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Thursday, December 04, 2008
BC civil liberties group and Marijuana Party leader Marc Emery say “no” to canine transit cops
Canadian cities. Police with dogs. In our cities. In Canada. We did not make this up.
Ahh, the memories.
But this time, the threat is real.
The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) says the BC transit authority, Translink, plans to introduce drug sniffing police dogs to sniff random transit users. The civil liberties group is calling the move an unjustified violation of basic rights.
“This represents a massive intrusion into the rights of transit users. Authoritarian regimes use animals to control people. We are supposed to be readying Vancouver as a showcase to the world of a peaceful and democratic country. Yet once again a security measure is being sprung on us without consultation or debate. Will anyone really believe that this proposal to engage in mass searches of the public is driven by anything other than the Olympics?” asked Rob Holmes, President of the BCCLA. “This is as bad or worse than the Victoria police stopping and screening all users of public transit on Canada Day, frisking them to check for alcohol.”
According to the BCCLA, the Supreme Court of Canada condemns these kinds of generalized searches without probable cause, and in a recent decision on the issue ruled “respect for personal privacy and autonomy” is a core Canadian value.
BC Marijuana Party leader and Cannabis Culture publisher Marc Emery also condemns the decision to introduce drug-sniffing dogs at transit stations.
"The police admit that the dogs will be used in drug sweeps and we already know that most drug arrests are for marijuana possession,” said Emery. "There is no doubt that these dogs will be used to harass harmless marijuana users. Do we really want to live in a society where trained police dogs walked about by uniformed officers can sniff your body, your child's backpack and everyone's personal effects? And for what? To counter a false public perception about crime? That isn't the Canada that I believe in."
Emery is calling on BC residents to disrupt this new drug war effort using peaceful civil disobedience. "When they tried to bring the dogs to the ferries, we asked people to spray cannabis tincture all over the ferry and terminals. I think that people need to stand up against these draconian tactics and use their imagination to do so."
This tactic could generate countless false signals indicating the presence of drugs, making the dogs an ineffective enforcement tool.
Posted by Matthew Johnston on December 4, 2008 in Current Affairs | Permalink
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Comments
For God's sakes, I don't smoke cannabis, but when I get on the Sky Train, I don't expect to be sniffed by the government.
Posted by: Christoph | 2008-12-04 2:33:57 AM
It is a gross violation of liberty. But who cares? I don't live in Vancouver and if I did I wouln't take public transit.
Many if not most of the potheads who will get busted by this are my political enemies, enemies who are trying to burden me with $30 billion in new spending and expanded hate speech provisions. These people, these NDP/Liberal/Green supporters, are getting the exact statism they have been begging for.
Tell you what. When I see a "Potheads Against Massive Government Spending And Speech Control" rally video posted on Youtube I'll consider caring. Until then, they will have to fight their own battles. Anyone remotely affiliated with the NDP can and should rot in jail. These people are the first to call us free speech advocates "Nazis" - screw em. We already spoke up for their rights and they didn't appreciate it.
Actually in light of the new coalition I think I may become anti-decrim; why help my enemies? Cracking down on drugs is a good codephrase for cracking down on statists, they are in nearly all cases one and the same.
Posted by: GG Allin | 2008-12-04 4:42:30 AM
At one point in my life this type of activity would not have bothered me. I would have said, 'if you're clean, you have nothing to worry about.'
Not so any longer. Governments, at least the ones in the US and Canada to be sure, have begun justifying nearly anything with protecting the public as the excuse. It is an invalid premise, IF we still believe that people are innocent until proven guilty.
Random sweeps of any sort violate this axiom. Unless you have evidence that I'm involved in illegality, you have no right to sniff my coat, monitor my bank deposits, or hold me at the border trying to get back into my own country. These are affronts to our dignity, and must be fought at every turn.
I should be secure in my person unless and until there is just cause to look into my activities. If we allow this sort of admittedly minor inconvenience to continue, the jackboots will follow. The terrorists will have won anyway. We will have met the enemy, and he will be us.
Posted by: Charles Martin Cosgriff | 2008-12-04 5:35:29 AM
If Canada were a person it would be a married woman.
An abusive spouse has traumatized her over the years. Sometimes, it takes courage to stand up for what is right. Either fight or flight.
Unless I am mistaken, no canine units are planned to be deployed where actual crime occurs, but that
is not the objective here? Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt.
FUD. That's American government at work. Why here?
Posted by: Karen Yung | 2008-12-04 5:52:02 AM
We won't be properly secure until we're all in handcuffs. I just hope everyone is as aware of, and angry about this pattern as I am. What a bunch of Orwellian horse shit.
Posted by: JC | 2008-12-04 6:01:57 AM
Is it possible to grind/mix some cannabis with water? How much fun could be had? First check the wind direction. You need to be down wind of the dogs and have some officers further down wind and facing away from you. Pull out your plant sprayer (set to vapour not a jet), walk behind the officers and the dogs and spray away at the officers' backsides. Now retreat to a safe distance and get your video camera ready.
