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anti-poverty demonstratorswho say they were arrested and detained on flimsy charges that were ultimately dismissed are suing police. Ontario Coalition Against Poverty member Sue Collis this week filed a suit against the Toronto police services board and four officers, seeking $10,000 in damages.
Collis was arrested June 15 for supposedly breaching her bail conditions — speaking at an OCAP rally — after her involvement in a protest at Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s Whitby office. Collis claims the bail conditions did not bar her from working with OCAP in any way. She spent 10 days in jail. The Crown ultimately pulled the charge on November 8.
Meanwhile, Oriel Varga, Elan Ohayon and Alex Brown, all of whom have been sleeping in Allan Gardens every Friday night since August 99 to protest the homelessness crisis, have filed a $75,000 lawsuit of their own against 11 Toronto police officers.
Their suit alleges that police mistreated protestors during an October 2000 “sweep” of the park, assaulted them and destroyed their camera equipment.
The last of the several charges against them for trespass and unlawful camping were also recently dismissed.
