SPP summit in Montreal saw rough exchange between activists, officials at corporate North American conference

Flags and teargas filled the air as activists, police, and police disguised as activists clashed as North American leaders and corporations met in the nearby Chateau Montebello

Sûreté Du Québec admitted in a newswire last week that the three masked instigators caught in an incriminating YouTube video of the protest against the August 20-21 Security and Prosperity Partnership summit in Montebello were in fact policemen in disguise, Sûreté du Québec asserted that they were not there to incite violence, but to “identify and stop trouble.” The video, however, showed an officer holding onto a rock, but a spokesperson for the organization claimed that the stone was given to the officer by another protester.

The video shows Coles demanding that the three masked men put down their rock and reveal their faces, accusing them—correctly, it turned out—of being policemen. The men refused, and finally made their way through the police line, where they were handcuffed and taken away. A picture posted on Flickr also shows that the soles of the men’s shoes were identical to those worn by the police.

Approximately 2000 protesters gathered at the Chateau Montebello in Quebec where presidents George W. Bush and Filipe Calderon of Mexico met with Prime Minister Harper and the heads of 30 major North American corporations, such as Scotiabank, Lockheed Martin, Walmart and General Electric to discuss border control, anti-terror regulations, employment and immigration laws in an attempt to “enhance prosperity and improve safety.”

The protestors included members of several civil societies such as the Council of Canadians, the Canadian Federation of Students, the Ontario Public Interest and Research Group, and a large number of students from universities across Canada including the University of Toronto.

In accordance with the protesters’ democratic right to be heard, arrangements were made so that the politicians could view them on screen. However, the system left them with the option of muting or switching channels on protesters at any time.

After being barred 25 feet away from the premises by a wall of policemen with shields and batons, the protesters were eventually dispersed by an onslaught of teargas shells, rubber bullets and pepper-spray.

Police said the action was in response to violent behaviour on the part of the protesters, such as hurling projectiles into police lines.

However, the protesters have a different version of the story to tell Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union, said the allegedly violent protestors were in fact undercover SDQ policemen who “were ordered to infiltrate our peaceful assembly and provoke incidents,” so that the police might break up the otherwise peaceful protest.

The protesters were alarmed by the scale of the police presence. “I’ve been to many protests,” said a unionist from Toronto standing in front of the Parliament Hill at the Ottawa protest on Sunday, “But this level of security baffles me.”

The event was one of several protests all around the country organized by a partnership of various concerned groups, including OPIRG, the War Resistors Support Campaign, and other unions and human rights groups.

The University of Toronto Student Union set aside $500 as subsidies for those who wished to go to the protest, but all U of T students who went to the protest opted out of the subsidy, said Dave Scrivener, UTSU VP external, who feels that students have a particularly important role in the protest.

CFS-Ontario president Jen Hassum said their participation was a good thing because students have much to fear from the SPP.

“There are private interests that are looking to commodify post-secondary education,” she said.