A Sad Canada Day
For the first time in my life, I'm ashamed to be Canadian.
We Canadians are overwhelmingly proud of our country. Why shouldn't we be? For all of its shortcomings Canada has often (although not always) shown itself to be a fair country, especially when dealing with civil disturbances and inner conflicts.
The police reaction to the recent G20 protests in Toronto, however, was shameful. They used excessive force dealing with protesters that were overwhelmingly peaceful and arrested hundreds of protesters that showed no aggression whatsoever. Consider the following videos.
In this video, the police attack a group of protestors without provocation (except for singing our national anthem).
And in this video the police surround and close in on a large group of protesters, also all exercising their rights to non-violent protest. The don't allow anyone to leave and then arrest them.
It is a sad day for Canada. Tonight I will go out to a Canada Day party and, like most Canadians, drink a ridiculous amount of beer. This time though, I will not drink to celebrate. I will drink to forget.
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I'm a travel writer and photographer currently based in Tainan, Taiwan where I founded and edited Xpat Magazine, one of Taiwan's largest and longest-running expatriate periodicals. My writing and photography has been published in various print and online publications including Taiwan Today, the Taiwan Fun Magazine Group, and TransitionsAbroad.com. I speak English, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese (to varying degrees) and am available for assignment. I can be reached through the form on the contact page of this website, or at xpatmatt (at) gmail.com.
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maybe this will brighten your day a bit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlvLJUrbhKo&feature=youtube_gdata
That's awesome! Thanks Ben.
Here is a vid in Victoria of RCMP brutality
The RCMP do little in my hometown to stop crime, once my friend was arrested for catching a thief who stole someones wallet, the RCMP also witnessed my brother get pushed through a glass window and did nothing to sto the guy
Damn man! That was harsh. I used to live in Victoria too.
So this didn't make you ashamed to be Canadian?
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2009/12/01/the-urgent-threat-to-world-peace-is-%E2%80%A6-canada/
Well, ya got me there Steve. You caught me committing hyperbole. I read that when it was first published (I receive his articles by email), and I was damned ashamed.
Seems like everybody is reading Mr. Monbiot these days. Quite the journalist, I must say. And a hell of a good writer.