we saw reached a threshold that was higher than what we should expect. They were certainly not in compliance with the Canadian Constitution.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

On August 23, your organization wrote to Minister Toews requesting his attention in a number of areas concerning summit security. You offered to meet with him to discuss your recommendations. Have you received any response from the minister?

[Nathalie Des Rosiers]

No, we have not.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Have you been contacted by any government officials, cabinet ministers, or government MPs regarding any of your documented observations on summit security and your clear conclusion, if I may say, that the constitutional rights of Canadians were apparently violated on a mass scale?

[Nathalie Des Rosiers]

Yes. Justice Minister Rob Nicholson wrote back to us to acknowledge receipt of our report and indicated that the matter had been referred to Minister Toews. We have received some indications from the Auditor General, to whom we provided our report as well, that acknowledged our report. We also sent our report to CSIS and the RCMP, and this morning I was called by SIRC to acknowledge receipt of our report.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

So other than acknowledging receipt of the report you sent, has anybody contacted you to get your—

[Nathalie Des Rosiers]

Not from the federal government.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

I'd like to address some questions to the two witnesses from Quebec.

I had two young men from British Columbia who came to see me from the University of British Columbia in Kelowna. They told me they were sleeping in the University of Toronto's gymnasium—and I'm wondering if it's the same place—when they were awakened early in the morning with police coming in with guns drawn. They were kicked in the ribs, and it was announced that everyone in the gymnasium—somewhere between 70 and 100 people—was mass arrested for conspiracy to commit an unlawful act. Were you in that gymnasium?

[Jacinthe Poisson]

Yes, it was the same gymnasium. We were both arrested and everyone was charged with unlawful assembly at first and, at the hearing, with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and with time, with damage to property over $5,000. Everyone. That represented nearly 100 Quebeckers.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

And can you tell me, what is the status of those charges?

[Jacinthe Poisson]

At this time, they have all been dropped. On October 14, all the charges against the accused from the gymnasium were dropped. We're talking about nearly 100 charges.

[Wissam Mansour]

My charges were dropped the day of the arrest. I am the only one, by the way, to whom that—

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Thank you.

The government uses the phrase over and over again that these were “thugs and hooligans” in Toronto. I must tell you that the people I've seen are young university students and people who wanted to peacefully protest. What's your observation? Were you “thugs and hooligans”? And were the people in that gym “thugs and hooligans”, the 70 or 100 people who you saw? What was your firsthand experience?

[Wissam Mansour]

They were the nicest people I've met. It's like we were a family. Everybody was very helpful to each other. No, I don't accept that.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Did you see anybody commit an act in that gymnasium...or was there any discussion from any of you to commit an act of violence or property damage?

[Wissam Mansour]

Not at all. None.

[Jacinthe Poisson]

We specified between us that we should be really careful.

Pardon me, I switched to English.

We were told that we had to be very careful, that we should commit no act or make any comment that might lead to charges. We really had to be as careful as possible not to get our colleagues in trouble. I know no one who committed any indictable offences, who intended to do so or who talked about it. The idea was to demonstrate peacefully, to express our opinions, which I believe is an essential freedom in a democracy.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Your time is up, Mr. Davies. Thank you.

We'll move to Mr. Rathgeber, please.

[Brent Rathgeber, Conservative, Edmonton—St. Albert, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to all the witnesses for your attendance here today.

Ms. Poisson, my first question is to you. I understand you're a law student at the University of Quebec in Montreal.