Liberal party hacks handed out PM Gingerbread Men to the media in Montreal on Nov. 30 Way too early this morning, at 7:15 am, I found myself at the Hilton in Montreal. Late last night we found out that Paul Martin was dropping into town for a breakfast fundraiser hosted by corporate criminals SNC Lavalin and Alcan. Given the responsibility shared by the Liberals and SNC Lavalin for the massacres in Haiti, there was an opportunity to bring some media attention to the issue.
While I must refrain from details, let’s just say that the fundraiser was disrupted in a peaceful, legal, and entirely non-violent manner, and was marked by a vibrant eruption of colour–in stark contrast to the pasty whiteness of our Prime Minister and his corporate cohorts.
As the media clamoured to get the action on tape, our friend Yves found himself groped by several RCMP officers as they dragged him out of the banquet hall, up the escalator, and out the door. The feds then tried to interrogate a few of us who were still in the vincinity, but eventually got frustrated with our stubborn refusal to waive our right to remain silent and returned to the flanks of master Martin.
Waiting outside, we saw Yves leave in the back of a squad car. While we initially thought they would just detain him for a short while and release him, we found that they have actually jailed him and charged him, and there will be a court appearence sometime tomorrow afternoon.
Within the hour, the story made headlines on at least three TV stations: CBC, CTV and RDI. While it’s not clear what they’re charging him with, I don’t believe that holding an elected official to account for their actions is yet a criminal offense. Nor is embarrasing a morally bankrupt politician, which frankly needs to be done far more often in a nation of people too polite to point out hypocracy.
I’ll post an update when we hear more about Yves’ situation. In the meanwhile, I need to head down to the UN Climate Change Conference where a unique game of street hockey is about to begin.
