3 Men, $50,000,000, No Rules!

...Industry Minister Tony Clement, the mayor of Huntsville, and the general manager of Deerhurst Resort chose the 32 projects that received funding -- with no regard for the needs of the summit or the conditions laid down by the government.

The fun will  come in connecting the 32 projects to the 3 people--who benefited from which project, and so forth.  For example, Tony's gazebo.

The Toronto G20, Boiled Down

Because can somebody tell me what else was actually accomplished?

H/T

Riot In T.O.: How It All Went Down At The G-20

Zig-Zag was there, and got away to write about it. A few notes:

1) Probably the most interesting bit is his schematic of the Black Bloc rampage:

2) On the numbers taking part:

Finally I stumbled upon the 'break-away' march as it neared the downtown financial district, going south on Bay Street. There were perhaps 600-700 persons, and I could see a loose and chaotic Black Bloc was there as well. Black-clad affinity groups were spread throughout
one section of the march, but there were many other militants with masks as well. Many people had no masks, or just a bandana over their lower face (not an adequate disguise, by the way).

Elsewhere, Zig-Zag sets the actual number of Black Bloc members at 100-150.

3) One iconic moment occurred during the protests when riot police attack a crowd that had just finished singing O' Canada. The youtube clip is here. Ziggy's remarks:

After an hour of this, the OPP retreated and left the area, marching out as they had come in, in columns of two. The crowd surged back across Spadina and into the block where the damaged cars were. Then the second police car was set on fire to cheers from the crowd (most of whom weren't protesters). After fifteen minutes of the cop car burning, the OPP returned. Then more cops, including horse-mounted pigs and buses of RCMP and Newfoundland Constabulary arrived, all dressed in full riot gear (a truly national effort).

[..]

At one point, a person suggested the crowd sing 'Oh Canada' (the national anthem), as if the spirit of patriotism would endear them to the line of riot cops facing them. Another fool walked to the front and sat on the street, with his back to the cops, and persuaded others to join him. As soon as they finished singing the anthem, the riot cops charge, trampling several.

4) There was no police conspiracy, as in the case of the Montebello summit, where police infiltrators were identified on the basis of their footwear by...well...me. In Toronto, incompetence and immobility were the order of the day:

The ability of the bloc to move quickly enabled it to outmaneuver the riot cops, who were hampered by a slow response time. Wearing up to 80-90 pounds of gear, they could not move fast enough over any distance. Just to get to an area required moving chartered buses or
convoys of mini-vans through city streets (not an easy task even under normal traffic conditions).

I observed one convoy of vans, for example, moving to stop the protest that was eventually mass arrested on Saturday night (at the Novotel Hotel). After the protest had passed south down Yonge St., the convoy rolled up and stopped at an intersection. A pig got out of the lead vehicle and began walking back, telling others he had extra batteries for their radios. Pigs got out of the vehicles and made last-minute adjustments of their gear, then got back in. The whole process took some 5-10 minutes.

5) The Bloc treats other protesters as, essentially, human shields. Zig-Zag even makes reference to the Afghan/Iraq insurgency.

6) Zig-Zag discusses a number of "solidarity attacks" in the wake of the summit. It's maybe significant that the bombing of the armed forces base in Trois-Rivières by the Résistance Internationaliste is not mentioned. Maybe they're not part of "the movement"?

So there you have it.

H/t

Tomorrow, Anyone Carrying A Black Plastic Bag In Toronto Better Be Prepared To Eat A Truncheon

Security appeared reluctant to physically stop the older woman from ambling up to the Queen and she gave the monarch something in a black, plastic bag.

My prediction, based on recent history.

PS. just noticed the shitty grammar from the Globe. You're not bloggers, people! You're Canada's NYT.

Walter Russell Mead Trashes G-20

At first glance, the G-20 looked harmless. As predicted, it cost much and accomplished nothing. No decisions were taken, no minds were changed. Politicians had their pictures taken; the press hailed mushy communiques as breakthroughs and delusional protesters played silly ‘revolutionary’ games.

