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Stephen LeDrew

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Canada's National Shame

Posted: 06/18/11 11:31 AM ET
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Canada's reputation around the world has been severely tarnished as images of thugs burning cars and looting stores has been splashed across the news screens of every country.

Strikingly similar to the pictures from Toronto's G20 just last year at this time!

Vancouver police were quoted recently that "things had changed" and that there was no possibility of riots after a hockey game. No repeats of 1994! How naïve to think that -- there will always be thugs if the police are not present at big events.

But the real issue is what is becoming of policing in Canada?

Last year officers in Toronto were ordered not to take action as hoodlums burned police cars and looted stores on some of the most prestigious streets in the city.

A day later, instructions were to kettle hundreds of citizens for hours in the rain.

Police brass said that they needed to question every person in order to determine who were the criminals --and yet many persons detained in the rain were not ever approached by the police. A year later, still no accountability, and no answers.

In Vancouver, cars were burning in the streets, stores were looted, and very little, if any, action taken. Today, police are asking the public to send in pictures so they can try to identify the culprits!

Is this what policing in Canada has come to? Let the thugs take over and then ask the public for clues? If the rank-and-file officers in Vancouver are anything like those in Toronto, they are embarrassed by their leadership. We need answers, and accountability.

 
Canada's reputation around the world has been severely tarnished as images of thugs burning cars and looting stores has been splashed across the news screens of every country. Strikingly similar to ...
Canada's reputation around the world has been severely tarnished as images of thugs burning cars and looting stores has been splashed across the news screens of every country. Strikingly similar to ...
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Stephen LeDrew Stephen LeDrew: You Still Have Some Explainin' to Do, Toronto Police Brass! Miro Cernetig Miro Cernetig: Battleground Vancouver: We Look World-Class Silly Matt Gibson Matt Gibson: My Experience During the Vancouver Riot Supriya Dwivedi Supriya Dwivedi: Vancouver 17 Years Later: Still Rioting Bill Mann Bill Mann: Vancouver Ashamed After Rioting, But Damage Is Superficial Bill Mann Bill Mann: Social Media "Vigilantes'" I.D. Vancouver Rioters -- And Then Some Carol Mott Paul Mott Carol Mott and Paul Mott: Vancouver Rioters: What Punishment Would Fit the Crime? He Says, She Says Neil Boyd Neil Boyd: Young Men in Groups: Reflections on the Vancouver Riot Kolby Solinsky Kolby Solinsky: Real Canucks Fans Wouldn't Riot Georgialee Lang Georgialee Lang: Vancouver's Shame Larry Leach Larry Leach: Did Police Media Strategy Contribute to Riots? Len Berman Len Berman: Top 5 Sports Stories Danny Groner Danny Groner: Three Lessons From Vancouver's Post-Stanley Cup Riots
Stephen LeDrew

Stephen LeDrew: You Still Have Some Explainin' to Do, Toronto Police Brass!

The G20 report does not answer those questions that embarrass rank-and-file officers and still make the average citizen shake their heads. Torontonians of all walks of life deserve better -- Chief Blair should come clean.

 
 
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kiddub
151 Fans
09:07 PM on 06/18/2011
What'd I say? lol
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Glooscap
2 Fans
08:56 PM on 06/18/2011
"Vancouver tried to believe that its citizenry was more mature and sensible than it actually was - surely that's the side we would prefer them err on? The alternativ­e would be to assume that every group larger than four people is a potential mob and to remove everyone's civil liberties entirely to avoid a repeat."

Actually there is a lengthy continuum of police and city actions between the two alternatives you suggest. The official discourse indicates that what transpired is NOT preferable and the city and police leadership needs to rethink its naive and self-righteous position that Vancouver is immune to quite predictable mob mentality.
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Michael Katsu Low
0 Fans
01:47 PM on 06/18/2011
Being someone who has experienced both riots in Vancouver,I can say that police did a far better job this time,clearly drawing on lessons gained from the previous.Respectfully,I would say you don't have a clue.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
LawTalkingGuy
Rational human male.
598 Fans
 
12:47 PM on 06/19/2011
You say "better". The author notes that cars were burned and shops smashed. That may be "better", but if you think it's "good" or "acceptable" then with respect I think you are the one in need of clues.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
arkymorgan
Nobody knows the trouble I've been...
837 Fans
01:31 PM on 06/18/2011
I really don't know what would have been the right thing to do in Vancouver.

Certainly during the G20 fiasco, the police behaved like a nascent and thuggish force from some budding dictatorship, but the situation in Vancouver surely stemmed at least partly from a desire _not_ to imitate Toronto's example.

It looks, from the footage, as if Vancouver's police force ought to have moved in earlier, but the footage might be misleading: it is disjointed and inconclusive. Vancouver tried to believe that its citizenry was more mature and sensible than it actually was - surely that's the side we would prefer them err on? The alternative would be to assume that every group larger than four people is a potential mob and to remove everyone's civil liberties entirely to avoid a repeat. Somehow, I don't think that's where any of us would want this to go.

And why should we think that because we have a police force, we are somehow uninvolved in the crime-solving process? Do we think because we pay for a police force, our involvement and responsibility is complete? How many times have we railed at situations where no one who witnessed a crime is willing to disclose information to help bring the culprits to justice, because they 'don't want to get involved'?

The two examples are, in fact, quite different: they involve different motivations, different people both as rioters/demonstrators and two different police forces. Comparing them is overly simplistic.
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