Thank you.
Good afternoon. Before starting, I would like to thank my parents, my grandmother and my friends who are here today for their support. They have been supporting me from the start and they are supporting me in this proceeding.
My name is Jacinthe Poisson and I am 21 years old. I am studying international relations and international law at the Université du Québec à Montréal. Until June 27, 2010, I was a student engaged in my community, working in the summer as a facilitator in a disadvantaged environment.
Thank you for inviting me here today, and I would ask you to listen to me carefully because my experience at the G20 really traumatized me. It changed my life and my perception of my country. I'm here today to testify on my own behalf and that of my sister Maryse Poisson, who is seated at the back, with whom I went to demonstrate at the G20 and who experienced somewhat the situation as I did.
Both of us were arrested in our sleep the day after the demonstration, detained for 57 hours in horrible conditions and charged for nearly four months with conspiracy to damage property over $5,000 following the G20 demonstrations.
I went to the G20 in Toronto to attend my first international summit and to express my opposition to the Canadian government's current international positions. So I spent Saturday, June 26, demonstrating peacefully with more than 30,000 persons. That evening, I slept in the University of Toronto gymnasium, which had been made available by the graduate student association, with some 100 Quebeckers from Montreal who had come to demonstrate.
From that point on, my story is the same as those of hundreds of demonstrators who came from Quebec, who were arrested with me and who experienced the same things as I did.
First, around nine o'clock Sunday morning, tens of police officers entered the University of Toronto gymnasium heavily armed, aggressively shouting to us not to move and pointing their weapons at us. A francophone police officer informed us that we were being charged with participating in a riot. No arrest warrant was presented to us, and I was unable to move, get up, change clothing or go to the bathroom until 2:00 p.m. Police officers circled round us with their rubber bullet rifles. So I was unable to go to the bathroom for approximately six hours.
All my property was seized when I was arrested. The police officer removed my glasses because, he said, I might injure myself if I kept them on in the patrol wagon. I am very nearsighted and get serious headaches without my glasses. So while I was detained, and even after asking a number of officers to give them back to me, I was never able to recover them. That lasted three days. So I was unable to see the badges of the other police officers or the faces around me; it was quite destabilizing. So my sister and I were taken to a temporary detention centre that had been set up for G20 demonstrators. We were separated for most of the detention period.
Now I'm going to tell you about the detention conditions, which in my opinion were humiliating, dehumanizing and cruel—and I'm choosing my words here. I spent 57 hours cold, hungry and afraid. There were 15 to 25 of us detainees per cell measuring approximately four by seven metres. So three of the four individuals could sit down on a small bench; the others all had to sleep on the floor, which I found was freezing cold. During the first half of my detention, I was allowed only a short-sleeved shirt to warm me. The air conditioning was really very high, which prevented me from sleeping. Since we had no beds, we had to sleep on the floor, lying against one another in order to generate a little warmth. The light was really very bright and was on around the clock. So it was not turned off during the night. I got very little sleep.
From the time of our arrest, we had access to no food or water for eight hours. Then we were given a cheese and margarine sandwich roughly every eight hours and a glass of water every five hours. My hands were handcuffed for more than 15 hours, and my sister's for more than 20 hours, whereas we were in cages and presented little danger. We had to go to the bathroom in the cell, in a chemical toilet that had no door. The other detainees, as well as the police officers who passed in front of and around the cages, could see us at all times. None of the girls had access to their contraceptives, and most therefore got their periods. We had to beg for sanitary napkins, which came one by one after a long waiting period. Since no disposals was provided for, we had to leave them on the floor. I don't think I need to tell you that hygiene was really an issue for the women while we were detained.
A number of individuals did not have access to essential medication. In the first cage where I was, one woman asked for her anti-depressants at noon and did not get them until late that night, despite making tens of requests to police officers. In my sister Maryse's cell, one woman was borderline psychotic and told the police officers so when she was arrested. All the detainees in the cell demanded her medication starting early in the afternoon, but the police officers waited until she had a serious episode before dealing with the matter and ultimately taking her to hospital, with her hands and feet cuffed, of course.
She was never able to see a francophone nurse. This aspect is very important because, being a unilingual francophone, she could not say exactly what her illness was. The nurse took her blood pressure, told her that she was suffering from nothing and sent her back to her cage. Another detainee in my sister's cage was suffering from a mental illness, but, since she did not go into crisis, she did not have access to her medication for three days.
Another very important point is that, during my 60 hours of detention, I had to undergo two strip searches, which was very humiliating. The first occurred approximately 10 hours after I was arrested. In my sister's case, it was some 20 hours after her arrest. The second search was conducted at the Vanier Centre for Women, where we were transferred after more than 40 hours in detention.
