Big G8/G20 COP to Shut Down U of T Area

May 27, 2010

By Gary Morton, citizensontheweb.ca

 Workers and others at the University of Toronto have got the news. Police will shut down campus beginning the evening of June 23^rd, two full days before the G20 Events at the Convention Centre. The government will of course not be compensating anyone for lost wages or cancelled events.

 Apparently word from the G20 Billion Dollar Cop Brigades is that they don’t want anyone in the area, and that brings a large question to mind. Why is the Harper Government trying to turn the Queen’s Park area into one where there will only be protesters confronted by police armies. Why so much security in an area far from the world leaders attending?

One answer is that violence may be what our government wants, and it is setting the scene for it … seeing that they’re building a temporary jail over by Eastern Ave and locking down U of T.

Also, what exactly will the police be setting up next to Queen’s Park at places like Hart House that overlook the protest area? Do they plan a huge cop camp and possibly jails inside U of T? 

Let’s PROFILE the issue: At first Stephen Harper was looking good with the media rambling on about some anarchist fire bombers showing up. A stern police hand against violent protesters seemed sure to make Harper and his huge security budget look good. A successful summit and World Leaders waving at photo-ops with the Tories would put Harper up in the polls and ready to go in the fall for a majority government.

Unfortunately things changed. News of the billion dollar security bill (and it keeps rising) is out. Now it’s not anarchists that are angry, but ordinary Canadians. Many of which might go out to protest, thus changing the face of the protest to one where radical groups are marginalized and ordinary people angry at this sort of waste on a cop convention and photo op session for world leaders are dominant.

Geeze, wouldn’t a billion dollars do a lot for the poor, or the environment or the disabled and on and on. And that’s the message the Protesters should stick to … a nonviolent message that PROFILES Harper and a bunch of other vain world leaders as wasteful spenders. Many of them have bankrupted their own nations with giveaways to big banks, and now they want to spend another billion or so to come here and lecture us on finance.

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