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Morning Brew: G20 threat arrest, court injunction on sound cannon use, sleeping Canada Post mail carrier caught on camera, Toronto 18 jury struggling, help from Barrie, merging fire and EMS, protester fashion advice, Toronto lands on Monopoly board game

Posted by Jerrold Litwinenko / June 23, 2010

g20 helicopters torontoThe bomb disposal squad was called in and there's been a G20 security-related arrest in the Bathurst and Lawrence area. Not much is yet known about the threat or the intent, but what we do know is that 37 year old Forest Hill resident has been charged with a slew of offences including: intimidation of a justice system participant by threat, intimidation of justice system participant by watch and beset, mischief interfere with property, attempt mischief, possession of explosive for unlawful purpose and possession of weapons dangerous.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Labour Congress are hoping to obtain a court injunction that prevent the Toronto Police from using sound cannon devices this weekend. They're hoping for a judge's decision today, but won't likely hear it until Friday (and I'm thinking there's little chance that the injunction will be granted... in the interests of security but of course).

Will the Canada Post mail carrier who was caught sleeping on the job, inside a grey post box, be the new TTC sleeper? All we've got to work with is the small photo on this Toronto Sun story, but it should be sufficient for the Photoshopper's needs. Send them to me at jerrold@blogto.com and I'll post the good ones.

And in brief:

Police from Barrie have been seen cruising in Toronto, and if anything major goes wrong up in Muskoka at the G8, Barrie is where the security response will be headquartered.barrie police g20 toronto

After five full days of deliberation, the jury in the Toronto 18 case have still not reached a verdict for the charges the final two accused face.

Mayoral candidate George Smitherman would like to see Toronto EMS merged with Toronto Fire, and laws put in place to prevent these services from operating at reduced staff levels during labour disputes.

Toronto has made it onto the new Canadian version of the Monopoly board game. It's not a very prestigious or high payout property, however.

There's more hot air talk about the privatization of some of the province's Crown corporations, including the Ontairo Power Generation, the OLG, and the LCBO.

And the Toronto Star is leading today's GTA section with a fluff piece on protester fashion and tear gas.

Lead helicopter photo: "The door's open!" by kmaraj, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

Discussion

18 Comments

Rob / June 23, 2010 at 09:13 am
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Those Forest Hill residents definitely have a bone to pick with the System - life certainly has dealt them a tough hand.
HUK / June 23, 2010 at 09:21 am
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That poor postie was probably suffering from heat exhaustion. Let's wait to see what his union boss says!
Keith / June 23, 2010 at 09:30 am
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The postie was taking a break and using his place of work to get out of the sun. And who hasn't closed their eyes at work for a few minutes during a break? Maybe he was waiting for more mail to show up at this box.
Shame on you Jerrold for instigating further photo-ops over this.
J / June 23, 2010 at 09:32 am
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You mean Hydro One and Ontairo Power Generation.
Peter K / June 23, 2010 at 09:54 am
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Um, you need legal grounds for an injunction. There's nothing illegal about the police using the sound cannons or any other device against violent protesters.

Of course, lack of a valid legal argument has never stopped groups like the Canadian Labour Congress from launching frivolous legal actions before.

I'd say I'd hope they get their eardrums blasted out, but then us working taxpayers would have to pay the health care bills to treat these lazy bastards.
SMurphy / June 23, 2010 at 09:58 am
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The postie was likely waiting for his mail delivery. It's pretty common for the letter carrier to arrive at his grey box to find that the letter he or she is suppose to deliver haven't yet arrived at the box. I see no issue with the carriers taking a nap until the packages arrive.
Mike Jones / June 23, 2010 at 10:01 am
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The mail carrier has to deliver all his mail.
Doesn't much matter if he take a nap in the middle.
B / June 23, 2010 at 10:27 am
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I've taken a nap at work on the counter in the bathroom a couple times when I was hung over.. nothing wrong with having a little siesta! plus, your way more productive if you can get a power nap sometimes when you need one. unless you're a truck driver or pilot ya might want to pull over or land first. ;)
Jeremy replying to a comment from Rob / June 23, 2010 at 11:05 am
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He wasn't protesting anything except maybe the amount of money being spent on security. Security people simply want to test whatever systems they see. More than likely, he didn't anticipate the consequences and then was going to blog about how he should have been caught. He'll probably get a lot more popularity out of this though.
SYSS Mouse / June 23, 2010 at 11:48 am
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Re:Sound cannon.

Why sound cannon? Just issue the police vuvuzelas.
Zed / June 23, 2010 at 12:20 pm
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Wow, where are all the haters of the TTC here. Are sleeping posties more loved than sleeping TTC workers, or do they now realize all employees in every corporation are just lazy sods passing the day doing as little as possible to get through the work week and get paid for doing half-ass jobs? Welcome to capitalism in a democratic unionized nation people. Great photoshop work BTW!
Colin replying to a comment from Zed / June 23, 2010 at 12:39 pm
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At least posties earn their naps by walking their routes all day long. TTC employees just sit on their asses and act surly.
Jared / June 23, 2010 at 12:49 pm
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I wonder if HUK works for the CBSA, if he's complaining about their union, its laughable as CBSA agents have 100% job security.
hd / June 23, 2010 at 01:01 pm
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He isn't taking a break. He is waiting for the truck. No fault of his. Kinda like waiting for the bus to arrive. He has to wait for the mail so he can deliver it.
agentsmith / June 23, 2010 at 01:06 pm
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He must have been on the same medication that made the TTC ticket guy sleepy. Maybe it's the same stuff that made that TTC driver "impaired" too.

And no, sleeping on the job is never acceptable. At least not in any workplace where the union doesn't run roughshod.
hd / June 23, 2010 at 01:07 pm
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He isn't taking a break. He is waiting for the truck. No fault of his. Kinda like waiting for the bus to arrive. He has to wait for the mail so he can deliver it.
der-wreck / June 23, 2010 at 02:12 pm
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hd, you are probably right wit regards to the post man waiting for the truck. my dad was a mail carrier when i was growing up and he fell asleep sitting in a box waiting for the mail too. in fact, i was in grade 1 or so when it happened and a passesby saw him and thought he was dead. she didnt call an ambulance or anything. she came and found me playing outside at recess and told me my dad was dead, sitting in a mailbox
chephy replying to a comment from B / June 23, 2010 at 07:24 pm
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Actually pilots on airline flights in Canada are allowed to take naps, up to 45 minutes in duration. Obviously, they fly in pairs, so there is always at least one pilot who is awake and the naps take place during non-critical phase of flight (i.e., cruising with autopilot on, not take-offs or landings).

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