So I have to admit that after watching riot police and protestors right outside my workplace, it was all kind of intimidating, surreal and very weird. I work between Queen's Park and the American embassy which makes the area "attractive" to those protestors I am sure. Watching them carrying backpacks with riot helmets and black safety shoes makes you wonder what they are here to really "protest". Some were looking for trouble - too bad and I feel sorry for them because they seem so misguided, more like a thug. The police on the other hand were very professional and fast when they needed to be. It is something to see buses, vans, regiments marching into position in a matter of moments.

I was glad that we were under lockdown for a short while because at times you just never knew what was going to happen next. Several staff that I work with are from other countries and they were amazed to see this happen in Canada, as was I. I explained that this is really out of the ordinary, looks chaotic but at least no one was seriously injured. They said that in their country these protestors would simply "disappear" once they were apprehended - now that is scary!

Canada is still the best country in the world and these few protesters don't even know it.

Why in the world they hold these things in a major city knowing full well that this will happen is beyond me, except that I'll bet it has to do with justifying the use of OUR tax money to "test" our forces readiness to handle this sort of calamity (at the expense too of the disruption and damage to downtown business), and perhaps to try to throw out a net to catch some of the baddies.

My attitude is, why go looking for trouble?

P.S. Glad you got out unscathed!

Quoted from Ricker

Canada is still the best country in the world and these few protesters don't even know it.

I dunno about that, it can get pretty cold here at times.

Quoted from Ricker

Canada is still the best country in the world and these few protesters don't even know it.

... you've visited all the other ones to say that right?

Quoted from Mrhide

... you've visited all the other ones to say that right?

What he is saying is they are way more arrogant in his area.

Quoted from Mrhide

... you've visited all the other ones to say that right?

Yeah. We all know Quebec is the best country in the world. Sheesh.  

Quoted from cooke

Yeah. We all know Quebec is the best country in the world. Sheesh.  

Bwhahahaah

Hey dinna we win that war?

its true, some people just dont know how good they have it in their own country. Coming from someone who HAS been all over the world. Canada reigns. Its the people that screw it up, not the country, and these days, there are more and more idiots spreading their disease. And guess what? Most of those protesting idiots are 1st or 2nd generation immigrants anyways...meaning they left other worse off countries...probably due to horrid conditions, and they come over here and bring their stupid attitudes of entitlement with them. And citizens who's families have been here longer (just so I dont forget to mention the not so freshly immigrant crowd) , half of these people have never even left the city and have NO IDEA how much worse it is in other countries to begin with. Its just a parade of shame and ignorance.

Protesters can protest, and they did yesterday. All that other stuff was just idiots who want any excuse to throw rocks and break stuff...completely different group of people, and maybe we outta throw rocks at them.

I think the police should have the right to just shoot the fuckers...

If I am a cop and see some a**hole jumping up and down on my cruiser lighting it on fire... I tell him/her 3 Times step down, hjands behind your back and kneel to be cuffed...

They don't comply I use leather force... done...

Shoot a couple I bet the rest of them would back off...

Really rather than protest and travel I may add to each of these g8/g20 meetings...use your resources to go to the countries you are protesting for...and I dunno MAYBE help them, rather than talk about it. if it is that close to your heart go and help...

Like that tool from Hamilton in the paper today, whining because he got shot by a rubber bullet... waaaa to bad; your lucky it wasn't a real one....best part of the story was him comparing this one to the last one he traveled to in PA, sounded like he made a career of protesting...

I think part of the problem is our government insists on doing this type of thing in major city centers. Halifax, Toronto etc..It provides a opportunity for these protestors to socially network, leverage thier own logistics, and avoid any type of community/social responsibililty because of the large scale "mob" mentality.

These meetings should be held in Goose bay or Iqaluit. That way (I think) these trouble makers would have to spend a fortune to get there (instead of just taking the bus), and be forced to deal with a small close knit community when deciding to destroy the local infastructure.

The cost may be high to build the extra infrastructure, but from what I'm hearing it's pretty damn high anyways. Might as well invest our tax dollars into Northern development if we're going to piss it away on hotels and private security.

Police are the last people we need to give shoot to kill orders.. There's a simpler & better way..

We let the army patrol the streets at night with shoot to kill orders to protect property from graffit assaults.

there probably will be a few deaths but it will send the message we don't tolerate bullshit.. once they start to think twice about even using spray cans, they'll think even less about nilistic destruction of property when the cameras of the world are focused on an event.


