jn_12
Senior Member
They've said all along that they won't confirm anything until closer to the date. The terrorists could be googling too you know.
at least we know khristopher isn't a terrorist (or a very good one at least).
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G-20 Summit in Toronto
- Thread starter TO City of Light
- Start date
at least we know khristopher isn't a terrorist (or a very good one at least).
fred
New Member
Why do they continue to have these G8 and G20 summits? They know all the trouble these meetings cause! These meetings don't achieve much anyways. If the leaders have to meet, arrange these gatherings quietly so the peace freaks and malcontents don't have time to organize.
jn_12
Senior Member
"peace freaks and malcontents" Seriously? Opposition to something doesn't make you a freak (the term "peace freak" itself seems a bit oxymoronical, no?). People have a right to protest, and it's something that millions of people have fought for. If anything, rather than simply denouncing all protesters as freaks, perhaps you should try and understand what their cause is? You'll probably be surprised by what you learn.
As for why they continue to have these, and why the public is aware of them, would you prefer some sort of Bilderberg Group secrecy?
As for why they continue to have these, and why the public is aware of them, would you prefer some sort of Bilderberg Group secrecy?
TrickyRicky
Senior Member
Ceremony matters. Symbolism matters. Both the leaders of government and protest organizations understand this at some level. World leaders shake hands and smile for the camera, protesters wave and shout and smash things. Just because this doesn't produce concrete results it doesn't mean the ritual process is not important.
Catapult
Active Member
I don't mind the "peace freaks" who want to peacefully protest. I might not agree with most of what they think but I strongly believe that the right to do this is essential to democracy. However, I do mind the anarchist types who goal is to cause destruction.
khris
Senior Member
This type of crap freaks me out:
[video=youtube;XNNSXHT3FTA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNNSXHT3FTA[/video]
Can't film buildings in public all of a sudden? Wow.
[video=youtube;XNNSXHT3FTA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNNSXHT3FTA[/video]
Can't film buildings in public all of a sudden? Wow.
TOareaFan
Superstar
Absolutely agree.....protest groups lose me, however, when they take their protest to the "brick through windows" "newspaper boxes as projectiles" situation....not only do I lose my support for them, I lose any interest in knowing what drove them to the streets in the first place. So not only is their method (when they drop to that level) scary, it is counter productive.
Precisely!
Darwinkgo
Active Member
I am pretty sure you have never been allowed to - but it is rarely enforced. It is why people have the right to remove their property from Streetview (it isn't Google just being nice). Beyond owning a building, building owners technically own the buildings 'image'.
It is pretty weird but that is the way it is.
Long Island Mike
Senior Member
Secure zone for G-12: A possible commuter's nightmare?
Everyone: After looking at this map of the secure zone for the area I now wonder how this will affect TTC Subway riders,
GO Transit commuters and VIA Rail passengers using Union Station-are plans being made for service during the G-12 Summit?
With the Convention Centre's location right along the main GO/VIA rail lines thru Union Station will trains be detoured to other
stations or locations if possible? Will the TTC close some Subway stations or even suspend service during this event?
In short: Could this potentially be a commuting nightmare for those that use public transportation in Toronto?
Thoughts from Long Island Mike
there's this really cool thing now called Google. Give it a try. I did and found this in less than 30 seconds:
Everyone: After looking at this map of the secure zone for the area I now wonder how this will affect TTC Subway riders,
GO Transit commuters and VIA Rail passengers using Union Station-are plans being made for service during the G-12 Summit?
With the Convention Centre's location right along the main GO/VIA rail lines thru Union Station will trains be detoured to other
stations or locations if possible? Will the TTC close some Subway stations or even suspend service during this event?
In short: Could this potentially be a commuting nightmare for those that use public transportation in Toronto?
Thoughts from Long Island Mike
TOareaFan
Superstar
The currently announced plans actually make transit the far superior way to move around. From what I have heard, the biggest current inconvenience is that the front doors of Union will be closed and people will be forced to exit through the path system and not come above ground till they were away from Union.
That said, that big yellow area in the map you show ("potential security zone") is very large and if things are expanded or if the unkown occurs.....I guess everyone who has to be there during that time will just be dealing with the unknown and the unexpected!!!
That said, that big yellow area in the map you show ("potential security zone") is very large and if things are expanded or if the unkown occurs.....I guess everyone who has to be there during that time will just be dealing with the unknown and the unexpected!!!
Don't know if anyone picked up on this inconvenience as well:
Downtown patios to close before G20 summit
May 06 2010
ctvtoronto.ca
Downtown restaurant owners are upset they'll have to shut down their patios for two weeks before the G20 summit begins on June 26.
