Good afternoon. My name is Kirk Chavarie. I'm the external coordinator for the UBC Student's Union Okanagan, Local 3 of the Canadian Federation of Students. Currently I am pursuing a bachelor of fine arts.
My experiences in Toronto from June 26 to 29 were much the same as my colleague Grayson's. I experienced many of the same things he did. In the Eastern Avenue Detention Centre, however, we were separated, and we weren't reunited until I was released some two days later.
I want to reinforce much of what Grayson said and comment on my own experiences in the detention centre. Like Grayson, I saw people being denied basic medical care. There was a young man in my cell who repeatedly vomited on the floor and who simply lay in that afterwards, too weak to move. Despite this obvious medical emergency, he was granted no care, as the officers assigned to our cell deemed him to be fine. The cell was also not cleaned the entire time I was there, so the rest of us were forced to stand next to this puddle of vomit and, once the toilet eventually overflowed, a puddle of urine and feces.
Also, like Grayson, I witnessed systemic discrimination against francophone detainees. The officers assigned to our cell seemed to be unaware that Canada has two official languages, English and French. This ignorance prompted them to tell us that those detainees who spoke fluent English would be processed first. However, if you spoke French or if the officers deemed your English not good enough, you were sent to the back of the line.
I am told that the integrated security unit contained a detachment of the Montreal city police. Presumably these officers would have been able to process francophone inmates, but it seems they were not available to do so. Still to this day, I am not sure why.
Unlike it was for Grayson, the police made token effort to fulfill my right to a phone call, after I had begged the officers assigned to my cage for over 12 hours. I was glad that my civil rights were finally being recognized and respected, firstly because I believed them to be important, and secondly because I had promised to call my parents on a regular basis and had been unable to do so for 24 hours.
I was marched by an officer into a small room that contained a bank of phones, one of which was off the hook and being held by another officer. He told me that this was who I probably wanted to talk to. I said that I wanted to call my mother to reassure her that I was alive and well and to get her to coordinate in regard to a lawyer for me. The officer then cursed at me and ordered me to answer the phone, so I did. The person on the other line told me that she was shocked at the situation I was in and that she'd get help, and then she hung up. Apparently, the police didn't consider this to be my phone call.
This was typically the way the police treated the civil rights of detainees: as a trivial, bothersome detail to be sorted out at the officer's convenience.
I never received a phone call. I was held for over two days, processed, and released on bail without ever seeing a lawyer. For those two days, I languished in a freezing, urine-soaked cage that I wouldn't wish on a dog.
Like Grayson, I was eventually charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence--mischief over $5,000. The charges against me have been dropped, and I still have not been told what evidence the police had against me. However, this is merely a point of interest, as I know what evidence the police had against me—none. I just want to hear them admit it.
Grayson and I, until quite recently, had a great deal of faith in the Canadian government. It was my firm belief that here in Canada civil rights were sacred, and if they were violated, the government would work to make restitution. That faith has been severely damaged, perhaps forever. I now see that my civil rights are a mere inconvenience to be set aside for the benefit of a small group of visiting dignitaries.
On behalf of Grayson Lepp and me, I would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to testify today. It is my hope that this is the first step down the long road to justice for the G-20 detainees and to restoring the damage facing the Government of Canada. The next logical step is a review with full judicial powers.
Thank you.