The G20 in Toronto

Spending a weekend with the G20 in Toronto was like spending a weekend with a military state. It was oppressive, demeaning, anger-filled and unjust. Rights were taken away from Canadian citizens for the purposes of meeting the needs of a few upper ranking government officials.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was amended to meet the needs of the weekend, and hundreds suffered unjust arrest for peacefully protesting and demonstrating their basic right to free speech. I was of the viewpoint that we had spent over a billion dollars on two days of security (versus the approximate 900 million spent on the WHOLE 2 WEEKS of the Olympics), and that it was simply a blatant waste of taxpayer money. A lot of people were simply of this opinion and wanted to voice it. Why hold such a volatile event in Canada's largest city? Why not Nunavut or St. John's...sure the scenery is much nicer there?

I set to the streets on my bike, witnessing people getting pulled over (sometimes I feel, simply for wearing black!), riot cops and plain clothes officers on every corner, and an air of fear and courage (on the part of the citizens). I was perhaps one of thousands simply curious what this meant for our city, and to see how much fairness could be employed in times of pressure. I fortunately wasn't harassed or searched unnecessarily. But felt a tension in my blood when I saw stores with wooden planks protecting them, gas masks on peoples faces, fences everywhere, and signs quoting Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. This tension was of course momentarily diffused by seeing the occasional clown nose, citizens holding hands, people traveling in large groups cycling whilst ringing their bells, and the occasional laughing baby. Innocence vs. Oppression.

In the end for a few trouble makers that roused the attention of the world by lighting cop cars on fire, there was an incredible uproar and over-reaction on the part of the cops -- strong enough to ignite a series of unjust arrests that upset a relatively peaceful/human view I generally hold for Canada. The Olympic protests were met with much more respect I felt, and handled far more justly.

"It may be long before the law of love will be recognized in international affairs. The machineries of government stand between and hide the hearts of one people from those of another." ~Gandhi


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