The Cost of the Toronto G20: A billion dollars well spent?
In nine days, Canada's largest-ever security event will arrive in Toronto. The Mark looks at some of the social and economic costs of the G20, and asks whether they're justified.
Designated Speech Area
by Maryam Adrangi
Toronto based Environmental and Climate Justice Organizer.
- First Posted: Jun 17 2010 05:19 AM
- Updated: about 11 hours ago
Estimated cost: See Human Security
The Designated Speech Area (DSA), the police-sanctioned protest zone for the summit, will be in Queen's Park, just north of the Ontario legislative building, roughly 2.7 kilometres away from the G20 events. Live video of the area will be streamed to the summit site so that visiting dignitaries can view protesters from afar.
However, various groups claim that they plan to march and organize outside of the DSA. Read more about the peaceful and militant groups that are planning to march in Toronto during the summit here.
Precedents: At last year’s G20 summit in Pittsburgh, some 3,000–4,000 people peacefully protested over a number of global issues. However, certain unlawful assemblies in the downtown area and University of Pittsburgh campus resulted in 66 arrests, injured protesters and damaged business fronts. Smoke canisters, rubber bullets, and sound cannons were deployed by the police.
Similar isolated clashes occurred during G20 demonstrations in London, where protesters smashed their way into the Royal Bank of Scotland in London’s financial district. The group says it will be at the G20 summit in Toronto.
A group of self-proclaimed anarchists calling themselves FFFC-Ottawa has taken credit for the firebombing of an RBC bank in Ottawa last month. They say they will be present at the G20 summit in Toronto.
This is the first G20 summit with a designated protest area.
Quick Facts: Const. Wendy Drummond says that members of the Integrated Security Unit will monitor the area as long as necessary.
Quotable Contributor
“People are coming together to build a world we want to see. A world we want to see does not have a designated protest zone, or a designated free speech zone. People are coming to have their voices heard and expose the illegitimacy of the G20. Those voices shouldn't be contained or caged or repressed. It's not about security for 20 leaders and finance ministers, it's about silencing people.” Maryam Adrangi
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