Canadian Photojournalists Pasted Powerful Images in the Streets To Raise Political Awareness

Officers using excessive force arrested 1,118 people during the G20 Summit
held in Toronto in 2010. This is the biggest mass arrest in Canadian history.
Photo by François Pesant

Some of the Canada's foremost photographers participated in a project aimed at raising awareness in advance of the recent federal election. Large prints of some of the most striking images of what Canada has become were pasted on the streets of Montreal and Toronto, reclaiming the public space as a forum for discussion.

Approximately 60 percent of air pollutants released by the industries located
in Sarnia happen within five kilometres of Aamjiwnaang First Nation.
Laurence Butet-Roch / Boreal Collective

Photo from Aamjiwnaang, Ontario by Laurence Butet-Roch
pasted at Osler and Pelham, Toronto.
Laurence Butet-Roch / Boreal Collective

This project impressed me but did it achieve its aim? It didn't have the desired effect in the riding of Scarborough Southwest where former Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair has not taken responsibility for police abuses during the G-20 that were done on his watch (See top photo). Blair was handpicked by Liberal leader, Justin Trudeau, and was elected as Liberal MP, defeating the incumbent NDP MP.


The events at the G-20 resonate with me. A friend attended with his family as part of the People First March. What happened to him should not have happened to anyone in a country like Canada. He and his daughter recently biked across Canada stopping at police stations and MP offices along their route to tell their story and asking people to sign a petition supporting an enquiry into the violence by security forces at the G20.

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Thanks Bruce!