Pinto Pony Productions, a small Toronto video production house specializing in non-invasive filming techniques, took to the streets of Toronto this weekend and shot the best roundup of demonstrator-vs.-police violence I could find on YouTube. The protesters did not impress the filmmakers. The Harper Government made a serious miscalculation with its absurd expenditure on security for the G8/G20. Halifax did a G8 nine years ago for $27 million, and Pittsburg did a G20 last year for $95 million [see correction below]. Harper spent ten times that amount: $12 million an hour over the three days; three times what security for any international leaders'...

27 June, 2010

A Toronto police officer enters a defunct film studio lot that has been fortified for use as a detention center for protesters arrested during next week's G8 and G20 summit meetings. The temporary jail stretches along a lengthy portion of Eastern Ave. in Toronto's Leslieville neighborhood. Satellite imagery shows the dormant film studio between Eastern Ave. and Lake Shore Blvd., before its conversion into a summit detention center. Security officials will not confirm that the newly fortified and heavily policed compound will serve as a temporary jail, but the taking of these photos Saturday attracted polite but persistent questioning...

19 June, 2010

Workers install security fencing near the CBC building on Front Street in Toronto in preparation for next week's G8 and G20 summits. This is not the perimeter fence, but one of a series of internal fences that will form - take your pick - an obstacle course, security sub-zones, or guides to assist in herding any demonstrators who may penetrate the outer perimeter. The National Post has a graphic depicting the scale of the $1.2 billion security lockdown to be enforced by 7,100 police and para-police. Facilities to be closed during the weekend include the Rogers Centre, the Princess of Wales Theatre,...

19 June, 2010