To Ontario Premier McGuinty.

[Another non-music post, but this here's my only truly public forum.]

To: Dalton McGuinty, Premier, Government of Ontario

CC: MPP Rosario Marchese, MP Olivia Chow, Councillor Adam Vaughan

Dear Premier McGuinty,

You and your government must not weasel out of your duty to the citizens of this city and this province. I am astonished, appalled, and frankly disgusted by your position on the calling of an independent public inquiry into what happened outside the fence last weekend.

Police officers broke the laws of this country on numerous occasions. It is impossible to escape this fact unless one deliberately overlooks overwhelming supporting evidence. It is abundantly clear to me that police officers did so, with impunity, occasional sadism, and often with a complete disregard for basic human rights. Gross violations occurred even on the lawn of your very own legislature.

Your government must take action so that we, the citizens of Ontario, can know the truth about what happened and why. I fully support the Canadian Civil Liberties Association’s and Amnesty International’s calls for a public inquiry. All three levels of government---federal, provincial, and municipal---have much to account for. I had held out hope earlier this week that you respected the laws of our land, and would take swift action. Your words and deeds since then make it clear to me that you have chosen to blatantly ignore the facts of the situation. I cannot understand why you would do so, except that you must be shockingly misinformed. Please inform yourself, Premier, and work with Prime Minister Harper to open a full, independent, public inquiry. Doing so is plainly necessary, and the first step to healing the wounds that this past weekend and all the decisions taken up to it left on my city.

I firmly believe that Toronto, for all its flaws, is the best city in the world, and that Canada, for all its problems, is the best country in the world. This past weekend left me and so many other proud citizens feeling sadness and anger. Mid-Saturday afternoon the latter feeling was focused on rioters; very quickly thereafter the police earned my disdain. I am just as disappointed and enraged even now, a week later. My dismay, frustration, and anger at the governments who allowed the G20 summit to take place in my city are not gone. But what actually happened demands an inquiry, and soon. I implore you to reconsider your stated position on a public inquiry dealing with the security measures and police actions.

In addition, your government must provide a full, clear explanation of the handling of the Public Works Protection Act fiasco. You yourself, sir, must accept responsibility for misleading the people of this province. This was, at the very least, a breach of public trust. You should be ashamed of yourself. I hope you will apologize and explain yourself. It is the only honourable thing to do in this matter.

Thank you,

Jennifer Polk

Toronto, ON

Want to write your own letter?

You can contact the premier at dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org

My MPP for Trinity Spadina is Rosario Marchese (rmarchese-co@ndp.on.ca); my MP is Olivia Chow (Chow.O@parl.gc.ca), and my city councillor is Adam Vaughan (councillor_vaughan@toronto.ca)