The problem will go away but history has sadly taught us, it will be even harder to get rid of the miltary prescence afterwards

The police should be taught that these masked people are really MOOSE!    

Don't do this bullsh*t like threaten to block highways and beg to get out of HST either.   We don't protest enough in Canada, but gotta learn how to protest, too.  

Quoted from b1buwg97

I think the police should have the right to just shoot the fuckers...

If I am a cop and see some a**hole jumping up and down on my cruiser lighting it on fire... I tell him/her 3 Times step down, hjands behind your back and kneel to be cuffed...

They don't comply I use leather force... done...

Shoot a couple I bet the rest of them would back off...

Sounds like it would be a long road to make a JAG out of you.

Somebody please explain how burning police cruisers and spreading graffiti are a way of changing things for the better.  A real protest does not involve violence and property damage. You will not attract respected people to further your cause this way.

IMHO these events just give hooligans an excuse to act up and try and play out their fantasies of rebellion and spreading anarchy. They are common criminals and will be treated as such. Its almost as if the news of a massive security force poses a challenge to them that they must act out through violent behaviour.

On any other week, can you imagine anyone having the balls to torch a police cruiser?

Quoted from b1buwg97

They don't comply I use leather force... done...

Leather force? Yikes!



!

Seriously it does seem interesting that most of us say enforce the law to the utmost, yet we, as a society, continue to tolerate this crap. Amazing!

Quoted from takochef

Police are the last people we need to give shoot to kill orders.. There's a simpler & better way..

We let the army patrol the streets at night with shoot to kill orders to protect property from graffit assaults.

there probably will be a few deaths but it will send the message we don't tolerate bullshit.. once they start to think twice about even using spray cans, they'll think even less about nilistic destruction of property when the cameras of the world are focused on an event.


The problem will go away but history has sadly taught us, it will be even harder to get rid of the miltary prescence afterwards

I disagree across the board on this one. The Canadian Military role is to defend Canadian, Canadians, and Canadian interests. Enforcement on the Rule of Law falls solely on police and the justice system. That being said there have been cases in Canadian history where our military have been mobilized because the proper authorities can no longer maintain order, but it has been and always should be a last case situation.

There has never been of a case that I'm aware of that the Canadian military refusing to return authority to back to Civil powers.

Reminds me of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  "I am being oppressed".  

Quoted from TwilightZone

Leather force? Yikes!



!

Seriously it does seem interesting that most of us say enforce the law to the utmost, yet we, as a society, continue to tolerate this crap. Amazing!

Thats exactly what I meant

Protesting "The Man" gives "The Man" even more control. The protesters are behaving exactly as expected. Eliminatation of dissent is easily achieved with the help of the media and now social networking. Give society a spectacle (burning police cars) and we all feel safer.

Quoted from Kingston Pete

There has never been of a case that I'm aware of that the Canadian military refusing to return authority to back to Civil powers.

That would be a military dictatorship. When Aid to the Civil Power is called upon it is done so through the Solicitor General of the affected province who is responsible for police and law enforcement for that province. The main issue is it is a request.

The military will aid the federal government with it's own responsibilities which differs from Aid to the Civil Power.

http://www.admfincs.forces.gc.ca/qro-orf/vol-01/doc/chapter-chapitre-023.pdf

All Canadians already pay for the solution for people like this in there taxes.

Now all Canadians have to do is lobby to let the solution out...


Hint....the solution wears green

I don't think this situation calls for martial law. What might have been good would be for some of these assholes to feel what it's like to get hit in the gut with rubber bullets. The thing is, the cowards that trashed retail stores, cars and property are putting a strain on businesses that will have to pay for all the damage as well
as taxpayers.

So, priority#1 was to protect the G20 delegates and participants, leaving priority#2 protect from property damage. This is the result as the police are focussed elsewhere.

In the end there are a bunch of anonymous balaclava covered vandals who can brag about the adrenaline rush from destroying other peoples property. Nothing here resembles a demonstration against world hunger, economics, or politics. These are vandals who have taken to the streets in their very own Haloween.

I hate lowlifes.

Quoted from Kingston Pete

I disagree across the board on this one.

[snip] ....

There has never been of a case that I'm aware of that the Canadian military refusing to return authority to back to Civil powers.

i was refering to history in general, not canadian military history.  Power corrupts absolutely.


but it sure be nice for the Army to target graffiti vandals this summer.   I'm rather  tired of seeing entire neighbourhoods trashed by whinny nilistists who can't accept the fact they arn't artists and rather incapable of drawing even a single nice line on paper. That the only attention they can get is the rush of trashing property (anonymously).


