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Really freaking important note about your rights during the G20 Public Works Protection Act, there has always been an exception for people who go on railroads, gasworks, waterworks, electrical generation power works, or other "public works" as defined in



The rule, in a public work, is that you have to "comply with a request or direction" made by a "guard" who has been designated under the Act. This includes a request to provide identification or leave the area. If you don't, you will be subject to a fine of up to $500 or up to two months in prison.



Well the bloody government has gone and designated a big chunk of downtown Toronto as a public work for the next three days!



From now until June 28th, if you refuse to provide identification while you're in the zone, or refuse to "comply with a request or direction" made by a guard under the Public Works Protection Act, then you can go to jail for up to two months and be liable to a fine of up to $500.



I am so angry I cannot begin to explain it. Those buggers have passed a new regulation with penal consequences without bloody well publishing it in the Ontario Gazette. They're planning to publish it NEXT WEEK after it bloody well expires. I am furious.



The whole theory behind the rule that "ignorance of the law is no excuse" is that the laws are out there, published, and you're supposed to keep up with the ones that apply to you.





I'm not even sure this regulation is constitutional. But it's currently in effect, and the police will be acting on it. So be aware: if you're in the following area, you have to do what the nice officers say, or they can haul you away and put you in a cage



I'm having some difficulty interpreting exactly what the new regulation means, so you may want to look at it yourself.



The regulation says that the new rule applies to any "public works" (as described in section 1(a) of the Act) including all sidewalks within the following area: Beginning at the curb at the southeast corner of Blue Jays Way and Front Street West;

then north to the centre of Front Street West;

then east along the centre of Front Street West to the east curb of Windsor Street;

then north along the east curb of Windsor Street to the centre of Wellington Street;

then east along the centre of Wellington Street to the centre of Bay Street;

then south along the centre of Bay Street to a point directly opposite the north wall of Union Station;

then west along the exterior of the north wall of Union Station to the centre of York Street;

then south along the centre of York Street, continuing east of the abutments under the railway overpass, and continuing south along the centre of York Street to the centre of Bremner Boulevard;

then west along the centre of Bremner Boulevard to the east curb of Lower Simcoe Street;

then south along the east curb of Lower Simcoe Street to the north curb of Lake Shore Boulevard West;

then west along the north curb of Lake Shore Boulevard West to the south end of the walkway that is located immediately west of the John Street Pumping Station and runs between Lake Shore Boulevard West and the bus parking lot of the Rogers Centre;

then north along the west edge of that walkway to the bus parking lot of the Rogers Centre;

then west along the south edge of the bus parking lot of the Rogers Centre to the west edge of the driveway running between the parking lot and Bremner Boulevard;

then north along the west edge of that driveway to the north curb of Bremner Boulevard;

then west along the north curb of Bremner Boulevard to the east curb of Navy Wharf Court;

then north along the east curb of Navy Wharf Court to the southwest point of the building known as 73 Navy Wharf Court;

then east along the exterior of the south wall of that building;

then north along the exterior of the east wall of that building to the curb of Blue Jays Way;

then north along the east curb of Blue Jays Way to the curb at the southeast corner of Blue Jays Way and Front Street West.



And, in addition to this, the new regulation defines the following as public works:



The area, within the area described in Schedule 1, that is within five metres of a line drawn as follows: Beginning at the south end of the walkway that is located immediately west of the John Street Pumping Station and runs between Lake Shore Boulevard West and the bus parking lot of the Rogers Centre;

then north along the west edge of that walkway to the bus parking lot of the Rogers Centre;

then west along the south edge of the bus parking lot of the Rogers Centre to the west edge of the driveway running between the parking lot and Bremner Boulevard;

then north along the west edge of that driveway and ending at Bremner Boulevard. The area, within the area described in Schedule 1, that is within five metres of a line drawn as follows: Beginning at the southwest point of the building known as 73 Navy Wharf Court;

then east along the exterior of the south wall of that building;

then north along the exterior of the east wall of that building and ending at the curb of Blue Jays Way. The below-grade driveway located between Union Station and Front Street West and running between Bay Street and York Street in the City of Toronto.



comments on the There arecomments on the Dreamwidth version of this post . You can comment there using OpenID. Okay, so you know that the usual rule is that the police can't just stop you on the street and ask you to provide identification or explain what you're doing? Well, under the Ontario, there has always been an exception for people who go on railroads, gasworks, waterworks, electrical generation power works, or other "public works" as defined in the Act The rule, in a public work, is that you have to "comply with a request or direction" made by a "guard" who has been designated under the Act. This includes a request to provide identification or leave the area. If you don't, you will be subject to a fine of up to $500 or up to two months in prison.Well the bloody government has gone and designated a big chunk of downtown Toronto as a public work for the next three days!I am so angry I cannot begin to explain it. Those buggers have passed a new regulation with penal consequences without bloody well publishing it in the Ontario Gazette. They're planning to publish it NEXT WEEK after it bloody well expires. I am furious.The whole theory behind the rule that "ignorance of the law is no excuse" is that the laws are out there, published, and you're supposed to keep up with the ones that apply to you.I'm not even sure this regulation is constitutional. But it's currently in effect, and the police will be acting on it. I'm having some difficulty interpreting exactly what the new regulation means, so you may want to look at it yourself. Here it is. (This is the cached google html version but you can also download the file here .)The regulation says that the new rule applies to any "public works" (as described in section 1(a) of the Act)within the following area:And, in addition to this, the new regulation defines the following as public works: From: allyra Date: June 25th, 2010 02:36 pm (UTC) (Link) Whoa, WTH! How did our nutty governmental processes get up there to your much saner country?! Y'all better do something about that cross-border contamination.... From: halfwitted Date: June 25th, 2010 02:46 pm (UTC) (Link) May I share this link publically? From: mycrazyhair Date: June 25th, 2010 02:48 pm (UTC) (Link) Absolutely. I virtually always lock down my posts, but made this one public because I think it's important to share this info far and wide. From: halfwitted Date: June 25th, 2010 03:00 pm (UTC) (Link) Twitter/booked. From: much_ado Date: June 25th, 2010 03:24 pm (UTC) (Link) I've also signal-boosted via FB. From: thornleaf Date: June 25th, 2010 02:48 pm (UTC) (Link) I just saw on the news that this was passed on June 2. Bill Blair is actually claiming that it was all done publicly and according to procedure.



