He Had a G20 Charge: Now He Don’t, But is That Really Good News?

Thirty-one year old Dave Vasey was the only one charged under the controversial (ya think?)  Public Works Protection Act  (ya know; that one McGuinty was so sneaky about and the one Chief Blair decided to get creative, fast and loose with? Don’t forget that, kids)  while he was checking out the perimeter on June 24. He claimed he had no knowledge of the law. Given how underhanded the premier handled the whole thing, I see no reason to believe otherwise. He was arrested and held at the East street hell-hole for over 5 hours. He was subsequently released with a promise to appear in court last Wednesday.

Well, now, imagine his surprise when Mr Vasey appeared at the courthouse only to find that  the charges have somehow, magically, disappeared! Poof! Gone! Like they never existed!

“They didn’t have any record of it, either on paper or in the computer system,” Vasey said. “The justice of the peace herself looked and said, ‘This is highly unusual.’ ”

No shit, Shirlock!

I’m sure papers and documents get lost everyday at the courthouse like anywhere else. That’s why multiple copies and assortment of documents exist. However, not in this case it would appear.  Puzzling, ain’t it?

According to Vasey’s lawyer, Howard Morton, they still have five months to charge his client if they want to. Plus, he has no idea how his charge disappeared.

“There are only two possibilities. The first is there never was a charge,” he said. “The only other possibility I can think of is that the government simply didn’t want any further embarrassment over this regulation that was passed in secret and simply decided not to pursue it.

“If that’s the case, then they were just hoping the issue would go away.”

I wonder how vindictive the cops and/or the government will feel about charging Vasey? The cops appear to be attributing this to simply an administrative error.   Weirder and weirder. All his paperwork got lost? Fingerprints, mugshots (more than one photo is taken), all kinds of forms and documents, other forms regarding personal property. Vasey was arrested on June 24, on the Thursday, before the G8 henchmen even hit the real Muskoka.  I imagine that arrests would have been much fewer and far between and they would have had time, & it certainly would have been relatively quiet enough  to complete all arrestation procedures. What gives?

One would think Vasey, his lawyer as well as others who were disgusted at what happened at the G20 would just find the humour in this or rejoice.  And I’m sure most in Vasey’s shoes would be relieved that it was all over in a relatively painless way. Many have families and jobs to worry about, understandably. However, it all does seem suspicious. Particularly if the police are simply claiming “oops!” on the part of bureaucrats for the evaporation of any evidence of any charges of Vasey.  It also removes another reason for any inquiry or challenge to what the police or the government did.  Vasey and Morton are actually disappointed that the charges disappeared:

For Morton, his client has been the “ghost son of a ghost regulation.” Vasey said he is actually disappointed to see his charges disappear because he was looking forward to challenging the law in court.

Since Vasey was the only one charged under the Public Works Protection Act, don’t count on his charges coming back to haunt him in five months time. I don’t believe it was any administrative snafu for reasons I mentioned above.  I’m glad he could perhaps get on with his life, but on the other hand,  perhaps he, like so many others, will always be having more unanswered questions.

If he had gotten his day in court, maybe we would learn what was under more rocks the government, both provincial and federal, as well as the Toronto police don’t want the rest of us to see.

I find it chilling that not only many seem to be ok with unaccountable government, so long as it is the Harpercons that are leading it, but they’re ok with unaccountable police. Chilling, because that is how police states get started.  So yeah, I think I can undertand Vasey’s disappointment.  He may enjoy his freedom–for now. But if Steve gets his coveted majority or if nothing is done about what happened at the G20, which looks likely as Censusgate takes over the airwaves,  Vasey, like every other Canadian, will surely lose all kinds of freedoms.

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