Subscribe
Follow Us
Like Us
Digg it!
Add to Delicious!
Stumble itFor those unfamiliar, the G8 and G20 summits take place at the end of June with the G8 being held in Huntsville, Ontario and the G20 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The goal of the 72 hour summit is for the leaders of the included foreign governments to meet and tackle the current landscape of economics on a global scale. In other words, a meeting of powerful decision makers to debate how best to make and spend money. Makes sense to me. Oh but wait a second, the clarity of the decision to spend $1 Billion of Canadian taxpayer’s money on just security is very blurry now. Did I have a say in this? What if I don’t want to pay this money when the meeting itself has continued to draw more and more protesters and demonstrators because of this very reason amongst other causes?
In advance of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, many citizens of Canada were upset with the mounting costs including the figure spent on providing security for the games. The games were very successful and if you were partying along Robson or Granville Streets the police presence was high and the majority of incidents were issues of public alcohol consumption prompting the BC Liquor Stores to shut down early. So now even though the G8/G20 Summits will span over 72 hours, the interesting point to be made is that the 17 days of the Olympics security costs were around that same $1B figure – we may never really know as the RCMP and Federal Government have covered up the actual dollars spent.
So what do you think? Should our government being spending $1 Billion of your money for security during the G8/G20 Summits or is it just overkill and a demon of its own creation?
4 Comments
A better place to host a summit would be on a remote dessert island. I'm sure all the world leaders have private jets to get there and the natural moat of the ocean would provide security from most threats. A much cheaper and safer solution eh!
Also, what are the black clad hooligans in Toronto trying to accomplish, they would do better to speak and write about their concerns, rather than smash windows and light cars on fire. Do they really expect to educate people or earn public credibility when they act like wild vandals?
CBC NEWS….
G20 police probe reports of gunfire
Tue Jun 22, 4:42 AM
At least four shots were fired into the air early Tuesday just outside the G20 restricted traffic zone in downtown Toronto.
Police say that at about 3:30 a.m., ET more than a dozen off-duty RCMP officers witnessed the shots being fired by the occupants of a black sports car.
The car sped away from the scene, a parking lot in the King and Peter streets area. Police gave chase but lost the car somewhere in Etobicoke, in the city's west end.
They were able to get a partial licence plate number and are now looking for the vehicle.
They also found at least two shell casings near a club on Mercer Street, close to where the shots were fired.
Anti-G20 demonstrators, meanwhile, say they will be back in downtown Toronto on Tuesday trying to be heard.
Hundreds of protesters shut down traffic in parts of the city Monday, marching through the streets while officers on bicycles moved alongside, blocking side streets as they passed by.
Its hard to make a call, but that is an insane bill. It does not take a major stretch of the imagination to realize that other than the threat posed by protesters, the G20 does post a significantly greater threat to a national security (terrorist) incident than the Olympics probably did (so much so that the US have actually issued a travel advisory against travel to Toronto during the summit), however, 1BN is just a ridiculous amount of money!
We already have a military, and an air-force. You would think that a large portion of securing this summit could befall on the military rather than on the federal police, and that it would largely be included in their day-to-day operating budgets?
Robert, you make a very valid point. Former Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman brought in the miltary forces to help clear snow to much scrutiny of misuse of National resources. However in this case, the use of National militia forces would prove appropriate and would certainly justify budget spending.
The only question remaining is whether the controversy of the summit itself is the very reason for why it poses such a substantial threat? Do the peaceful protestors have a valid concern? In the very least, their voice should be heard but only as long as their demonstrations are without violence.
Trackbacks