Posted by: Judo Strategist | 2008-12-04 6:20:55 AM
Now retreat to a safe distance and get your video camera ready.
Posted by: Judo Strategist | 4-Dec-08 6:20:55 AM
Hilarious! I sure hope you're on our side. :)
Posted by: JC | 2008-12-04 7:52:12 AM
See what drugs do to you, kids? They make you all paranoid and ruin your relationships with other people.
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 2008-12-04 7:59:10 AM
Study all you can about nazi and communist police state tactics. You will see that our governments are using the same tactics. Assett seizure without just cause. Black clad militarized police raids conducted with no knock warrants. Guilty until proven innocent policies, like drug testing, drug dogs, etc. The we have cannabis, which is less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco being used as justification for ever increasing budgets, power and taking away our rights. Police patrolling transit points with German Shepherds trained to rip you apart on command. The push for national identity cards that must be kept on you person at all times and provided to police on demand. We need to put the brakes on this stuff now. Please, contact your elected officials and politely demand an end to the ongoing destruction of liberty, before it's too late.
Posted by: Ted Gordon | 2008-12-04 8:21:18 AM
See what drugs do to you, kids? They make you all paranoid and ruin your relationships with other people.
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 4-Dec-08 7:59:10 AM
Oh come on Zeb, you can't possibly be suggesting that its ok for Canadian cops to behave like Nazi's. That isn't paranoia, thats history repeating itself, and the implications are obvious.
The "I have nothing to hide" theory is for the frightened sheep who are afraid of the government. Its the only way they can rationalize being ok with this sort of indignity.
Have a good one. :)
Posted by: JC | 2008-12-04 8:38:13 AM
Please, contact your elected officials and politely demand an end to the ongoing destruction of liberty, before it's too late.
Posted by: Ted Gordon | 4-Dec-08 8:21:18 AM
Spot on! Good to see that people are recognizing this pattern for what it really is. Control.
And it only works by keeping you afraid...
Posted by: JC | 2008-12-04 8:41:15 AM
Alcohol and tobacco kill, addict and destroy more lives than all other drugs combined, by a mile. They're legal to use. But, morally wrong. Marijuana doesn't kill, is less addictive than caffeine (NIDA), and is far less destructive than most drugs. So, the use of marijuana is less morally wrong than alcohol or tobacco. But, marijuana is illegal. Well, the alcohol and tobacco industries have great public relations firms, lawyers, and lobbyist working for them. They make very generous contributions to just the right Congressmen. Why, they even fund Drug Free America to keep those people off their backs and pressure our government to keep marijuana illegal. Sweet little racket you guys have goin there. Hey, you in the pot industry, you're just not working inside the system. They want to welcome you with open arms. But, you have to pay if you want to play, legally. What's that you say? You want to keep marijuana illegal? It keeps up the high profit margins and you don't pay taxes. Oh, drug cartels want to keep marijuna illegal, too? All this talk about protecting this or that from marijuana is just that, talk. What people are really concerned about is protecting their jobs or livelyhood which depend on keeping pot illegal. Prohibition didn't work to keep America safe from alcohol. Which leads people to think that marijuana prohibition will ever work, how? It's about jobs, money and power. Always was, always will be. Everything else is a diversion to justify keeping the drug wars going on forever.
Posted by: Ted Gordon | 2008-12-04 9:26:00 AM
"Oh come on Zeb, you can't possibly be suggesting that its ok for Canadian cops to behave like Nazi's."
Who, besides those whose brains have been permanently mutilated by drugs, would believe such a preposterous thing?
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 2008-12-04 9:53:24 AM
Oh come on now. You're all Canadians, owned by the Nanny state, complete with cradle to grave health care, a kinder and gentler society. The sniffer dogs are there to keep you from transporting and ingesting risky substances for your health and welfare. Besides, the sniffer dogs are much less lethal than police with tasers. On the positive side, in a little over a year the dogs will all be concentrating on sniffing-out Semtex just in case the Jihad decides to come to the Olympics.
Posted by: John Chittick | 2008-12-04 10:10:25 AM
the transit dogs are also trained to sniff out explosives.. and with all the retarded pot poisoned anti olympics social deadwood in Vancouver, its a reasonable precaution to take..
Would anybody really prefer some hyper activist goof fresh from blowing up natural gaslines ( plural- more than one explosion ) in your fair province decides to ventilate his/her mental illness on mass transit riders ? talk about the mentally ill minority pushing their petroleum Jihad agenda on the majority..
Admit it BC--
you got more than your share of GangGreenPeace mental cases and the cops can't keep up with the caseload of nutcases
and please recall that your slum hero the Prince of Pot took personal offence when the RCMP discovered regular massive pot shipments coming off the Vancouver island ferry and rolling out to the BC mainland.- and so they sent up sniffer dogs to detect this activity..
and what did his Majesty do when he learned about this ? Arrange a peace conference parlez between the pot pirate and the Vancouver Cops?
