The G20 summit hasn’t happened yet, but already issues stemming from it have hit the courts.
Last week, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, along with the Canadian Labour Congress, said they’re seeking a court injunction against the use of so-called sonic cannons during this week’s event.
The long-range acoustic devices, purchased by Toronto police for the summit, can emit a sometimes-painful ear-piercing beam of sound at close range. As the cannons haven’t gone through the provincial regulatory process for approval as a weapon, officials should hold off on using them, the CCLA maintains.
When a similar issue arose in Vancouver last year ahead of the Olympic Games, police there said they would disable the device’s alert function to reassure those concerned that they would use it only for communication purposes to deliver messages to large crowds rather than as a weapon.
Here in Toronto, officers say their goals are the same but nevertheless note they’ll still have the option of using the tone-emitting feature in short bursts in order to let protesters know of an upcoming message, The Toronto Star reported last week.
While there are obvious concerns around the possible scope of protests during the summit, that’s the wrong move. The world will be watching events in both Toronto and Huntsville, Ont., closely next week, meaning one of the last things we need is to get a black eye for possibly hurting protesters with an unapproved weapon.
Of course, maintaining the balance between respecting freedom of expression by allowing lawful protest and protecting the public is a difficult task, but it’s one police in this country have fulfilled before without sonic cannons.
So let’s stick to traditional methods of good policing to prevent violence by following the Vancouver example of disabling the alert function. Already, we’ve seen big international events held here, notably the 1997 APEC summit in British Columbia, turn into messy legal affairs afterwards due to aggressive police tactics.
Given the controversy in this country over the introduction and increasing use of stun guns, it’s wise in this case to defuse the issue ahead of the G20.
- Glenn Kauth