So I had to completely undress before two female police officers, who seized my bra and shoes. During the second search, there was no door, and a male guard was able to see us. I was asked to turn around, bend over and expose my genitals to the hall. In addition, the insults and discriminatory comments were hurtful and degrading, particularly toward francophones and women. My sister was called a “fucking Frenchy” and an anarchist. One police officer told all the girls in the cell that he thought we were nothing more than animals. One female police officer repeated to me several times that she was my “babysitter”, treating me in a condescending manner as though I were a child.
The last officer who accompanied my sister and me to the court exit told us: “You should have committed your crimes in Quebec.” A number of times, in different places, police officers told us that martial law was in effect and that we no longer had any rights. I think some questions must be raised about the instructions the police officers were given. They seemed to believe they were entitled to do what they were doing.
During those three days when I felt like an animal in a cage, I was always given the impression that I was a criminal. I never felt there was a presumption of innocence, which should nevertheless be the basis of our criminal system. And the discrimination wasn't just verbal. As francophones, we were not given access to the same services. Throughout my detention, I encountered no officers who spoke French. I was told that, if I asked to appear in French, I would have to stay in detention longer. One woman who was with me in the cell was from France. She was visiting here and spoke no English. She was unable to see a lawyer who spoke French until about 50 hours later. I sensed that I was being discriminated against on the basis of my language.
About 40 hours later, we were transferred to the district court, where we were told that, since the judge was tired, we would not be able to appear that day. At 4:00 a.m., the police officers transferred us to a women's prison, the Vanier Centre for Women. In that prison, we were interrogated and strip searched again. We underwent medical tests and had to go back without even being able to sleep, which meant a second sleepless night for us.
Back in court the next day, I was finally able to appear before the judge, and that is where I finally learned that I was charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. At the time of my arrest, we had all been accused of participating in a riot, but it was not until the appearance that I learned my new charge. I had to post bail of $1,000. I was ultimately able to leave, but on very harsh release conditions. I was threatened with being returned to a cell if I took the time to read the document concerning my bail. I was therefore unable to read my release conditions before being released. This is something that very much troubled me.
When I was released from my cell, my personal belongings had been lost. I no longer had any I.D. papers, money, clothing or glasses. It took about a month and a lot of pressure before I was able to recover them. My sister's cellular telephone, black coat and black clothing were confiscated from her, and she still has not recovered them. They are still there four months later.
I had to go four months with a charge of conspiracy to damage property over $5,000 over my head. Fortunately, that charge was dropped not very long ago, on October 14.
I want to become a lawyer. And I was afraid for months that I would not be able to enter the profession I want to practise. Being subjected to serious criminal charges for demonstrating in a peaceful manner is completely unjust, in my view, but the permanent stress especially was very hard to live with over those four months.
Now, if you try to put yourself in my shoes, I will tell you that I felt humiliated, traumatized and stripped of my dignity, simply for exercising the right to express my political opinions in a peaceful manner, which I believe is a constitutional right. I sensed that they violated my rights by arresting me, by arbitrarily detaining me, by subjecting me to clearly abusive searches, by violating my dignity and, I believe, by discriminating against francophone citizens.
I sensed that they simply wanted to discourage me from demonstrating, to shut me up, to prevent me from expressing my ideas and to deter me from demonstrating in future. It's quite unfortunate, but I have now lost the trust I had in my country's democratic values and in its commitment to respect for individual freedoms.
In conclusion, don't forget that 1,100 persons experienced a situation similar to mine. So I've just painted you a picture that represents 1,100 individuals. My specific story is the same as that of nearly 100 individuals arrested in the gymnasium. As a citizen who considers that her rights have been interfered with, I hope for—and I really want—an independent investigation to be conducted to shed light on the G20 incidents.
Thank you very much for holding this parliamentary committee meeting, but I would like much more to be done, and I also hope it will be.
In conclusion, I would like to tell you that Quebec rights advocacy organizations have gathered and compiled some 30 testimonials from individuals who were arrested. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights deemed the reported facts serious enough to hold a meeting, which is quite exceptional.
I attended that hearing in Washington on Monday, October 25, and I saw commissioners who were outraged by this situation and who called for the Canadian government to account for itself.
In my view, the situation is historically serious and Canada has a responsibility to conduct an independent public investigation. As one of the 1,100 unjustly arrested individuals, I believe this is the only valid option.
That is my testimony. If you have any questions, I will be pleased to answer them.
