Arrests made during Halifax G8 meeting protests
Posted April 26, 2010 3:06 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – Halifax police arrested a local official with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers during a demonstration today ahead of a meeting of G-8 development ministers.
But a spokesman for the union says the arrest was unnecessary.
Toni MacAfee appeared in provincial court this afternoon and was charged with assaulting a police officer.
Constable Brian Palmeter says the arrest was made after an incident on the road that leads to Pier 21, where the ministers meet tomorrow.
He says the incident occurred as police attempted to clear demonstrators from a roadway.
Palmeter alleges the protesters were unlawfully assembling and blocking traffic.
He says one officer was struck by an individual during the incident.
The director of the postal union’s Atlantic office says MacAfee is the union’s regional education officer.
Jeff Callaghan says the union objects to the arrest, arguing police were being provocative before the incident.
He says the arrest was uncalled for.
The ministerial meeting will address maternal and child health care issues, and lay the foundation for proposals that will be discussed at the G-8 summit in Ontario in June.