"It's not affecting us for two days of the summer, it's affecting us for the entire month," said David Bagley, owner of Cora's Restaurant on Blue Jays Way.
The restaurant is just a few hundred metres from the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where leaders of the world's 20 largest economies will gather this summer.
"With good weather, which June usually is, weekdays you're probably looking at $2,000 a day. On the weekends, especially on the weekend of the summit, it'll add up to … close to $20,000," he said.
A meeting last week didn't inform businesses about the patio restriction.
Coun. Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) said shotgun weddings have been planned better than the G20 summit.
"When it comes to getting the details as to how businesses, residents and local parks and even things as simple as restaurant patios will be affected, every day it's a different idea," he said.
Vaughan thought the rationale might be that violent protesters could use the patio furniture to damage other property.
Restaurants and other businesses will only find out if they are in the higher-level inner security zone two weeks before the event -- something that could bring even more security restrictions, he said.
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Downtown patios to close before G20 summit
May 06 2010
ctvtoronto.ca
Downtown restaurant owners are upset they'll have to shut down their patios for two weeks before the G20 summit begins on June 26.
"It's not affecting us for two days of the summer, it's affecting us for the entire month," said David Bagley, owner of Cora's Restaurant on Blue Jays Way.
The restaurant is just a few hundred metres from the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where leaders of the world's 20 largest economies will gather this summer.
"With good weather, which June usually is, weekdays you're probably looking at $2,000 a day. On the weekends, especially on the weekend of the summit, it'll add up to … close to $20,000," he said.
A meeting last week didn't inform businesses about the patio restriction.
Coun. Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) said shotgun weddings have been planned better than the G20 summit.
"When it comes to getting the details as to how businesses, residents and local parks and even things as simple as restaurant patios will be affected, every day it's a different idea," he said.
Vaughan thought the rationale might be that violent protesters could use the patio furniture to damage other property.
Restaurants and other businesses will only find out if they are in the higher-level inner security zone two weeks before the event -- something that could bring even more security restrictions, he said.
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E.B.
Active Member
Toronto wants to be considered a world-class city, but don't make it inconvenient.
We can't have it both ways.
Think New York/United Nations. Does anyone think they don't like the inconvenience? What about London/2012 Olympics, Paris, and Rome?
We can't have it both ways.
Think New York/United Nations. Does anyone think they don't like the inconvenience? What about London/2012 Olympics, Paris, and Rome?
CityPainter
Active Member
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I keep reading comments along these lines, and I feel I have to respond. I think the crux of the complaints from Torontonians revolves around the fact that the entire event is being planned by the federal government in Ottawa. Suggestions from the City of Toronto -- such as locating the G20 events at Exhibition Place, where they could be more easily isolated from the downtown core -- have been ignored. It is the federal government who is insisting on locating the summit in the most inconvenient and insecure place possible, at the apex of all all our subway and train lines, in an area where tens of thousands of people live, shop, eat, play and work.
When similar summits are held in other cities, I strongly suspect that those cities themselves are more heavily involved in the planning process. In fact, the cities you mentioned are capitals of their nations. Were the summit to be held in Ottawa, I suspect it would be somewhat better planned.
As for the Olympics comparison, I don't feel it is valid: Toronto is hosting the 2015 Pan Am games, for example, and the city itself has been enthusiastically involved the planning from day one. Toronto is going to benefit in many ways with improved infrastructure and positive exposure, assuming all goes well. On the other hand, all Toronto will likely gain from the G20 is lost business revenue, smashed windows and bad publicity. The poor planning we've seen so far virtually guarantees this will be the case.
So, in the end: Ottawa's poor planning will lead to inconvenience and bad publicity for Toronto. Placed in the larger context of the current government's historical disdain for Toronto, it is not surprising that many of us are less than pleased with the whole idea.
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Darwinkgo
Active Member
Events at the Ex wouldn't have been better - it would have been far worse. Moving that many VIPs between the hotels and the venue a couple times would be truly awful. As it stands, the ex is being used as the media centre. The Metro centre would need just as much security if the roles between the ex and metro were reversed.
E.B.
Active Member
You can't guarantee that the above problems will occur. And as noted by Darwinkgo, their would be significant problems anywhere.
As for bad publicity, I don't agree. The protesters attend all these major events. So we won't be any different on that count. Toronto will be the centre of world attention. We've never held a gathering of this many world leaders, along with their staff and the worlds media.
The worlds attention. Isn't that the main reason cities want to host the Olympics and other large events? And what does New York, Paris, and London have in common? (World Centres). Many of us want Toronto's image to be that of a cosmopolitan city. And I don't think the exhibition grounds captures that.
As far as business losses are concerned, maybe their will be in the short run, but what is benefit in the long run?