Monthly Archives: June 2010

G20 Friday – Eve of destruction

June 25, 2010

This is how most people and organizations predicted Friday would turn out: Eve of destruction. The expectation was that protests would build in Toronto throughout the work week and peak on Friday. To that end, most people planned on staying home today. Perhaps it’s quiet right now because everyone is watching the Portugal-Brazil match. (Even anarchists like the World Cup action.) On my way in today, the commuter train was about 1/3-full and less than yesterday. The weather was nice and the police seemed to outnumber the commuters walking up Bay Street. On the northwest corner of Front/Bay there were a…

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Self immolation risk and mitigation

June 25, 2010

Siri Agrell of the Globe and Mail reports about a man who will self-immolate at the G20 - when the PM of India is here - to protest the 1984 Sikh genocide. The Integrated Security Unit noted that their officers are trained to react to these sorts of things. But I bet this is the actual reason the police have added the water cannon to their arsenal.  Talk about a mitigation strategy. Every time this dude tries to light a match, the cops are gonna hose him like he was on Wipeout!

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Army of Darkness 2 – Revenge on the G20

June 24, 2010
Army of Darkness 2 – Revenge on the G20

The Toronto Star reports:”Toronto police arrested a 53-year-old man on the Esplanade in downtown Toronto Thursday afternoon and confiscated a chainsaw, sledgehammer, four baseball bats, a crossbow and fuel canisters from his car.” What! Doesn’t this sound like the stuff you’d find in Ash’s car in Army of Darkness or Evil Dead 2?

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Keep your G20 comments to yourself

June 24, 2010

Riskczar has learned that a passenger aboard a Porter Airlines flight from Toronto Island Airport to New York was removed from the plane for making “comments about the G20 in the waiting area”. This according to the pilot. My source, who was also on the plane, and requested anonymity, indicated that the plane pulled out and then returned to the gate where Marine Police boarded the plane and remove the passenger. For those of you who are unaware, the Island airport (as opposed to Pearson International) is probably 1 mile from the convention center where the G20 Summit is taking place…

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Reputation risk – Novotel workers strike

June 24, 2010

When the French planned their G20 visit to Toronto, they must have figured it would be a nice nationalist gesture to book the Novotel hotel, owned by the French company Accor. In a move that reeks of poetic justice to a country that loves their labour unions, 80 workers walked off the job at midnight. (I am curious about the large, inflatable rat that the strikers brought out. I wonder what that is supposed to represent?) While the local strikers probably hope to get press at home, another protest - 2 million strong – is going on in the Mother Land.

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G20 update – Day 4

June 24, 2010

Day 4. This is the day we have been waiting for. The first three days of this week were like a dress rehersal. We took precautions, had folks working from home just in case, but the real test was going to be Thursday. Today. This is when we expect all the crazies to show up and throw plastic bottles to protest the oil companies… We had some excitement yesterday in the Toronto area with the Earthquake and then a twister touched down in Midland, Ontario last night, that we almost forgot about the G20 business. But I was reminded once I…

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G20 Jokes

June 23, 2010
G20 Jokes

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G20 update – Day 3

June 23, 2010

Day 3. Yawn. All is still quiet. Perhaps this is the equivalent of the opening act: people only show up for the headliner and the opening acts often play to a partially filled venue. Headliner goes on the main stage on Friday. I took a walk in the PATH yesterday afternoon - this is the underground network of malls and paths that connect all the buildings in the downtown. It was nice to see dozens of private security folks and police officers walking around trying not to be too bored. It felt safe and unlike what I suppose seeing armed police at the…

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G20 update – Day 2

June 22, 2010

Day 2 starts with rain in Toronto. There was a minor protest yesterday afternoon for people protesting that they had nothing important to protest. Or maybe they were protesting poverty. One guy was busted by a cop on a bike for having some pot. I counted at least 100 cops on my walk down to Union Station last night and almost as many on my 3 block walk up to King today. I love seeing that show of force: cops from Toronto, Peel Region and York Region every 15-20 feet, two-by-two. For all the uneasiness that I felt seeing those…

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G20 update – Day 1

June 21, 2010

It’s Monday, Day 1 leading up to the G20 which starts in Toronto on the weekend. Downtown Toronto is wrapped in fences. On my 3 block walk from Union Station to King Street, I saw no fewer than 20 local police and RCMP patrolling and congregating on corners. I’ve heard at least three accounts of friends driving in to the city and experiencing less traffic that usual. Less. My litmus test was the absence of a line at the Starbucks at First Canadian Place. Got my grande bold sooner today! This does not surprise me as I predicted as much.…

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