That would be fine under normal circumstances; wasting taxpayer money on pointless pageantry is one of the least harmful things the world’s political leaders ever do.

And he's just getting warmed up.

Given Mead's worries re the world economy, you have to wonder about those nations (like our own, for example) that are looking to wind up their stimulus packages and bring in austerity measures. If you look at the U.S. housing market over the past six months, its clear that the only thing holding it afloat was the federal first time buyer's tax credit. Now that that's been removed, home sale have gone back into the tank. It's very much unclear right now if the current, tenuous economic recovery can stand on its own. As mentioned in the comments section: Krugman is right.

Next Time, Let Calgary Host The Damn Thing

I'm safe in Ottawa, by the way. Wonderful city; I've dropped about $100 at bookstores I never know existed (Argosy, All About Books), and found that bar that served the wonderful raspberry beer (The Clock Tower).

Radical Commie Confronts THE MAN

Read James Laxer's subversive rantings here.

Meanwhile, Jim missed this dangerous protest, where police were forced to "don riot gear" to stop radical samba bands from playing Latin music that didn't involve Carlos Santana.

Or was it all an elaborate charade to sneak Jim through the lines where he might convince this foreign leader to fly straight and ditch a couple of the wives?

Defenders Of Democracy Need Donuts!

Another shot of the G20 security scene in downtown T.O., via Impolitical (who gets i from someone else who, presumably, works downtown. Hopefully, he doesn't get found out and busted as a terrorist).

Fake Lake, Free Booze!

“It’s really pathetic,” said one staffer. “It’s almost like a wading pool for kids — and not a very good one.”

The good news is the canoes surrounding “Piggies Cove” are beautiful.

And, even better, is news the bar that’s been set up for the fine people of the media — all ready to serve local Ontario beer and wine to journalists, for free of course — is spectacular.

Free Booze + journalists + proximity to water = seeds of tragedy. Hopefully, everyone will pass out face-up.

Also, I think maybe I've tried one variety of Ontario wine and found it highly chewable. Stick with the Streamwhistle, media folk.

PS. You wouldn't believe how many images google kicks up when you search for "drunk journalists".

PPS. Shania Twain will be singing at the G20: that's definitely a "drink until the darkness claims you" moment.

Because Cops Need Jobs Too

Normally, on a warm summer weekend, I would spend my time cruising downtown TO's used bookstore-strips, now in tragic decline due to the Internet and a general increase in stupidity, and then reading my new-bought treasures at some local sports-bar, dressed pretty much like this guy here (except that I would be wearing one of my many, many pairs of sports sandals, because way back when when everyone wore sandals and stuck flowers in their hair was a Golden Age and you youth of today, with your green hair and nose rings and your tattoos and that shitty music.... all suck magnificently).

But not this weekend, with the G8/G20 lock-down in force. The wife and I are off to Ottawa because she's allergic to the smell of tear-gas and they've got book-stores in Ottawa and its a nice cultural center that's less than a plane-ride away. (Wish they had better restaurants, though)

Anyone around over the weekend that wants to quaff a few beers, email me at bigcitylib@hotmail.com and we'll see what might transpire. I think I've rigged up something Sunday afternoon with Balbulican, Marie Eve, and Dr. Dawg himself, who will, for a small fee, actually let you touch that crazy mustache. I won't reveal the location until later, and privately, to avoid assassins and unwanted press attention, but it will be somewhere near the market.

H/T

Yo! Mark Holland!

Kady writes:

Liberal MP Mark Holland heads back to the National Press Theatre for yet another press conference on "Conservative waste" at the G8/20 summits, although at this point, it's not clear whether he has any new tidbits to share or simply wants to keep the $1 billion security cost in the news cycle for another day.

And, as Imp notes this is the kind of security a $1,000,000,000 buys you:

1. The G8 security team moves fast! Exposed as a major security breach, a "doozy" was one word used, in reference to the Deerhurst Inn's floor plans being available online. They're still up after being on the national news last night (fast forward to 7:00 min mark). Good work security team!

