Provocative Plea

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - June 17, 2010) - The President of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) stands by his call for assurance that police and other private security personnel contracted to provide security during the G20 summit will not use agents-provocateurs during the G20 protests planned for next week, including the labour-led rally and march on June 26.

"These concerns are far from 'groundless,' as suggested by Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack," said Sid Ryan, President of the OFL. "The fact is there have been numerous documented cases of police infiltration of demonstrations at protests around the world, including Canada."

"We are planning a peaceful, family-friendly demonstration. Our job would be much easier if we knew that we won't be dealing with agents-provocateurs as we saw during the Montebello protest against the Security and Prosperity Partnership," said Ryan. "We call on the Prime Minister of Canada to assure us that such tactics will not be used during the G20."

"I am very concerned that there could be political pressure from the federal Conservative government to use police to provoke a situation that will lead to arrests—purely to justify the enormous security costs of the G20 Summit," said Ryan. "And frankly, that should be a concern for the police union as well."

Flashback: Montebello 2007

Flashback Quebec 2009: Quebec civil rights activist uses access to information request to see internal Sûreté documents directly referring to 'provocateurs'.