Fenton sentence: Justice not served
Re Fenton reprimanded, docked 30 days for G20 ‘kettling,’ June 16 So, a 27-year veteran of the Toronto Police Service “demonstrated a lack of understanding of the right to protest.” How long does it take for an experienced officer to learn this? “Systemic errors” occurred and Mark Fenton “should have been stopped by his superiors,” too.
Since the police act disallows questioning a chief (really?), we’ll likely never know what former chief Bill Blair knew and didn’t know. Who gave him his orders? Perhaps the prime minister who decided to hold this absurd meeting of 20 world leaders in a city where they could not even, like tourists, get to see the city?
Many unanswered questions. But since the powerful seem to rarely be held accountable, one can only hope one lesson learned is to never allow a large group of self-defined important politicians to gather in any Canadian city again.
As justice seems not to have been served after six years, a final question: How much has this latest lame exercise, along with the inquiry into the G20, cost taxpayers? One can only wonder. J.G. McVittie, Guelph
Once again, we see the pro-police bias of the police disciplinary tribunal for its outrageously light, irresponsible and unjust sen- tence for Supt. Mark Fenton, who committed serious violations of the Police Services Act and even more serious violations of civil and charter rights.
This is not justice, it’s an another example of just-us — where judges and the police stick together and play by their own set of rules. Time for more protests and real justice for a change. Don Weitz, Toronto
I was disturbed to see the picture of Mark Fenton with the story about the sentence for his actions at the G20 Summit in 2010. While I agree that the story is newsworthy, I found the inclusion of his family in the picture attached to the story in poor taste. In particular, his children, who have their heads down and are without a doubt uncomfortable to be in this kind of circumstance. Jeff Granton, London, Ont.