This rant was originally uploaded on May 19, 2008.
In other news, it was reported yesterday that the Ontario Provincial Police has been continuing to impersonate reporters, in undercover operations. This is despite the fact that many journalists and their associations have demanded that this cease, due to the added danger it puts real journalists in (especially in hot spots like the locations of the various Indian land occupations).
In addition to that, I have a hard time understanding why, of all the legitimate disguises the police would use, they would pick journalists. We're talking about people whose job is to MAKE FACTS PUBLIC, no matter what they may be -- does the O.P.P. honestly think (or expect us to believe) that criminals would be more open to a frigging video camera than they would be to a cop in uniform??
What bothers me even more, though, is the political/PR damage this does; the OPP doesn't have a great reputation for serving the public trust anyway (eg. letting people get assaulted in Caledonia, illegally wiretapping the homes and phones of anyone they want, threatening to kill a protestor just for blocking a road, racist and authoritarian hiring/discipline polcies, etc.)... and this tactic reminds me of how Quebec's provincial police posed as protestors a year or two ago, solely to incite a riot and make the genuine protestors look bad.
Considering that all of this is sanctioned by our government, we are all in really big trouble. This is the kind of shit you hear about in banana republics, not a supposed democracy -- so why don't we see a coup??
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