G20-something

I got the hell out of dodge.

So my commentary on the G20 Summit is simply as a citizen of Toronto, who stradles the centre of the politcal spectrum.

My first and main issue is with the decision to have the summit in Toronto. In the downtown core, no less. The summit is not designed as a site seeing visit for politicians….so location should have more practical security sense than 'showcasing' Canada's biggest city. And if the big idea was to entice the international press to speak the good word of TourismToronto…this was certainly not the stage to do so. Who wants to visit a police state with a contrived pond? Sounds like an Orwellian tale, not my Toronto.

The massive price tag associated with summit security was due to the absolute integrated nature of the venue. The mulitple access points. The residential condos surrounding the building. The underground PATH system. It wasn't because our fence was made of gold, we just required much more fence.

However, I don't blame the pre-emptive security measures taken. People learn from history. No global summit has occurred without violence. It would be ignorant to suggest that the fence was not necessary. It's just a shame that the apparent main objective was to protect the leaders at the expense of the host city.

I feel for the protestors who had a message. The media coverage was geared toward chaos, thereby perpetuating the extremists' argument that in order to be heard you must use violence as your medium. Unfortunately, that tactic takes away from the cause and makes violence the story. Nobody wins.

Things got out of hand. Some protestors got out of hand. Some police got out of hand. The police had the added weighty responsibliity of keeping order amidst chaos. I can appreciate that…I was in Muskoka with 9 children at one point.

Thank goodness they weren't organized…and couldn't reach the matches.