G20 merry-go-round
Disappointed - that's how I would describe myself throughout the G8/G20 (G20 Standoffs Continue In Toronto - Online, June 27).
I am disappointed with our leaders' willingness to set mediocre goals for reducing extreme poverty and improving the health of the world's poorest people.
I am disappointed that the media coverage of protesters has focused on the tactics, and not the message of those who oppose the policies and agenda of this elite clique of world leaders.
I am disappointed with the actions of what appears to be not a small group of protesters who have managed to justify an outrageous billion-dollar security price tag through violent demonstrations, and a failure to denounce these actions.
I am disappointed with the actions of the police, who showed a profound lack of restraint in handling this situation both before and during the summit.
Jason Nickerson, Ottawa
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Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair had two tasks for the G20 summit: First, a shared responsibility to protect the delegates; and second, a duty to protect the city of Toronto. The second he abdicated, turning over our fine city to a motley gang of thugs and criminals while the world and his forces watched.
If he does not resign, he should be removed from office.
F. Michael Walsh, Toronto
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I am puzzled and increasingly worried by the automatic naming of street marches around the G20 as "protests."
It's a voice. It's a voice in a democratic conversation which so far has been carried on in closets by the power holders who think they also have all the wisdom.
Bill Kennedy, Toronto
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These protesters say they want to fight poverty and injustice. Do they not realize the millions of dollars spent on security and repairing the damage they cause just makes the city poorer?
Mark Eltis, Toronto
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Let's each say "thanks" to a police officer today. What a civilized performance we saw from them this weekend.
Les McIlroy, Toronto
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Oh Canada! That the law does not prohibit the wearing of masks by thugs posing as demonstrators is beyond comprehension.
Donald Adams, Brighton, Ont.
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This weekend as I watched groups of dedicated provocateurs roam downtown shopping areas with impunity - smashing, spray-painting, and setting fires - it struck me that security operations are a lot like movies: the bigger the budget, the dumber the product.
Can it really be that with over $1-billion and 5,000 officers at their disposal, no one thought to earmark any to protect Toronto and Torontonians?
Louise Morin, Toronto
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TV news shows focus on the protesters, so called, to fill the long hours between real events at conferences such as the G20, giving them an entirely unwarranted importance. Most of the time, it's unclear what the marchers are protesting against, and when it is clear, it is usually not on the G20 agenda.
Even when it is relevant, it is doubtful that governments hear the messages, and certain that they pay no attention. In short, the "protests" are pointless except to give publicity to the organizers.
If news media gave the demonstrators the attention they deserve, which is very little, fewer would be drawn to participate and the chances of violence reduced. The time and place to pursue causes is during elections when there is an opportunity actually to achieve change.
Anthony Westell, Toronto
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$1.2-billion over three days for police and security; $1.1-billion over five years for maternal health - seems to pretty well reflect the priorities of the Harper government.
Jim Reynolds, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.
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Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair may have a difficult job right now, but one hopes this is not an excuse for his proclamation "there are limits to free speech," setting himself up as both judge and jury.
Speech is free in Canada, at least until a charge is laid under our dubious human rights legislation. Then, it is to a judge and jury to decide.
Kenji Fuse, Victoria
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Re G20 Civil Liberties: The Other G20 Cost (June 26).
Imagine my surprise when I could not find the clause in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that refers to the inalienable right to destroy private property, set fire to police vehicles, strike officers performing their duties, storm and destroy security fences and rampage through summit venues unhindered and anonymously.
The changes to the Public Works Protection Act last only for the duration of the summit, and empower police to ask that people within a specified distance of the fence identify themselves, and not climb up on said fence. The idea that anonymity is a basic human right would negate driver's licences and health cards, and promotes the violence so often associated with large demonstrations.
The Toronto police have bent over backward in the past to see that the right to free speech is assured even in trying circumstances, yet the whining goes on.
R. Steven Bell, Sherbrooke, Que.
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The Public Works Protection Act in Ontario seems to me to illustrate the ineptitude of the police and the security establishment.
Not even $1-billion worth of resources and all of the powers of the Criminal Code are enough for them to keep Toronto safe. They need to resort to a significant infringement of civil liberties.
Doug Campbell, Calgary
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Alongside my neighbours, I joined the large march on Saturday afternoon. We felt proud to be there with thousands of other Canadians, demonstrating our commitment to peace and social justice.
We passed by hundreds of police without incident. Later, while catching a meal on a patio, we heard glass breaking and saw a mob of about 150 coming around the corner, hurling chairs into windows.
Someone threw a bottle through a window, showering me in broken glass. There were no police in sight.
I have participated in numerous demonstrations in Canada, the United States, Europe and South America, and I have never seen such a dereliction of duty.
The police knew that they should focus their energies on the Black Bloc. But when the rioters came smashing their way up the main street of Toronto, the police disappeared for half an hour.
We must hold this government responsible for wasting $1-billion dollars on security measures, and then trying to justify it by allowing people to riot.
David Langille, Toronto
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Yokel-day-de-do
Mark Schatzker writes that his Ukrainian great-grandmother "tweaked the (perogi) dough to make it far suppler than anything in the old country," and that the secret involves more "yokes" and less egg whites (My National Dish: The Mighty Perogi - June 26).
But what did she do with the oxen once they had been set free from their yokes?
Andrew Matthews, Etobicoke, Ont.
Smoke gets in baby's eyes
Margaret Wente may choose to view this protective and nurturing maternal behaviour as oppression (Motherhood: The New Oppression - June 26), but most mothers simply want the healthiest baby possible with the best chance for survival.
While her mother's generation was often blissfully unaware of the potential harm that smoking and alcohol could cause the fetus, we now know that the road to optimal infant health lies with avoiding exposure to these toxins and to breastfeed in the first year of life.
Paul Thiessen, MD, Vancouver
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The word dad or father appears exactly once in Margaret Wente's article.
While I would agree that parenting is more challenging than in previous years, we need to acknowledge the new responsibilities of dads in this generation.
I am waiting for a stranger who stops me grocery shopping with three wild boys under four years of age to acknowledge the duties, fatigue and joy that both parents encounter daily rather than what I normally hear: "Your wife must be so exhausted."
Tim Lillak, Etobicoke, Ont.
The re-shaming of M. Gzowski
Mick Gzowski's article (The Un-Googling Of Mick Gzowski - Focus & Books, June 26) reminds me of a letter to the editor published in The Globe in the early 1970s. The fellow said he was writing to thank the newspaper for not embarrassing him by publishing his previous letter arguing that the sun revolved around the earth.
I never knew who to blame for the disastrous Stéphane Dion video of December 3, 2008. I do now. Thanks, Mick.
Roy A. Derrick, Vernon, B.C.