Talk about a buzz kill.
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All those cops on the street in preparation for the G20 summit this weekend are sure giving Toronto the Good a tourism-killing fascist vibe. (And the trains aren’t even running on time.)
Already people are hightailing it out of town, so concerted the effort of the Integrated Security Unit to scare the bejesus out of everybody.
The bright side: maybe the greenhouse gas reduction from fewer cars on the streets will help us meet our eco targets.
The authorities seem to have descended into a state of paranoia, erecting an ominous cage around the core and preparing to deploy sound cannons and water cannons against the protesting masses.
Have you noticed your internet connection slowing, caught a strange hum in your cellphone?
Hey, it wasn’t me that started with the conspiracy theories. The cops have done a pretty good job of weaving their own.
The G20’s meeting in an underground bunker, after all. And wasn’t but a week ago that we were scared straight by reports of a cache of fertilizer of the same kind purchased by the Toronto 18 to plot their terrorist mischief. Turned out to be a farmer who needed the stuff for his fields.
Then a day or two later, word leaked to a local radio station about cop uniforms going missing from the cleaners. The cops couldn’t (or wouldn’t) confirm.
I’m beginning to think propaganda is being spread to justify the massive $1 billion-plus expenditure on security for the summit.
I mean, have you checked the Delta Chelsea or Hyatt? Hotels are choked with cops from out of town, part of the brigade of additional troops being brought in to defend the perimeter. Wonder what the beer tab at the hotel bar will be.
For all the heightened scrutiny and over-the-top surveillance, there seems to be little anxiety about security at the Island airport, despite concerns about “potential risks” that the mayor raised with summit organizers earlier this year.
The mayor’s spokesperson, Stuart Green, says, “There has been no further discussion or correspondence on that specific matter through our office, but the concern was raised directly, so federal officials are aware of the mayor’s position.”
Local councillor Adam Vaughan is calling for the airport to be shut down during the G20. He calls it a “soft target.” He may be overstating matters some. Vaughan is not a fan of the airport, as most people know.
But he notes that Porter’s planes have been known to land after the 11 pm curfew without personnel in the flight tower – to say nothing of the airport’s proximity to residential neighbourhoods in the event of an emergency.
“There’s only one street out of the place,” Vaughan says.
But the feds are dictating the rules of engagement on this one, and they’ve decided that keeping the airport open to ferry summit participants to and from Ottawa (and perhaps parts beyond) is more important than whatever security challenges that may pose.
Porter spokesperson Brad Cicero refers questions on the matter to Toronto Port Authority chair Mark McQueen, who says, “It isn’t advisable for us to comment on the specific enhanced security precautions that are being taken.”
But according to a spokesperson for the ISU, no special precautions are being taken.
Flights arriving from U.S. destinations (Boston, Chicago, New York) will pass security clearance stateside as usual, and the customary baggage screening will take place for domestic flights leaving and arriving at the airport.
Security is a recurring issue at the Island airport, and not just because of the G20. Porter has been lobbying U.S. authorities for customs preclearance at the Island airport so its passengers can fly into U.S. airports without going through customs south of the border. But Pearson airport officials have objected, since that would mean fewer U.S. customs security personnel at Pearson.
It seems odd in the climate of security overkill that the Island airport is getting a free pass, given its proximity to the G20 gathering itself.
Maybe PR-conscious G20 organizers didn’t want the enduring image of the summit to be mostly white men in suits arriving by helicopter on the makeshift pad cut out of Roundhouse Park across the street from the Convention Centre.
Or perhaps Vaughan, et al., are suffering from an insecurity complex. Can you blame them?
enzom@nowtoronto.com