Except that, y'know, nobody heard about it until AFTER the first person was detained.



Ridiculous. From: captrenault Date: June 25th, 2010 03:32 pm (UTC) (Link) Declaring downtown Toronto as a temporary 'Public Works' is actually a fairly crafty move. It won't stand the first court challenge, but that's months away...



I maintain, however, that if the aim of a measure is security, and public compliance with that security measure, then it only makes sense to have the public aware of those measures and the expectations made of them.



A secret law does not have as its aim compliance with that law, but something else instead. From: captrenault Date: June 25th, 2010 03:51 pm (UTC) (Link) Not to mention that the cops had these tools available to them already under the ordinary Criminal Code, and if they really needed something more than that, they could have made a declaration under the federal Emergencies Act. That's what the damn thing is for.



Makes much more sense than abusing a law intended to bust graffiti artists tagging highway overpasses or kids messing with train track signals, but whatever.



Just another shiny new toy for the cops for the conference. From: captrenault Date: June 25th, 2010 04:01 pm (UTC) (Link) Actually -- 'court challenge'? What the hell am I talking about?



If they're smart, they'll drop all the charges made under the Public Works Act after this weekend, so the legality of this move is never tested, and no-one will have egg on their face for trying it.



The more serious cases they can go forward with using the Crim Code, the pesky protest minnows will have been cleared out of the way for the duration, and the organizers' aims will be satisfied anyway.



Heh. From: thingo Date: June 25th, 2010 04:19 pm (UTC) (Link) I assume that a determined person who got arrested could still file suit and challenge the legality of the process, even if the charges were dropped. From: lightcastle Date: June 25th, 2010 05:22 pm (UTC) (Link) Sounds about right. (Although I agree with thingo) From: (Anonymous) Date: June 25th, 2010 09:47 pm (UTC) (Link) "The regulation also says that if someone has a dispute with an officer and it goes to court "the police officer's statement under oath is considered conclusive evidence under the Act.""



So much for fighting an arrest in court.



http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/06/25/g20-new-powers.html

From: captrenault Date: June 25th, 2010 10:18 pm (UTC) (Link) Oh, well, as long as it's fair... From: amazon_syren Date: June 25th, 2010 04:45 pm (UTC) (Link) Putting this on facebook.

Thank you! From: littlehoudini Date: June 25th, 2010 05:59 pm (UTC) (Link) One of the big issues I see with all the expense and security arrangements for this G20 summit is on Monday, when it's all over and there have been no serious issues (assuming there are no serious issues) the police/security arrangers/powers that be will declare, "See? Good thing we did all that - we scared away / quashed any problems by our show or strength. Money well spent, clearly worth the trouble.

From: poeticalpanther Date: June 25th, 2010 07:54 pm (UTC) (Link) Also known as the "North American Keeping The Elephants Away" dance. From: littlehoudini Date: June 25th, 2010 08:28 pm (UTC) (Link)



http://community.livejournal.com/toronto/9036587.html



...but many people did not agree.

See, that's pretty much exactly what I said here:...but many people did not agree. From: poeticalpanther Date: June 25th, 2010 08:41 pm (UTC) (Link) = why I avoid such fora, or at most watch them, rather than joining or commenting. :/



Funny that we made the very same analogy, though. I've been saying much the same thing about the "Airport Security" ritual dance, too, especially since it went barefoot. From: horsetraveller Date: June 25th, 2010 08:53 pm (UTC) (Link) barefoot, ha ha

From: littlehoudini Date: June 25th, 2010 09:52 pm (UTC) (Link) I agree about airport security theatre as well, but at least in that case generally people make a choice to fly (eg, vacation) and knowing the security hassle is part of the choice, as opposed to people who bought a condo in downtown T.O. years ago never dreaming their life would be interrupted this way.



And also, airport security isn't nearly this expensive...

From: poeticalpanther Date: June 25th, 2010 10:04 pm (UTC) (Link) Generally agreed, save for the expensive part: given the expected utility in either case (damn near zero), the denominator's always going to look bad. From: tamago23 Date: June 25th, 2010 06:24 pm (UTC) (Link) Boosting as well. This is serious WTF. From: indigofire_net Date: June 25th, 2010 08:26 pm (UTC) (Link) Thank you very, very much for posting this. I'll be sharing it with friends and family - as much for their own good as the outrage! From: freya46 Date: June 26th, 2010 04:19 am (UTC) (Link) I know who their advisor is... GWB. Sounds familiar. From: canadapbear Date: June 26th, 2010 10:23 pm (UTC) (Link) hmmm makes me glad that I'm not working Security at the event like I was suppossed to. (Deleted comment)