Like those opposing the 2010 Vancouver Olympic games and taking issue with its harbinger, the running of the torch through the towns and villages of the country, the reasons for coming out to oppose the G20 are varied and many. Both ultimately object to the growing role corporations play in dictating government policies, and their increasing access to the public purse. But where the police in Pittsburgh, bejoined by officers from at least 40 police departments from around the country, (some reportedly taking vacation time to go to Pittsburgh to take in the show of force) decided to bust out the arsenal and bust a few heads, their Victoria counterparts, aided by the RCMP and a contingency from Vancouver P.D., took a different tack.

Over the last decade police forces across the United States have added a wide array of new weapons to their basic kit. As well as the ubiquitous plastic strap hand-cuffs and taser guns, the Pittsburgh operation revealed some of the newest peace keeping accessories.

Mike Ferner, the president of Veterans for Peace, attended the rally and reports a few of the weapons he witnessed deployed against rally:

"No longer the stuff of disturbing futuristic fantasies, an  arsenal of "crowd control munitions," including one that reportedly made its debut in the U.S., was deployed with a massive, overpowering police presence in Pittsburgh during last week's G-20 protests. Nearly 200 arrests were made and civil liberties groups charged the many thousands of police (most transported on Port Authority buses displaying "PITTSBURGH WELCOMES THE WORLD"), from as far away as Arizona and Florida with overreacting.and they had plenty of weaponry with which to do it. Bean bags fired from shotguns, CS (tear) gas, OC (Oleoresin Capsicum) spray, flash-bang grenades, batons and, according to local news reports, for the first time on the streets of America, the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD)."

During my participation with the Zombie March in Victoria, (from the muster point in Centennial Square all the way to the contentious confrontation with waiting fans of the Torch in Cook Street village, where  the deployment of marbles into the street by person(s) unknown, presumably to hinder the horses, later became a media issue) I saw about fifty police armed in standard fashion, about a dozen police vehicles, eight mounted police, and one helicopter. A bicycle unit and other cars and motorcycles accompanied the torch, and there was apparently a large contingent of RCMP at the Legislature.

The mood in the crowd was for the most part festively defiant, though there were a few masked types seemingly bent on provoking trouble. (Perhaps it was one of these provocateurs that brought along his kid brother's marble collection?) Thankfully, the police had a game-plan that didn't include the kind of violence used as first resort in Pittsburgh.

We're not out of the woods up here in the Great White North. As police departments down south have militarized over the last decade and more, Canadian forces have followed. Arriving a few days ahead of the widely publicized Zombie March was the RCMP's armoured command post. This behemoth is not to my knowledge equipped with the LRAD weapon Mike Ferner describes, but I imagine it is full of all kinds of handy population control tools.

Which begs the question: "Just what are those situations?"  It makes me wonder: Does the frequency and character of civil protest merit the "armed camp" approach taken by police forces in the U.S. and aped in Canada? And how does the training police are receiving effect the way they deal with the public in crisis situations and on a daily basis?

Canadians were horrified to witness the last moments of recent immigrant, Robert Dziekanski, surrounded by four RCMP officers in Vancouver International Airport and tasered till dead. More troubling than the ignorant manner the four goons displayed in that instance, is the fact it all happened in less than a minute. In less than one minute officers arrived and killed a man, without pausing to properly assess the scene.

Perhaps it was Robert Dziekanski's unfortunate demise on his first day in Canada that prompted the subdued RCMP and VicPD handling of the Victoria march? Or maybe some in policing watched the Pittsburgh police riots and thought better of following that lead. At least one of the unmasked marchers in that crowd was glad of their decision. But should I be glad? Shouldn't we expect reasoned responses from our police, politicians, and judiciary?

The first question we youngsters were asked long ago in law class was: "Is Canada a police, or policed state?" How, I wonder, would we have answered that question then if the policeman in the room visiting our class was the battle-ready, body armoured, machine-gun toting version we see lately more occasionally trooped out? Or, would the question be just redundant?