Madam Speaker, unfortunately I think my colleague from Vancouver Kingsway is engaging in some historical revisionism by suggesting that all of the protest was peaceful at the G8 and G20 summits. That certainly was not the case. In fact, any Canadian who was watching television at the time knows there was violence to the extent of that there were some firebombs and numerous stores were vandalized.
Yes, it is true that there were some individuals there who wanted to protest peacefully. There were others who were simply intent on rioting and causing a disturbance.
It is up to the courts to determine whether the charter applies. I would not be surprised if some of those who were protesting in fact were intending to do it peacefully. We know there were others who were extremely violent.
Rather than engaging in the details of these specific arrests, because those issues are before the courts right now, what I want to do is encourage the member to understand that the charter is an instrument of balance. It is about protecting individual rights and balancing those against the right of the state to protect its citizens. It is all about balance.