#toronto #g8 #g20 – When I found out some time ago that my home town Toronto was to host the G8 and G20 summits, I was quite proud in a way because in a way it showed that Toronto has definitely become world class. However, watching the TV news coverage of the G20 and the violent protesters, I get very mixed feelings now.
Of course, not all protesters are to blame. In fact, the vast majority are peaceful and it’s a handful of them who spoil it for the rest. These violent trouble makers set police cars on fire, smashed retail windows in downtown Toronto and even looted some of these businesses. The ‘handful’ actually turned out to be over 500 individuals who were arrested so far and put in a makeshift holding area which use to be a film studio in Toronto.
When I saw the video footage of these protesters who caused trouble on TV, there are certain things they all have in common. They are often young and certainly not your success bound people either. They certainly lack emotional intelligence.
Even if they had legitimate issues to bring up for a peaceful protest, they chose to cause trouble and commit violent acts against innocent property. Their acts are certainly not displays of high emotional intelligence that’s for sure. They really spoil the G8 and G20 summit events which Toronto residents (and all Canadians) should have been proud to host for the world.
I feel really bad especially for the business owners in downtown Toronto who had their establishments damaged and looted. All three levels of government, municipal, provincial and federal have told these business beforehand that they would not cover any damages and that they should rely on insurance instead. However, most insurance companies are not willing to cover for such events.
So many of these business owners will unfortunately be on their own for picking up the pieces, if any are left over. I’m pretty sure that these business owners will not have fond memories of the G20 summit in Toronto.
Toronto is otherwise a great place to hold events and conferences. Don’t let these sour events from the Toronto G20 summit prevent you from holding your event here.
