When John and Susan Pruyn came to Toronto, they were hoping to protest against the G20 and then spend some time with their daughter. Instead, they would be caught up in a whirlwind of police misconduct with few precedents in Canadian history.

Featured in this episode: Jesse Rosenfeld, John Pruyn, Susan Pruyn, Sarah Pruyn.

Jesse Rosenfeld is a Toronto born journalist who has covered the Middle East since 2007. Based in Ramallah, Tel Aviv, Gaza City, Cairo, Beirut, Istanbul, and Athens over the years, he has also reported from Iraq and the Balkans, contributing to The Nation Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Intercept, and Al Jazeera, among others. His work in the region is the basis of the National Film Board of Canada documentary Freelancer on the Front Lines.

To learn more:

“‘'I will not forget what they have done to me'” in The Toronto Star

You Should Have Stayed At Home by CBC's The Fifth Estate

“Rejecting G20's consensus of the few” by Jesse Rosenfeld in The Guardian

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In the first of a two-part series on the G20, two mysterious strangers start volunteering with activist networks in southern Ontario. It's all part of one of the biggest undercover police operations in Canadian history.

To learn more:

“Unmasked: Searching for lessons in Toronto's 2010 G20 debacle” by Andrea Bennett in Maisonneuve

“How police infiltrated groups planning G20 protests” by Adrian Morrow and Kim Mackrael in The Globe and Mail

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Myles Gray was an unarmed man who died after seven Vancouver police officers beat him mercilessly. Half a decade after he died, not only does his family not have justice, they don't even know the names of the people who killed him.

Featured in this episode: Bethany Lindsay (CBC Vancouver), Harsha Walia (B.C. Civil Liberties Association), Ronald MacDonald (Independent Investigations Office of B.C.) 

To learn more:

“The day Myles Gray died” by Cassidy Olivier in The Vancouver Sun

“Vancouver police officers won't be charged over unarmed man's 2015 death” by Bethany Lindsay in CBC Vancouver

“No charges against officers in case of Myles Gray who died during encounter with Vancouver police” by Amy Judd and Sarah MacDonald in Global News

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A Toronto police officer shoots and kills two Black men and is accused of beating another, all within a five-year span. He's never found guilty of committing a crime. And he continues to rise through the ranks.   

Featured in this episode: Bruce Livesey, Howard Morton, André Marin, Leora Shemesh 

To learn more:

“Above The Law” by Bruce Livesey in BuzzFeed News

“Defence lawyer alleges Toronto officers diverted 7 kilos of meth into her client's car” by Betsy Powell in The Toronto Star

“Shank not guilty of manslaughter” in CBC News

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Even as a teenager, Neil Stonechild was an inspiration to his friends. And then one day, he was found frozen to death outside of Saskatoon. He was last seen alive in the back of a police cruiser. Thirty years later, we know some of what happened to him. But we still don't have justice. 

Featured in this episode: Jeffrey Crowe, Donald Worme, Susanne Reber

To learn more:

Report of the Commission of Inquiry Into Matters Relating to the Death of Neil Stonechild

Starlight Tour: The Last, Lonely Night of Neil Stonechild by Susanne Reber and Robert Renaud

Two Worlds Colliding by Tasha Hubbard

Officer 332 by Kaitlyn Van De Woestyne

Additional music from Audio Network

This episode is sponsored by Dispatch Coffee, Audible, Missing From the Village and Canadian True Crime.

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A teenage boy and his friends start robbing banks in Toronto. A future Prime Minister is deported from Montreal. A Black Panther in Baltimore goes to prison for four decades. And the RCMP is split apart by the biggest scandal in the force's history. 

At the heart of it all is one man. He calls himself the General.

Featured in this episode: Ricky Atkinson, David Austin, Robin Philpot, Lennox Farrell, Gary Cristall

To learn more:

The Life, Crimes and Hard Times of Ricky Atkinson, Leader of the Dirty Tricks Gang by Richard Atkinson with Joe Fiorito

Fear of a Black Nation: Race, Sex & Security in Sixties Montreal by David Austin 

Ninth Floor by Mina Shum 

Marshall Law: The Life & Times of a Baltimore Black Panther by Marshall “Eddie” Conway

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The RCMP is one of the most famous police forces in the world — the red serge and stetson hat are practically synonymous with Canada. But that image obscures the profound power the Mounties have held throughout Canadian history. And the dark legacy of ethnic cleansing and genocide at their core.

Featured in this episode: Jean Teillet, Sean Carleton, Steve Hewitt

To learn more:

The North-West Is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel's People, the Métis Nation by Jean Teillet

Clearing the Plains by James Daschuk

Riding to the Rescue: The Transformation of the RCMP in Alberta and Saskatchewan by Steve Hewitt

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Canada is a big, interesting, and complicated place and COMMONS is committed to bringing you thoughtfully crafted and illuminating stories that will challenge everything you think you know about this country.

This past year, we have brought you stories from all across the country. We told your stories about some of Canada's most powerful families. We launched an emergency season to cover the COVID-19 crisis in long-term care. And right now, we're taking a hard look at how the police operate in this country. 

We want to keep doing this work. So this week we're reflecting on the year behind us and talking about our goals for the future. Please consider supporting the work that we do. 

Support COMMONS: http://commonspodcast.com

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Julian Fantino may be the most famous cop in Canadian history. He was the chief of four different police forces. And for decades, he was one of the most influential voices in law enforcement. But during his rise, people critical of the police had a way of finding themselves in the crosshairs. They were smeared, surveilled, intimidated and arrested.

The police are a singularly powerful institution in this country. How far are the cops willing to go to keep it that way?

Featured in this episode: Lennox Farrell, Jerry Amernic, Susan Eng, Derek Finkle

To learn more:

“Toronto Police Farce” by Derek Finkle in Eye Weekly

Dudley Speaks for Me by Ngardy Conteh George

Hogtown: The Politics of Policing by Min Sook Lee

The Trials of London by Max Allen in CBC Ideas

Duty: The Life of a Cop by Julian Fantino and Jerry Amernic

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Stories about the power that police wield in Canada, and about the lengths they're willing to go to hold on to it. First episode drops Wednesday, October 14.

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