A new site, democracy in danger, hosted by the polaris institute (Ottawa/Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is designed so that anyone can post their personal story from Quebec city. The site will serve as an invaluable anthology of the truth of people's experiences on the ground at Quebec city.

ATTENTION FTAA-goers! PLEASE TELL YOUR STORY!! - DEMOCRACY IN DANGER!

A new site, democracy in danger, hosted by the polaris institute (Ottawa/Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is designed so that anyone can post their personal story from Quebec city. The site will serve as an invaluable anthology of the truth of people's experiences on the ground at Quebec city. The site is

http://www.polarisinstitute.org/summit/summit.htm

Even though you may have posted your story already, or emailed it out to various places, PLEASE consider posting it to this site. Given all of the powerful and disturbing personal experiences I personally have heard of from people on the ground at the FTAA, this site realizes a crucial opportunity to bring stories together and to witness to the truth of what went on in Quebec - the beauty and the ugliness combined. Once confronted with the reality of hundreds or even thousands of powerful on-the-ground personal accounts compiled in one place, the force of the truth of our stories will show through and will not be marginalized or ignored by our societies, indeed by the world as a whole.

Whether you were a street medic, marcher, someone near the fence, a media person, or anyone there at the summit, CONTRIBUTE YOUR STORY OR EXPERIENCE!

Simply follow the link to the site above and follow the instructions - it's simple, and critical. Please forward this message to whomever you know who might have a personal story from Quebec to share.

Read on below for polaris's official release on this site.

Thank you, apologies for cross-posts etc, take care all of you,

Adam Davidson-Harden,
Kingston, Ontario

_________________________________

Click on Democracy in Danger and tell your story- for democracy's sake.

Click here for the Quebec Legal Collective page:
http://www.quebeclegal.org

More than 60,000 citizens went to Quebec City in late April 2001 to express their concerns about the FTAA. The motivating reasons for going were many, but central to the protest is the concern with the rise of unchecked corporate power, which is increasingly and inequitably defining the world we live in.

The Canadian government erected a fence around the perimeter nearly 4 kilometers long, 3 meters high and fortified with 6000 police and riot squad personnel. This Wall of Shame separated citizens from corporate CEO’s who bought their way into the Summit; trade bureaucrats who skillfully craft rules that benefit corporations and trade away the public commons and politicians who have abdicated their responsibility to represent citizens.

Part of the Wall of Shame came down on Friday, April 20 with the sheer determination and power of people. What followed was a reprehensible and excessive use of force that was directed at far more than the few individuals who had the tenacity to knock down the Wall of Shame.

Tremendous violence and intimidation continued over the next few days by the security forces. Quebec city residents and protestors were gassed, with more than 5000 canisters of tear gas shot indiscriminately into crowds of peaceful protestors; clouds of pepper spray were purposefully aimed into the faces of citizens, marching riot squads cleared streets well beyond the perimeter using canine units and powerful water cannons.

Citizens of Canada experienced the military face of a corporate security state.

Now the Canadian government wants to herald the ratification of the ‘Democracy Clause’ that took place behind the Wall of Shame, behind the tear gas and indiscriminate arrests of peaceful protestors as a major achievement.

We at the Polaris Institute do not agree --- we believe that democracy is in danger. In fact we believe that the events witnessed by many thoughtful and engaged citizens at Quebec City would support the view that the FTAA " democracy clause" was in fact violated in Quebec City in late April 2001.

We are inviting people to share their personal stories of Quebec City especially incidents that indicate there was an "alteration or interruption of the democratic order of the state". We invite you to document your experience by visiting our Website Democracy In Danger.

Our goal is to compile stories of truth and peaceful resistance that can be used as a part of a follow-up citizen’s inquiry to demonstrate that a massive violation of the summit's democracy clause itself was perpetrated on thousands of citizens who were exercising the democratic right to peaceful protest against the FTAA.

Click on Democracy in Danger and tell your story- for democracy's sake.

for more information, please contact the polaris institute:

Polaris Institute

312 Cooper Street
Ottawa, ON
Canada
K2P 0G7

Phone: (613) 237-1717
Fax: (613) 237-3359

pola...@on.aibn.com
http://www.polarisinstitute.org