Police chiefs back anti-mask bill

Let’s see if they have the guts to include a veil or burka in this ban. Frankly, other than halloween, I don’t see why a disguise is allowed in public at all in Canada.

CBC:

Masked protesters run through the streets during demonstrations against the June 2010 G20 summit in downtown Toronto. Masked protesters run through the streets during demonstrations against the June 2010 G20 summit in downtown Toronto. (Saul Porto/Reuters)

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Some Canadian police chiefs are voicing support for a private member’s bill that would criminalize wearing a mask or covering the face during a riot or unlawful assembly.

The bill, which was introduced in the House of Commons by Conservative MP Blake Richards of Alberta, proposes making the wearing of a mask during a riot punishable by up to five years in jail.

In a recent speech in the House of Commons, Richards said that current police powers in a riot or unlawful assembly are reactive, meaning police cannot stop someone for wearing a mask during a riot. Given the recent G20 riots in Toronto and Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver, Richards wants the law changed.

Victoria Police Department Chief Jamie Graham is supportive of the bill, calling the changes overdue.

Graham said the current statute on covering the face during criminal acts — called “disguise with intent” — was drafted to cover such things as bank robberies and holdups, and carries a higher burden of proof when it comes to proving the disguise was put on with intent to commit an offence.

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About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

3 Replies to “Police chiefs back anti-mask bill”

  1. Say you are a banker in Miami, and a guy walks in wearing a ski mask — a threatening situation, is it not?

    Why is it legal for masks to be worn in public at any time? Public safety and cultural norms suggest a larger prohibition.

  2. This gives the prosecution another charge to lay against the rioters, one that will probably be plea bargained away in order to get a confession to a lesser charge.

  3. At alot of EDL demos we are asked to not cover our faces or face arrest. Yet at various MAC counter demos the ROPs could do as they pleased.