Politicians allow security concerns to trump democracy

Sometimes it seems our governments never learn.

In the wake of the 1997 APEC Summit in Vancouver, the federal Liberals reluctantly acknowledged that police had over-reacted and trampled on the rights of protesters.

An inquiry into the affair recommended that "at future public order events, a generous opportunity should be afforded for peaceful protesters to see and be seen."

Unfortunately, when it comes to the latest "public order event" – this month’s G-8 Summit meeting in Kananaskis – it’s clear that the lessons of Vancouver have been forgotten.

The problem became apparent months ago when the AFL joined other unions and civil society groups in an effort to organize a Solidarity Village near Kananaskis.

The idea was to create a space where activists could gather, exchange ideas and generally voice concern about the G-8 and it’s highly questionable agenda of trade liberalization at any cost. The focus was to be on education and peaceful protest.

But as our coalition went about the business of finding a piece of land for the Village, a curious thing happened. Every time we came close to signing a deal, the landowners involved suddenly had a change of heart.

Now, we can’t prove that the federal government was directly involved in discouraging people from cooperating with Solidarity Village organizers.

But we do know that most of the individuals and groups we talked to ended up getting "special visits" from the RCMP. We also know that the Stoney Nation was given $300,000 dollars by the federal government shortly after walking away from a tentative contract negotiated with Village organizers.

At the same time, the federal and provincial Parks departments were telling us we couldn’t use public parks in the Kananaskis area. Try you’re luck with private landowners, they suggested (!)

Not to be outdone by his federal cousins, Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier, declared City parks off-limits for Solidarity Village as well. The mayor, who obviously takes his nickname "Mayor Broncho" a little too seriously, went so far as to threaten to arrest protesters who dare gather in city parks during the Summit.

The message from all levels of government has been crystal clear: protesters are not welcome in Alberta during the Summit.

All of this should be deeply troubling to Canadians who cherish the notion that we live in a healthy and tolerant democracy.

If we really want to call ourselves a democracy, then we have to defend the right of citizens to hold opinions that may fall outside the mainstream. And we have to defend their right to speak and assemble freely.

In their rush to erect a cone of comfortable silence around visiting dignitaries, our leaders have allowed questionable security concerns to trump civil liberties. While flexing their muscles to score political points, they have trampled on the rights enshrined in our constitution. And most importantly, our politicians (from Jean Chretein to Mayor "Broncho") have ignored the fact that democracy can only be stretched so much before it is broken.