Of all the comments and questions I heard about the G20 Summit the only one that I spent much time wondering about was when a friend asked me whether I thought the police officers were wearing Depends.
I remembered watching the news clips that showed them arriving by the bus load in Toronto. Dark clad, unsmiling people turning away from the cameras, bending down to pick up their kits then heading into the hotel. I imagined the frightening items that were in those kits - batons, guns, tear gas, gas masks, pepper spray, shields, helmets.
The idea that a package of adult diapers might have been tucked inside each kit never crossed my mind.
But somehow, as funny as the question was, it did something for me. It humanized the police officers who were charged with keeping the peace for those two days in Toronto.
I didn't like what I saw in Toronto - especially that scene at Queen and Spadina.
I didn't like the way the 'temporary' law came into being.
I do believe we need to have an inquiry into the events.
I do not, however, believe that in Canada the police are the enemy.
I think we need to keep that in mind.
2 comments:
While I wasn't in Toronto at the time of the G20 summit, I spent a considerable amount of time watching. I agree with everything you said Francie-right across the board. Some of the things that I wondered about while watching and then listening to the endless news talk discussions and interviews of some of the attendees:
1)Why would anyone go for dinner on Queen Street West on the Saturday evening of the G20 conference, given what was going on, and then complain that their dinner was interrupted and they were jostled by the police? (I know that it is our right to eat wherever and whenever we choose, but was this the most sensible way to exercise this right?
2)Once the protesters (that were there for conscientious reasons) saw how the day was going to go,would it not have made more sense to get out of the area? Your legitimate protests were being lost in the shuffle anyway, and you were only offering "shelter" to the thugs that came expressly to vandalize.
3)How did anyone expect these policemen and women to do the job that we expect them to do (i.e.protect the public) when there were throngs of riot-tourists running merrily down the street, laughing and there for no better reason than to getin the way?
I'm sorry that some innocent individuals were inadvertently arrested and subsequently "caged". Did you have a good reason to be there in the melee?
And did anyone seriously expect the temporary jail quarters to be at the Sheraton?
C'mon people, don't get me started!!
Guess I hit a nerve. Thanks.
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