Rioting for Rioting's Sake

There was nothing spontaneous about what happened in Toronto on the weekend. We all knew it was coming, and it did.

Now the recriminations begin – what went wrong, if anything, and why Toronto’s G-20 “demonstrations” turned into near riot and vandalism.

There was nothing spontaneous about what happened in Toronto on the weekend. We all knew it was coming, and it did.  Those who call it a “protest” that got out of hand, miss the point.

There really wasn’t  much in the G20 to protest.

The whole $1 billion fiasco was like a game, with protestors – rioters really, or “anarchists” to give them an exalted title none of them deserve – coming from all over to make mischief and rattle the establishment.

The other group, eager for action, were rank-and-file police ready to show they weren’t intimidated -- a happy break from routine police work to take on these dumbos.  Only the city and its citizens suffered.

And there was the media – cameras, really, without which no riot is complete. The weekend was mindful of anti-war, give-peace-a-chance protests of the 1960s, where rioting began when the cameras arrived, and not before.

Why torch a police car if no cameras are handy to record it? So 900 were arrested. So what? On CBC radio one woman complained that in custody she got “shitty bread with a piece of cheese, which proves to me I live in a fascist police state.”  Poor dear.

In the ‘60s there was the Vietnam war to protest. In Toronto, 2010, there was nothing at stake. Just a riot for the sake of a riot. The pre-G8 and G20 hype guaranteed the sort of reaction we got.

While only a relative few indulged in vandalism by smashing and burning, every protester who turned up to watch and encourage was an accomplice. Out for kicks and excitement. No Tehran or Gaza here.

The G20 protestors weren’t scary so much as pathetic. Rather like Al Gore, the great environmentalist who has nothing of consequence to say about the oil disaster in the gulf, while his personal life is replete with excessive use of fossil fuels. Flying the world and getting rich.

Some will blame the PM for holding the G20 in the heart of Toronto. Yes and no. This is Canada, and the PM should be able to safely hold a conference wherever he wants – and not have to waste $1 billion to do so.

It’s a pity our system is vulnerable to professional demonstrators and outsiders like the so-called Black Bloc who smash and burn and wear balaclavas to hide their identities. It takes neither courage nor conviction to riot amid a tolerant society.

In analyzing the G20 fiasco, there is no way that what happened could have been deterred. The build up was a magnet for elements that have nothing better to do. And it’s uncertain if the police wanted a peaceful gathering of world leaders. They probably looked forward to imposing peace by knocking a few heads. That’s a human response, too.

So Stephen Harper should be pleased. The only “victims” of the G20 summit were the people of Toronto who were forced off their streets, the shop owners who lost business and in cases had property damaged.

World leaders had a nice meal while people in downtown Toronto couldn’t go to their local Tim Horton’s for a cup of coffee.

Not a great bargain, but fun for those wielding clubs and batons.