Pepper in our eyes : the APEC Affair
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Pepper in our eyes : the APEC Affair
UBC Press, c2000
- : pbk
- : bound
Available at 2 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-230) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
In November 1997, the world media converged on Vancouver to cover the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The major news story that emerged, however, had little to do with the crisis unfolding in the Asian economies. At the UBC campus, where the APEC leaders' meeting was held, a predictable student protest met with an unusually strong police response. A crowd of students was pepper-sprayed, along with a CBC cameraman. The dramatic video footage of the incident that appeared on the evening news shocked Canadians. The use of noxious chemicals to attack non-violent protesters somehow seemed un-Canadian. It looked more like something that police and soldiers in less democratic countries would do. Other news stories developed. Two dozen law professors wrote to Prime Minister Chretien to report that a number of serious constitutional violations that had taken place on campus. One protester, held for fourteen hours for displaying a sign saying "Free Speech," initiated legal proceedings. Other lawsuits followed. The RCMP and the government of Canada were named as defendants, and a public inquiry was launched. A central issue was whether the Prime Minister's officials gave orders of a political nature to the police that resulted in law-abiding citizens being assaulted and arrested. But why all the fuss? So what if the Prime Minister gave orders to the police? The contributors to Pepper in Our Eyes maintain that the "so what" question is of vital importance. The events at APEC raised serious questions about constitutional principle, the role of police in a democratic society, public accountability, and the effects of globalization on rights and politics. The contributors, experts in a variety of fields, draw upon their knowledge to explain - in plain English - the background issues and the values at stake. Some of the authors, such as Gerald Morin, chair of the first RCMP Public Complaints Commission, and CBC journalist Terry Milewski, had a direct connection with the APEC affair. By getting at the fundamental issues behind the APEC affair, Pepper in Our Eyes seeks to raise our civic consciousness. It shows that there was much more at stake that day than the questionable use of pepper spray. The Hughes Report Special Feature
Selected as a BC Book for Everybody
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chronology of Events
Part 1: Canada's APEC Summit, 1997
1 Policing, the Rule of Law, and Accountability in Canada: Lessons from the APEC Summit / W. Wesley Pue
Part 2: Constitutional Fundamentals
2 Free Speech, Democracy, and the Question of Political Influence / Andrew D. Irvine
3 "Relax a Bit in the Nation": Constitutional Law 101 and the APEC Affair / Margot E. Young
4 The APEC Protest, the Rule of Law, and Civilian Oversight of Canada's National Police Force / Donald J. Sorochan, QC
5 The Significance of the APEC Affair / Joel Bakan
Part 3: Policing and Accountability
6 Someone to Watch over Me: Government Supervision of the RCMP / Philip C. Stenning
7 Hand in Glove? Politicians, Policing, and Canadian Political Culture / Nelson Wiseman
8 Forcing the Issues: Police Use of Force at the APEC Protest / Constable Gil Puder
Part 4: Public Accountability in a Free and Democratic Society
9 Forces of Journalism / Terry Milewski
10 Personal Reflections on the Ill-Fated First APEC Inquiry / Gerald M. Morin
11 "Raising the Dough": Funding for Lawyers at Public Inquiries / Karen Busby
Part 5: Globalization and Canadian Rights
12 The 1997 APEC Summit and the Security of Internationally Protected Persons: Did Someone Say "Suharto"? / Obiora Chinedu Okafor
13 A Whole Theatre of Others: A Personal Account of APEC 1997 / Arnab Guha
14 Whither APEC? / Jane Kelsey
Appendices
References Cited
Contributors
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"