“Mischief”

Good article from Emily Leedham at PressProgress: “Ottawa Police Using ‘Intimidation Tactics’ Against Striking Workers, Canada’s Biggest Federal Public Sector Union Says” (15 Feb 2024):

Last week, Ottawa Police arrested labour leader Alex Silas during a press conference and rally in support of striking workers. Silas was released Wednesday with five criminal charges: Mischief, causing a disturbance by impeding, intimidation by blocking or obstructing the roadway, and counsel of an uncommitted indictable offense.

I’ve formed a few opinions after however many years of reading case law. One is that “mischief” can mean whatever a police officer wants it to in the moment.¹ Cops are, after all, the ones with the guns.

Another opinion is that while the law includes, in constitutional principle, (2) a variety of “fundamental freedoms” such as expression and peaceful assembly, (7) the right to life, liberty and security of the person, and (9) the right not to be unreasonably detained or imprisoned, those ideals cede on the spot and by force. It seems to me that no matter how often judges say to police years after the fact “you did wrong; please learn,” the main observable outcome is that governments give cops more money. Maybe some of that increased funding gets allocated to the occasional Charter training module.

So. “Mischief” is the basis on which police arrested a prominent public figure at a protest for labour rights / press conference that got cancelled as a result of that arrest (?). Relatedly, I would be interested to learn if the “indictable offence” Silas is said to have counselled was also “mischief.” There can certainly be creativity in how charges pile up.

This display of force will of course be a deterrent to many underpaid and under-appreciated workers. If they could arrest him with his profile and his privilege, imagine what they could do to a nobody for speaking up. “Best not rock the boat.”²

If I’m reading correctly there’s an additional dystopian twist to this story: this labour union leader was arrested while advocating for better working conditions for military support staff.

[Non-Public Funds workers provide] morale and welfare services on military bases. …

With an average salary of around $18 to $20 an hour, [Cathy O’Kane, vice-president for the Non-Public Funds with the Union of National Defence Employees] said NPF workers planned to continue to escalate strike actions, with another Ottawa event likely to take place next week.

“We have to escalate because it’s been four weeks now that these people are on strike,” O’Kane said, adding that members were receiving $75 a day in strike pay as long as they were on the picket line for four hours. “Some of them don’t mind because they’re making more money on strike than they actually were at their own jobs.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/union-leader-alex-silas-arrested-at-psac-rally-wednesday

$18 to $20 per hour is not significantly above minimum wage — which is of course not the same as a living wage — for the work of providing “morale and welfare” services to people in what I understand to be an extremely stressful job. Police arrested a prominent public figure speaking out against the underpayment of workers who deal with the second-hand trauma of a militaristic lifestyle. “Mischief.”

Imagine a world where the police thought “no, you know what, actually those workers do deserve a comfortable life; I am going to do differently than arresting this man who is pointing out appalling facts and calling for humanity.” But, that is not the culture.

“We see this arrest as an attack on workers,” National PSAC President Chris Aylward told PressProgress. “The Ottawa Police Service are using intimidation tactics, plain and simple. And that’s meant to demoralize and discourage striking workers.”

Ottawa Police have continued to intimidate workers, Aylward added, noting the OPS sent three police cruisers to monitor a peaceful information picket yesterday, though there were no arrests or charges.

“Police services and governments need to understand that people are going to continue to rise up until all workers – be it public sector, private sector, unionized, non-unionized – get what they deserve, and that’s fair wages and decent working conditions,” Aylward added.

https://pressprogress.ca/ottawa-police-using-intimidation-tactics-against-striking-workers-canadas-biggest-federal-public-sector-union-says/

Reporter Emily Leedham does a really nice job, including drawing the contrast with how police treated the convoy. Quotes also from Paul Champ, Alex Neve, and Sam Hersh. Heroes all.

1. Readers are of course free to draw their own conclusions from the case law. ↩︎
2. A thing I hear a lot from government workers who are afraid to rock the boat is: “Other people have it worse.” More people will have it more worse very quickly if more of us don’t start insisting on change. ↩︎