Despite it breaching fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the security perimetre will remain in Quebec City for the duration of the Summit according to Superior Court ruling.

Wall Stays: Human Rights on Hold
By Meera Karunananthan

The Quebec Superior Court passed a ruling today to keep the security perimeter up in Quebec city for the duration of the Summit of the Americas. The injunction to bring down the wall was put forth by Montreal resident Marc Tremblay. Tremblay requested the right to hold an individual demonstration in front of the Quebec Congress Centre. According to the plaintiff, the presence of the wall breaches the freedom of expression, the freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, as guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. “I simply wish to demonstrate peacefully” he declared, “my goal is not to obstruct the Summit or its delegates by any means”.

While Judge Gilles Blanchet stated that the maintenance of the wall was a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms, he claimed that it was justified by the “history of violence” surrounding anti-globalization demonstrations.

Lawyer Connie Fogal of the The Defence of Canadian Liberty Committee acted as an intervener for Tremblay at the hearing. According to Fogal, Judge Blanchet misapplied the law in order to justify the government’s actions. She declared after the hearing that the appeal would be taken to the Supreme Court.

In addition to the erection of what has been referred to as the “wall of shame,” the Canadian government has called for a military presence of 1200 Armed Forces Members (CBC News online). “The attack on fundamental core rights is quite severe,” Fogal said, explaining that the situation could only be likened to two other events in Canadian history; the FLQ crisis and World War II. To Fogal, “the wall and the summit are an external expression of the destruction of our rights and legal entitlements”. “These things don’t happen in Canada…or so we thought,” added the disenchanted lawyer.

References: interview with Connie Fogal by Murray Hay, CMAQ.
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