Quebec 420






A20.
Quebec 420 = prison
industrial complex. 3rd Summit of the Americas in
Quebec City, Canada. Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
agreement.  April 20-22, 2001. 
Canada embraces U.S. Reaganomics and prisons? 




This message is also at the forum links below.
Feel free to pass on any of it. The San Francisco and Vancouver
IndyMedia links below have dedicated sections of their homepage to FTAA links
and news. 
 http://www.cannabinoid.com/boards/message.shtml?1x34010
and 
 http://vancouver.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=678 and 
 http://sf.indymedia.org/display.php3?article_id=2001 



From the AlterNet article
farther down:
"From April 20-22, Quebec City has the dubious honour of hosting the
3rd Summit of the Americas. ... to finalize the proposed Free Trade Area
of the Americas (FTAA) agreement. ... They plan on erecting a 2.4 mile
long metal fence, similar to those found around prisons, in the streets of
the provincial capital sometime in early spring. The perimeter will cover
approximately 4 square miles of the downtown core. Moreover, all citizens
who reside or work in the security perimeter -- nearly 25,000 people --
are currently being given a security pass to enter the area, ... The
original police plan to run criminal record checks on all Quebec residents
receiving a pass ... the Orsainville provincial prison will be emptied of
its over 600 inmates during the Summit to make room for arrested
protesters. He later went on to justify the need for such drastic police
measures by saying, \'If you want peace, you must prepare for war.\' "


See additional links, world incarceration rates chart, etc. at the
end. 
World Incarceration Rates chart is also at the link below.