NO_... HE A DIRECTED STONER ACTIVISTS TO SPRAY THE ENTIRE BC DOCK AREA WITH CANNABIS DISTILLATE TO ANNOY THE SNIFFER DOGS..
that worked great--the cops changed tactics and busted the growers in their metal halide lit nests directly and then the RCMP called the DEA to set up an office in Vancouver. They saw a drug war escalation and moved to counteract an offencive action
Some victory against creeping jackbboots- undercover officers usually wear sandals, tsk tsk don't take your social struggle tips from comic books
welcome to the Canadian Edition of the Drug War=
brought to you directly by his majesty the Prince of Pot- aka- Marc Emery,
your favourite urban Ontario refugee weedseed millionare ---
the Prince of Pot himself who walks to work - he doesn't even use public transit so any fallout from this action won't affect his personal comfort zone..
And to think he could have been Mayor of Vancouver -
and with that kind of public relations reflex..
sheesh just what Vancouver needs-another psychotoxic retard
Posted by: 419 | 2008-12-04 10:20:00 AM
419,
Do you have any lucid moments? Or is everything a rant?
Posted by: JC | 2008-12-04 12:03:49 PM
Isn't the prospect of a criminal record ruining your credibility and reputation enough to convince you to NOT do drugs? Is it really worth it all? If so, stay away from me.
Posted by: Zebulon Pike | 2008-12-04 12:18:21 PM
"...We won't be properly secure until we're all in handcuffs...."
****************************************************************
Honourable JC, is this what you mean by Lucid ? and of course we were just wait sitting on our hands till somebody pulled out the Nazi card outta nowhere, - another brilliant stroke of Lucidity ..
****************************************************************
"... Oh come on Zeb, you can't possibly be suggesting that its ok for Canadian cops to behave like Nazi's.."
Posted by: 419 | 2008-12-04 12:24:15 PM
The police in Vancouver need to forget about having dogs sniffing around on the skytrain harassing innocent citizens.
They need to start DOING THEIR JOBS and go down to Main and Hastings and start CLEANING UP.
Enough already.
Posted by: Joe | 2008-12-04 2:01:56 PM
The Truth About Pot!
The real reason for the so called drug war!
When you realize that this is all being done to advance their fascist agenda, the rest falls into place. What's next? A fascist police/military state!
See: 'Parti Marijuana Party' web site for the rest of the truth about pot!
May god be with us:Chummy
Posted by: Chummy Anthony | 2008-12-05 8:24:24 AM
Honourable JC, is this what you mean by Lucid ? and of course we were just wait sitting on our hands till somebody pulled out the Nazi card outta nowhere, - another brilliant stroke of Lucidity ..
Posted by: 419 | 4-Dec-08 12:24:15 PM
419,
There is indeed a pattern of control at play. One merely needs to read and observe the history of the great empires to recognize that we are experiencing the demise of the experiment in freedom. In my life time alone, we have seen the onslaught of so many "laws of control" that the Judges don't even know or understand them all.
And getting caught up in specific issues is the very thing that keeps us from seeing the big picture. And the big picture is (in my mind) that we are slowly losing all freedom and our right to self determination. We are becoming a nation of "permit holders", under a growing state of police power. And that's not freedom. Paranoid? I don't think so, I think its just observant.
Have a good one. :)
Posted by: JC | 2008-12-05 9:16:11 AM
People who think that it is impossible for Canada to become a Police State should think again. The diminishing of civil liberties over time has been gradual. Before we know it, every behavior, every habit, and God forbid...everything we say will have to approved by the State. Don't think so??
Whenever you get searched or whenever "Security" is increased, the media only has to say, "We are protecting you from Terrorism", that way the masses will comply.
Heck, even what Harper is doing right now. Telling Canadians that the other three parties are trying to steal power undemocratically is a lie. So many Canadians who blindly believe this scares me. They lack the basic knowledge that all Canadians should have about our Parliament and the rules by which it governs.
I am not warm and fuzzy about the coalition in question, but if A GROUP OF ELECTED MP'S CAN FORM THE MAJORITY GROUP...they are the group in power. This is the basis that a Parliamentary democracy is founded on.
On these issues I wish people wouldn't just blindly follow whatever the media or their government tells them. If there is an issue with unwarranted searches, or confusion about how this country should be run...call your local MP and voice your concerns. If they don't do their duty to represent the concerns of the people that they wish to represent...then they are not doing their job.
Posted by: Giddyup_99 | 2008-12-05 12:21:59 PM
The authorities make more money from anti-drug programs than the dealers/users they target. How much does a drug sniffing dog and their handler cost? A lot more than a few grams of anything on the street. I wonder if the dogs can do anything else for the money.. Shake a paw? Good boy.
Posted by: West | 2008-12-12 1:28:05 PM
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