I see synergy!

PS. Presumably the lake the lakeside rooms are beside is a real, and not a fake, lake.

Yin & Yang At G20 Summit

On the one hand, the Harper Tories have demanded a vast shrubbery as their signature green initiative at the G-20 summit; on the other hand, they're removing trees, for security reasons, in the city core.

More Summit Madness? $1,000s For Wooden Fence

Greg Weston writes:

Down the hall from Loonie Lake in the Toronto media centre, taxpayers are being hit up yet again, this time for something called “The Living Wall.”

Summit organizers are contracting a massive wall of pre-cultivated plants that come with their own irrigation system.

This, we are told in government documents, will be the G20 summit’s “signature environmental project.”

“Leaving an environmental legacy is an important component of the overall environmental strategy for the G20 summit.”

(Speaking of legacy, Toronto taxpayers will have to take care of this vertical flowerbed for the next century).

How much The Living Wall will end up costing Canadian taxpayers is anyone’s guess.

With two weeks to go before the structure has to be in full bloom, the summit management office sent us a note saying it still had no cost estimates for the project.

Likely translation: The bill for this thing is too outrageous for publication.

Actually, Living Wall is a T.O.based company. That's a picture of one of their product at the top of the post (there' a wood frame under the foliage). And while the "pricing" section of their website says "coming soon...", we can find preliminary cost info in one of the company brochures:

Don't know how long this fence is supposed to be, and I'm a bit unsure as whether Living Wall is is actually building the living wall (the project was put out to tender), but we can safely put its cost well into the $10,000s, I think.

I will leave it to my readers to decide whether the cost is worth it.

A Billion Bucks Worth Of Fresh Paint...

H/T

Overheard In London

"WTF have you been?"

"In the Little PM's Room. Stay away from the curry in this town."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Creeps up on you, y'know?"

"Feel Better now?"

"Oh yeah! Oh...YEAH! Anything happen while I was away?"

"Russians annexed Baffin Island. Nothing up there but polar bears and Eskimos."

"Any of them vote for me?"

"Nah."

"So fuck 'em. Hey, is this a smile?"

"Uhh..."

"Yes or no?"

"You're trying, Stephen. You're trying."

PMO Releases Official Picture Of Harper At G20 Summit

Stephen Harper at morning briefing.

Grit Girl Shows Up, Even If Stephen Harper Doesn't

A couple of updates on the burgeoning international scandal known as the Locked Latrine Affair.

1) There will NOT be a 3rd reshoot of the G20 group photo after Harper missed the 1st one and both Silvio Berlusconi and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono went missing from the 2nd. Way to screw up history on behalf of Canada, Prime Minister Dickhead.

2) Apparently, while the PMO claims that Harper missed the photo-op because he was being briefed by an aide, BBC insists it was because he was "stuck in the loo" while history was being made. But if you think about it, these are not mutually exclusive possibilities.

Think about it, but try not to picture it in your head.

Update: Canadian goals met at G20, claims Prime Minister Stephen Harper. "I am feeling quite relieved," said the PM. "Unburdened, as it were."

History Knocks: Harper In John

Harper's press secretary says that after the working session this morning the Prime Minister was pulled aside by his officials who wanted to update him on the latest draft of the Leaders Communique to be released later this afternoon. The briefing wasn't brief enough, and so Harper was late for the photo op and missed it.

At least that's their story.

BBC TV has a different story. Their economics correspondent is reporting that the Canadian Prime Minister missed the family photo because he was "in the loo".

The PMO says it is sticking to its story, has tracked down the BBC reporter to straighten her out, and expects a correction.


Not only that, when they did the do-over photo session, Silvio Berlusconi went missing. Maybe we can make a deal with the Italians:for historical purposes, they can have the picture with our guy in it, we'll take the one with their guy in it. And both our nations can try to forget.

PS. Can we officially refer to Harper's G20 visit as "gaffe-filled" now?