G-20 security fence. Photo by Zach Bussey

The G-20 Summit Meeting will be held June 26-27 in Toronto, and security will no doubt be tight as 20 countries gather to talk about issues related to the global economy.

CBC.com “citizen blogger” Zach Bussey, who works as part of a street team covering the event, found this out firsthand Monday when he took a little tour around the large cordoned-off area and snapped a few photos of fences and police officers. He was, of course, stopped, questioned and detained.

I told them that I was there because it’s not every day your city is turned into a war zone and it was interesting.

And then, after detaining Bussey for 30 minutes or so, they let him go without explanation.

What? Really? No waterboarding for me? Great! But wait… why was I detained anyway? Why wasn’t I informed of what I was being held for? Immediately I recounted my story in 140 characters on Twitter, I felt violated. The lack of communication had me in a frenzy of frustration.

Bussey questioned himself, his outfit, his actions and couldn’t figure out what triggered the police’s suspicions. I can tell him, though — it’s the CAMERA.

I’ve come to accept and am okay with what happened today. I understand tension is high and they’ve got to keep their eyes open for security threats. Maybe they had first-day jitters too? I think all of us can accept that mistakes can be made. But there has to be better handling if this is going to be a common occurrence this week. Police need to communicate better with who they are questioning.

No one is going to accept a temporary suspension of our rights because world leaders are in town. So please Integrated Security Unit, do it right. This is Canada — the best country in the world. I think I deserved better.

We all do, Zach.

Article from G20 Street Level/CBC.com