Vancouver Citizens' Riot Shame

In some ways, the Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver justifies the actions of the police at last year’s G20 conference in Toronto. In both cases, there is wisdom after the fact.

Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu candidly acknowledges that with the benefit of hindsight, some things would have been done differently. The same can be said of the police in Toronto at the G20.

Ask any historian, or general, and they will tell you what should have been done, had they known before what happened later.  Second-guessing is the food of historians. And editorialists.

At both the Stanley Cup finals in Toronto and at the G20, rioters were poised to do what rioters do. Call them anarchists, hooligans, thugs, whatever, they were waiting their moment. At the G20 the spark, or fuse, was a relatively small groups of black-hooded people who smashed windows and vandalized and acted as a contagion for mob reaction. Vancouver too. And make no mistake, had the Canucks won the seventh game, rioting would have been in celebration, rather than defeat.

Riots are riots. They happen at sporting events around the world. Some are more lethal than others, but they’re not uncommon. Actions of a few incite mob reaction. One sees it in herd animals; one sees it in humans.

What makes Vancouver a bit different, is the outburst of anger and shame from the citizenry at what happened, and the groundswell of support the police are getting for their efforts at curbing the violence. Thousands of photos and videos are flowing in from the public to identify the vandals, thieves and thugs. All will be tracked down and prosecuted. Some have even begun turning themselves in. Parents are recognizing their kids, and making them accountable. That’s a positive sign.

It’s fashionable in Toronto to snipe at the police for what happened at the G20. Looking back, of course it was an error for cops to turn a blind eye to excesses that first day -- and to over-react on the Sunday.  But the police aren’t the ones who rioted. For people to suggest that it’s somehow “un-Canadian” to riot, is both silly and wrong. Those with memories can recall the 1955 “Richard riot” in Montreal, when Canadien hockey star Maurice Richard was suspended for the rest of the season, including the playoffs, for hitting a linesman.

I attended the next game, sitting in the box with my father and NHL President Clarence Campbell who had suspended Richard, and it was a surreal experience to feel the wrath of the crowd aimed at us. Street vandalism resulted in smashed stores, dozens of arrests and injuries. It doesn’t take much to turn a peaceful demonstration into a riot.

Democratic countries are not adept at controlling demonstrations that get out of hand. In France, which is more volatile than Canada, police are experienced and ruthless at crushing protests that verge towards riots. They smash heads early to deter mayhem later. It sometimes works. It’s refreshing and reassuring to see how Vancouver is responding to their Stanley Cup riot -- and how the city recognizes that without the police, they are helpless.

Vancouver (like Toronto after the G20 brouhaha) has become a source for comedians’ jokes in the US. In both cases, damnfool civil liberties zealots miss the point, and prefer to blame police rather than insist that offenders be held accountable, and discouraged from repeat performances.