 http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/charts2.htm 
*Stop the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas). A great site with
lots of news, links, organizations, coalitions. 
 http://stopftaa.org/ 
----------------------
Quebec City Crackdown. 
 http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10510 
Darryl Leroux, AlterNet.
February 20, 2001.
From April 20-22, Quebec City has the dubious honor of hosting the 3rd Summit
of the Americas. The Summit will bring together 34 heads of state -- every head
of state in the Americas except Fidel Castro. And despite stringent security
measures, including the largest police deployment in Canadian history, a
tremendous contingency of anti-globalization protesters will be there to shake
up the process.
Aside from the Summit\'s usual declarations on security and terrorism, human
rights and democracy, the main focus of this year\'s meeting will be to finalize
the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement. According to
Pierre Pettigrew, Canada\'s Trade Minister, "The FTAA is inextricably linked
to the Summit of the Americas process."
This agreement, which by its very nature will affect the everyday lives of
millions, extends the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to the entire
Western hemisphere. It has been the subject of secretive negotiations since the
first Summit was held in Miami in 1994. Negotiators have set 2005 as the FTAA\'s
implementation deadline.
Like NAFTA, the FTAA will submit health, education, environmental and labor
standards to the forces of the free market. There are numerous illustrations of
how such free trade agreements work in favor of corporations and against
governments and individuals. Take the case of Metalclad Corp., a Texas-based
toxic waste-disposal company, which accused the Mexican government of violating
Chapter 11 of NAFTA. The Mexican state of San Luis Potosi had refused to allow
Metalclad to re-open a waste-disposal site that was contaminating the local
water supply. In response, Metalclad sought $90 million in compensation. In
August 2000, a NAFTA Tribunal ruled in favor of Metalclad, ordering the Mexican
government to pay $16.7 million in compensation.
Meanwhile, workers have filed more than 20 labor complaints under NAFTA\'s
labor side agreement, almost all of them against the Mexican government (since
NAFTA does not allow complaints to be brought against corporations). In almost
every case, fundamental violations of labor law have been proven, yet nothing
concrete has been done to redress the workers\' complaints. Incidents like the
recent police violence of January 2000 against striking workers at Mexico\'s Kuk-Dong
garment factory (whose biggest customer is Nike) and the Duro Bag factory (whose
biggest customer is Hallmark) point out the impotence of the labor agreements.
As Martha Ojeda, the director of the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras,
says, "We already know that its [NAFTA\'s] protections for labor rights are
worthless."
Since the anti-WTO protests in Seattle, there has been a growing awareness of
neo-liberalism\'s failure to protect citizens\' rights. To the wide coalition of
protesters that will descend on Quebec in April, the FTAA represents another
push of that same neo-liberal agenda. Not surprisingly, Canadian authorities are
well aware of the potential PR disaster the Summit could become -- and they are
doing everything they can to silence the dissenting voices in Quebec.
Security measures being planned for the Summit are sweeping -- the largest
police deployment in Canadian history. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
estimates that the overall budget for the police operation during the three-day
Summit will be well over $22 million. Over 5,000 officers from the RCMP,
provincial Surete du Quebec and local municipal forces are slated to work during
the three days, while the Surete du Quebec assures people on its web site that
if need be it will "co-ordinate and establish the necessary liaisons with
the Canadian Armed Forces." Apparently, the need has arisen, as the Armed
Forces have already been called in -- they are currently training 800 riot
police just outside of Quebec City.
Police officials have declared that they will establish a security perimeter
in downtown Quebec, around the Vieux-Quebec and the Haute-Ville, two areas where
the Summit will take place in April. They plan on erecting a 2.4 mile long metal
fence, similar to those found around prisons, in the streets of the provincial
capital sometime in early spring. The perimeter will cover approximately 4
square miles of the downtown core.
Moreover, all citizens who reside or work in the security perimeter -- nearly
25,000 people -- are currently being given a security pass to enter the area, as
will over 5,000 official delegates and nearly 3,000 accredited media. The
original police plan to run criminal record checks on all Quebec residents
receiving a pass was quickly shelved in the face of widespread public outrage.
At a November press conference to announce more details on the planned
security measures, Serge Menard, Quebec\'s minister for Public Security,
surprised many by explaining that the Orsainville provincial prison will be
emptied of its over 600 inmates during the Summit to make room for arrested
protesters. He later went on to justify the need for such drastic police
measures by saying, "If you want peace, you must prepare for war."
This thinly veiled attempt to intimidate residents of Quebec City falls in line
with the RCMP\'s portrayal of the Summit as "an eventual crisis
situation," thereby justifying all police actions.
The RCMP recently announced that it has rented all vacant apartments and
houses within the security perimeter, as well as reserved all hotel
accommodations within 55 miles, to avoid leaving anything vacant for
trouble-makers. In an ironic twist on the notion of "free markets,"
the RCMP even forced several NGOs that had reserved hotel accommodations and
conference rooms up to a year in advance out of their reservations, thereby
assuring their space monopoly. They will reportedly go so far as to seal all
sewer entrances within the security perimeter for fear of protesters finding
their way through the underground maze and onto the laps of government officials
and business executives.
In a late January border incident, Canadian officials extended their
suppressive policies to a group of U.S. citizens. Ten New York City-based
individuals trying to attend a strategy meeting organized by the Summit of the
Americas Welcoming Committee (CASA in French) were denied entry into the
country. Canadian officials proceeded to search the van, collecting and copying
all documents pertaining to the mobilization against the Summit. As the
activists were leaving, one Canadian official added wryly, "It is my job to
protect the Canadian economy."
Within Quebec City, the paranoia surrounding Summit security is reaching a
fevered pitch. On February 4th, two plainclothes officers arrested three youth
on one of the main avenues downtown for, ironically, handing out pamphlets
denouncing the Summit security\'s violation of civil rights. Once their story
became public, both the police and Quebec City Mayor Jean-Paul L\'Allier quickly
apologized for the "mistake," by explaining that the officers had
misunderstood a local bylaw. However, only days before, members of the largest
Quebec-based coalition mobilizing against the Summit were confronted by officers
for passing out the same pamphlet in a mall.
In response to these police moves, la Ligue des droits et libertes du Quebec
(the Rights and Liberties League of Quebec) urged police not to create the
impression that protesting is illegal, as it is a basic right protected under
Canadian law. Spokesperson Andre Paradis explained "that the necessity to
establish a security perimeter shouldn\'t transform the provincial capital into a
city under siege, where the fundamental rights of civil society to express
itself cannot be exercised in public space."
In spite of high-level police intimidation, a large and diverse coalition is
still planning opposition to the Summit. The largest group is Operation Quebec
Printemps 2001 (OQP 2001), a coalition that was formed in December 1999. OQP
brings together over 30 regional organizations (as of mid-February) including
unions, NGOs, campus groups, community organizations, and political parties, as
well as individuals. Coalition members\' concerns range from the FTAA\'s impacts
on labor and the environment to the threats on civil liberties resulting from
the Summit itself.
Although the demands of coalition members vary greatly, the aim of OQP 2001
is to raise awareness about the FTAA and globalization, organize non-violent
protest, and present viable alternatives to corporate globalization. A
"People\'s Summit" is planned for April 17-22 that will bring together
activists from across the hemisphere and feature workshops, conferences,
teach-ins and demonstrations. Alternatives, a large Quebec-based NGO and member
of the OQP coalition, has also leased a building just beyond the security
perimeter that will serve as the "Alternative Media Center." The
Center is now open to journalists and a Quebec City Indy Media 
website
(  http://www.quebec.indymedia.org
) in French, Spanish, and English is now up and running.
Another major group planning resistance to the Summit is the Montreal-based
Anti-Capitalist Convergence (CLAC). Formed in April 2000 to offer a radical,
anti-capitalist critique of corporate globalization, CLAC recently helped form
the Quebec City-based Summit of the Americas Welcoming Committee (CASA). CASA
and CLAC are now planning a Carnival Against Capital, including events in Quebec
City and Montreal throughout April 2001 and culminating in a Day of Action on
Friday, April 20, in Quebec City. The Carnival will include workshops,
teach-ins, concerts, conferences, cabarets, street theatre, protests, and direct
action.
CASA and CLAC are also planning a series of events in Quebec City, for
activists to discuss strategy, build networks, and become familiar with the
city. The first such meeting, at the end of January, saw over 350 activists from
across the U.S. and Canada share ideas and strategies for April. Meanwhile, CLAC
has an "FTAA Caravan" moving across the northeastern United States and
Canada. The caravan has already visited dozens of communities, most recently in
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, New Hampshire and Vermont.
CASA and OQP 2001 are also working to provide lodging and food for
out-of-towners coming to Quebec City for the Summit. The two groups, in
collaboration with the People\'s Potato (a Quebec-based organic food provider),
are working on establishing kitchens in Quebec City to provide low-cost meals
for locals and out-of-towners alike. Since the RCMP has reserved a block of
11,000 hotel rooms for the Summit, the search for lodging space has been
difficult. However, OQP 2001 is trying to rent halls and gymnasiums and, in
conjunction with the CASA, has planned an "Adopt a Protester" program.
The idea, as CLAC member Jaggi Singh explains, "is to have protesters sit
down and eat with Quebec City residents to get the real story (not the corporate
media\'s) out to residents of the city. That way, people will have a chance of
understanding what\'s actually going on."
Darryl Leroux is a freelance journalist living in Peterborough, Ontario.
--- end of article ----
----------------------------------
Thank you George Orwell for writing the book 1984. 1984 is coincidentally the
year of the second election of the evil ones, the authors of Reaganomics and the
modern prison industrial complex in the USA: Ronald (6) Wilson (6) Reagan
(6), and his fundamentalist, pseudo-spiritual yuppie scum. These
rich Moral Majority, Silent Majority, Christian fundamentalist types are
reappearing openly with President George W. Bush. Republicrat Bill
Clinton played by their economic rules. The rules of the newly rich,
and therefore mostly Republican, lucky few who made it temporarily to the top of the investment
and inheritance lottery.
The bigger they come, the harder they fall. Sickness
can take ANYBODY, even the rich, into poverty. Especially since the safety net
and universal healthcare (in the few places in the Americas where it exists) is
crumbling daily in the Americas in order to pay for Nancy Reagan\'s "Just
Say No" drug war. The privilege of trade should come with the obligation of
continuous economic, social, and environmental progress. Reaganomics and
drug war ruined the USA. Don\'t let it ruin Canada, too. 
Check out the IndyMedia.org global site for working links to the Quebec
IndyMedia site. Keep trying. IndyMedia sites are regularly hacked and
taken down by the forces of evil. 
 http://www.indymedia.org/ 


