Thank you Montreal Gazette for trying to bring some perspective to last week’s mayhem surrounding the G20 summit in Toronto.
Were you to limit your reading or viewing to certain outlets, you might assume the world almost ended this past weekend in Ontario’s capital.
Toronto did have a hard weekend as thugs did manage to grab some headlines with their hooliganism. The police on the whole did excellent work though some mistakes might have been made. Yet I have got to say I am getting a little sick and tired of the all-too-predictable criticism about how bad it was, along with the now-fashionable critique of police and government behaviour. Sure we should review and reflect. But we should also accept that Canada plays in the big leagues, which means we have to do our duty and take some of the lumps that comes with that.
Toronto is a world-class city and international financial centre. Canada, as a member of the G20, like other countries, has to take its turn and assume responsibility for hosting these events. Given the G20’s economic focus, Toronto was a logical choice when our number came up. Sure, bands of travelling professional agitators came to town made life difficult for a few hours; yet Toronto still stands tall as those idiots cowardly retreat to their hovels.
Sometimes being a world leader means getting a little bruised and dealing with the temporary disruptions of living up to our commitments. And yes, to make ourselves feel better, we can analyze ourselves into a stupor over what could have been done better, though that already seems to be well under way.
