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Toronto hosting the G20.....sigh

• Soulcatcher 1,970 Posts

  Sat, Jun 26 2010 3:57 PM

  So those that know me, may or may not know that I live in Toronto.

  This weekend Toronto is hosting the G20 summit. To put it lightly, it is not going well. So far we have two torched police cars, 100's of vandalized buildings and tear gas released into a group of protesters. Major highways shut down for convoys and the majority of downtown businesses closed for the weekend.

  

  Why is this happening?

  Where the powers at be decided to host this shindig is bar none the hardest place in the country to secure. Right in the middle of downtown Toronto.

  They have built a fence around the entire area but the surrounding area is a network of streets and alleys, impossible to contain anything.

  

  The price tag for this? 1.1 billion,  yes I said billion dollars (and that is so far).

  We could have built a five star resort with it's own landing strip for less than half of that.

  Another little detail that gives me the shivers. Our government passed some temporary laws that give the police new powers.

  If you approach with in 5 meters (16 feet) of the fence the police have the right to search you and ask for ID, if you refuse you can be arrested.

  For me it is not so much the law, it is the fact that it was implemented without discussion in parliament or the public knowing.

  The details of the new laws will not even be revealed until after they expire...... now if that doesn't scare you I don't know what would.

  .....true north strong and free indeed

• ccrume 138 Posts

  Sat, Jun 26 2010 4:26 PM

  SC - thank you for the education. It hasn't crossed my radar until now.

  What a shame. Have they never heard of video-conferences?

• ccrume 138 Posts

  Sat, Jun 26 2010 4:30 PM

  TORONTO – Black-clad demonstrators broke off from a crowd of peaceful protesters at the World Summit, torching police cruisers and smashing windows with baseball bats and hammers.

  Police with shields and clubs earlier pushed back another small group of demonstrators who tried to head south toward the security fence surrounding the perimeter of the Group of Twenty global economic summit site. Some demonstrators hurled bottles at police.

  "This isn't our Toronto and my response is anger," Toronto Mayor David Miller told CP24 television. "Every Torontonian should be outraged by this."

  The roving band of protesters in black balaclavas shattered shop windows for blocks, including at police headquarters, then shed some of their black clothes, revealing other garments, and continued to rampage through downtown Toronto.

  Protesters torched at least two police cruisers in different parts of the city.

  Police in riot gear and riding bikes formed a blockade, keeping protesters from approaching the security fence a few blocks south of the march route. Police closed a stretch of Toronto's subway system along the protest route and the largest shopping mall downtown closed after the protest took a turn for the worse.

  A stream of police cars headed to Toronto to reinforce security there after the smaller Group of Eight summit ended in Huntsville, Ontario. The vandalism occurred just blocks from where President Barack Obama and other world leaders were meeting and staying.

  "These images are truly shocking to Canadians," Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said in a statement. "We are taking all measures necessary to ensure Canadians, delegates, media and international visitors remain safe."

  Previous major world summits also have attracted massive, raucous and sometimes destructive protests by anti-globalization forces.

  As of Saturday afternoon, 40 summit-related arrests had been since June 18, police said, with security being provided by an estimated 19,000 law enforcement officers drawn from all regions of Canada. The security costs are estimated at more than US$900 million.