*World Drug War Home Page. Republican evil, Democrat
complicity. U.S. Drug-war Industrial Complex. World drug
war news, reform, CHARTS, huge link lists, banners, directories, search engines,
shortcuts, forums, etc.. Cannabis, marijuana, drugs, etc.. 
 http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/index.html
-latest revision. 
 http://members.fortunecity.com/multi19/index.html
-older copy. 






*Ideology, Idiot-ology, Political Parties, and the
Drug War. Or: "Ideologues Anonymous," "Fundamentalists
Anonymous," etc.. Election season is when Drug Warriors really come
out of the closet and spin their lies. Year-round too, but especially during the
election "silly season." Several charts. And healthcare stats,
too. 
 http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/ideology.htm
-latest revision. 
 http://members.fortunecity.com/multi19/ideology.htm
-older copy. 




 




WORLD INCARCERATION RATES, 1985-1995. U.S. and Russian
rates updated for the year 2000. At the change of the millennium, BABYLON, THE USA, BECAME NUMBER
ONE!  [TopLink]  
 http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/charts2.htm  and 
 http://members.fortunecity.com/multi19/charts2.htm
 


Chart is in descending order according to incarceration rate for
1995. The overall
incarceration rates below combine prisons and jails in a nations. The pound
symbol, #, signifies
a Western (long democratic traditions) nation, and the number of times higher the United States
incarceration rate (in 1995) was when compared to that nation\'s incarceration rate.