What the Canadian justice system should do is apply a liberal dose of  innuit justice.
ie the middle of january, airlift the 500 or so hoodlums about 200 kilometers north of Meta Incognita Peninsula, with a sandwhich or two,  some matches and wish them good luck on returning to civilization. That they can spend some quality time meditating on survival skills and pulling together as functional society.. see how far their whinning or destruction habits get them back to land..

Quoted from takochef

I'm rather  tired of seeing entire neighbourhoods trashed by whinny nilistists who can't accept the fact they arn't artists and rather incapable of drawing even a single nice line on paper. That the only attention they can get is the rush of trashing property (anonymously).

I agree, there has been a real loss of courtesy, responsibility, and community. I have a great example that I witnessed today. My wife and I go to the movies, and we see this young boy with his feet up on the seat infront of him. Worse yet, his father is there, and also has his stinking, dirty feet resting on the seat in front. A gentleman siting behind these two, politely leans forward and says "son, please take your feet down, it's not polite". The kid turns around and verbally flies right into this guy, and worse yet the father turns around, tells the man that he has no right to talk to his son, and that he should mind his business and act like an adult.

Now that example is no where as extreme as what is happening in Toronto, but it all stems from the same "root problem", that many of us have no idea what is acceptable, and alot more could care less.

I got a chuckle out of this guy on the news last night complaining how the police presence in Toronto made people stay away. Hmmm. cars burning, windows being bashed in... yep maybe a good idea to stay out of there. I think I would be a heck of a lot more nervous if they hadn't been there. Last time I checked it wasn't the police burning the cars and bashing in windows.

At the end of the day he got air time for free on the federally funded network CBC to promote his cause. Why worry about getting on the street in Toronto when you can be broadcast across the country at the taxpayers expense?


Amnesty International Canada is calling for an independent review of the G8/G20 security measures.

Alex Neve told CBC News there were some "very troubling human rights dimensions" over how security was used in the past several days.

The human rights group is concerned by the "heavy, heavy police presence" in the city and by the talk about "new weapons and unclear laws" that "really led to quite a considerable chill."

"There were many people who either participated in the protests on Saturday with the sense of nervousness and fearfulness, but also many who stayed away," he said.

I hear you Kingston Pete. People have all kinds of rights these days but often fail to use common courtesy in order to peacefully co-exist.

I don't understand how you expect to get respected by damaging other people property.

On a serious note they should have it here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfMUwCKtWMI

Who gives a crap about Toronto? It was Rib-fest weekend in Ottawa, yum!

I just took a walk down Queen street, past were the burning cars were and the smashed windows.  It wasn't as bad as I expected.  CityTv, CTV, Starbucks, Subway and Steve's Music seemed to bear the brunt.  The Scotiabank was just being completed and looked like nothing ever happened.  Its a good day to be a Toronto glazier.

Quoted from Monkeybug

I just took a walk down Queen street, past were the burning cars were and the smashed windows.  It wasn't as bad as I expected.  CityTv, CTV, Starbucks, Subway and Steve's Music seemed to bear the brunt.  The Scotiabank was just being completed and looked like nothing ever happened.  Its a good day to be a Toronto glazier.

Damn Steve's Music and their global corporate fat cat executives! They got what they deserved!

Quoted from cooke

Damn Steve's Music and their global corporate fat cat executives! They got what they deserved!

Agreed.. the people that work there are pricks.

Quoted from machine.slave

http://yee-guan.posterous.com/full-video-of-police-charging-on-protesters-a

I love how the police waited until the end of the national anthem to charge,  kind of like a hockey game.

Quoted from Monkeybug

I just took a walk down Queen street, past were the burning cars were and the smashed windows.  It wasn't as bad as I expected.  CityTv, CTV, Starbucks, Subway and Steve's Music seemed to bear the brunt.  The Scotiabank was just being completed and looked like nothing ever happened.  Its a good day to be a Toronto glazier.

Sure the Summit to the average joe is boring as all get out. Anything they could grab about the riots made the front page.

It was funny listening to some of the media reporting stuff going on that was completely inaccurate with such conviction. Hey if they said it then it all must be true.

Quoted from necro_nemesis

Sure the Summit to the average joe is boring as all get out. Anything they could grab about the riots made the front page.

Yeah. I can't imagine why rampant violence and torched cop cars managed to make it on the front page. On a normal, less boring day, the media would ignore that sort of thing or at best stick it on page 17 of the Home and Garden section.