>[code]<font
face=Courier New>________________
>Fixed_width_Courier_font_lines_up_columns.___
>234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456
>_____________________________________________
>World_Incarceration_Rates._1985_to_1995._____
>_____________________________________________
>***USA_rate_on_Dec._31,_1999._______690___***
>***Russian_rate_in_September_2000.__675___***
>_____________________________________________
>#How___________________Incarceration_________
>Western________________RATE_per______________
>nations________________100,000________PERCENT
>compare._______________population._____CHANGE
>________NATION_________1985__|__1995________%
>_____________________________________________
>________Russia___________________690_________
>#1.0____United_States___313______600_____+92_
>________Belarus__________________505_________
>________Ukraine__________________390_________
>________Latvia__________640______375______41-
>________Lithuania_______405______360______11-
>________Singapore________________287_________
>________Moldova__________________275_________
>________Estonia_________455______270______41-
>________South_Africa_____________265_________
>________Cook_Islands_____________225_________
>________Hong_Kong________________207_________
>________Romania_________260______200______23-
>________Czech_Republic__270______190______30-
>________Thailand_________________181_________
>________Poland__________270______170______37-
>________Slovakia________225______150______33-
>________South_Korea______________137_________
>________Kiribati_________________130_________
>#4.7____New_Zealand______________127_________
>#4.8____Portugal_________90______125_____+39_
>________Fiji_____________________123_________
>________Hungary_________220______120______45-
>#5.2____Canada___________________115_________
>#5.2____Luxembourg_______________115_________
>________Brunei_Darussalam________110_________
>________Bulgaria_________________110_________
>#5.5____Scotland________100______110_____+10_
>________Macau____________________107_________
>#5.7____Northern_Ireland_________105_________
>#5.7____Spain____________60______105_____+75_
>________Malaysia_________________104_________
>________China____________________103_________
>#6.0____England/Wales____90______100_____+11_
>#6.3____France___________75_______95_____+27_
>#7.1____Germany__________90_______85_______6-
>#7.1____Austria_________120_______85______29-
>#7.1____Italy_____________________85_________
>#7.5____Switzerland_______________80_________
>________Turkey___________90_______80______11-
>#8.0____Belgium__________65_______75_____+15_
>#9.2____Sweden___________50_______65_____+30_
>#9.2____Netherlands______35_______65_____+86_
>#9.2____Denmark__________65_______65_________
>#10.0___Finland__________80_______60______25-
>#10.9___Greece___________35_______55_____+57_
>#10.9___Ireland__________55_______55_________
>#10.9___Norway___________45_______55_____+22_
>________Croatia___________________55_________
>#10.9___Malta_____________________55_________
>________Solomon_Islands___________46_________
>#15.0___Iceland___________________40_________
>________Bangladesh________________37_________
>________Japan_____________________37_________
>________Slovenia_________70_______30______57-
>________Cyprus___________30_______30_________
>________Cambodia__________________26_________
>________Philippines_______________26_________
>________India_____________________24_________
>_______________________________</font>[/code]










# equals WESTERN (long democratic
traditions) NATION, with the number of times higher the United States
incarceration rate was in
1995. U.S. incarceration rate in 1995 was 5 to 15 times higher than all
other Western nations. 
>  http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/charts2.htm
and 
>
 http://www.sentencingproject.org/pubs/tsppubs/9030data.html




and
>  http://www.sentencingproject.org/news/news.html#No1
and
>  http://www.sentencingproject.org/pubs/tsppubs/intdata.pdf ____ 
"... the U.S. rate of incarceration has just surpassed that of
Russia and the U.S. is now the world leader in imprisonment. The [December 31, 1999] U.S. rate of 690 prisoners per 100,000 population has surpassed
the Russian rate, which has declined from 730 per 100,000 in 1999 to 675
per 100,000 today [September 2000].
Russia has been facing severe overcrowding in its penal facilities for many
years, with inmates in pretrial detention sometimes waiting as long as several
years for their cases to come to trial. In response to this crisis, the Russian
Parliament approved an amnesty that has resulted in the release of 120,000
pretrial detainees and sentenced offenders. This reduced the inmate population
to 980,000 as of September 2000." 
--Sentencing Project, September 2000. 
>  http://www.sentencingproject.org/news/news.html#No1
and 
>  http://www.sentencingproject.org/pubs/tsppubs/intdata.pdf
___ 
1999 rates added soon for many nations! From these
sources: 
>  http://www.prisonstudies.org/
--1999 stats. Also at: 
>  http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/worldbrief/world_brief.html