Cornwall ON – Burning Yak for May. The media in Canada is abuzz about the BILLION dollars in Canadian tax payer monies being spent on security for the G8 and G20 meetings taking place in the Toronto area.
Sure there’s some partisan opportunity here, but to me the question is simply what is it about the G8 and G20 meetings that requires so much security? Is it just because of the coagulation of leaders in one spot or is it the issues that these meetings trigger?
We’re already had one Ottawa Bank fire-bombed and several others defaced in the Toronto area. There seems to be more and more of an organized effort of protest at each meeting.
What do you think Canada? You can share your Burning Yak here and post your comments below.
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Yet another make work and spend the taxpayers money situation on something that honestly, if its going to cost a BILLION (thats 1 with nine 0’s attached to it), thats absolutely ridiculous. Move it to somewhere else that won’t require so much security costs attached to it!
This is an outrage if they do this. And I hope the country revolts against this!
Harperite opportunism and stupidity at its crassest. Whenever they are challenged on spending, the pitiful Harperites start chanting “adscam, adscam.” Time they were taken to the woodshed on that. “Adscam” is nothing in comparison to Harper’s continuing abuse of our tax dollars.
Despite years of talk we can see that Harper has no idea what fiscal restraint is.
What is a burning yak?
…because it’s cheaper than spending five billion? Really though, sound cannons booming base through people’s guts. I bet the micro-wave blasters are next. Cook em, Dano. It’s the theater of cruelty.
There was a time when the ruling elites would gather quietly plot our future. Seems that they now have to have a circus so the folks at home can see them in action and be thankful.
I was going to go to the protest on June 26th, however, I don’t want to lose my ability to hear. King Stephen has re-defined democracy. My right to protest is now gone, along with a lot of our civil liberties.
I am saddened to see what Canada has become under King Stephen.
The money needs to be spent because it’s our turn to host the G8 and G20 Meetings. Other countries have spent big money on these meetings so why not us? We cannot renege on our responsibility to those foreign countries. And who’s fault is it? The protesters, the critics, those who would try and tell us how we must live our lives, the anarchists, complainers, etc. Thats who’s fault it is. So spend!
Security cost for the G8 in London last year = $20 million.
Security cost the year before in Italy $ 359 million.
I think that most places are covered (read saturated) with CCTV. They solve a lot of crimes that way. Here in Canada all we seem to do is complain about CCTV being too intrusive, etc., etc. When will we wake up and fly right?
You know where the priorities are when the federal government spends just about triple the yearly budget of Canadian border patrol on a three day circus. Apparently politicians are far more deserving of protection than the whole country. Do they have to have a meeting? Probably. A billion dollars to have meeting is far and beyond excessive, it is obscene. Time to let the self awarding politicians know what you think by sending them a message.
I wonder if the Auditor General can get a look and see where that Billion went?
There is no need to hold the event in Toronto. Canada has so many more remote locations we can use Meech Lake, or some venue in Saskatoon or Lake Louise. Placing it in Toronto is a huge boondoogle and waste of money. It is much harder to keep people safe in this turmoil of a city then it would be elsewhere. I am a fan of Harper but in this case he really truly dropped the ball
It is media driven. If all went well in a remote location there would be no cause for the media to sensationalize this meeting.
It is being spent in Ontario, thank you.
Mr. McGuinty needs it according to this mail floating around –
He increased all the licensing fees from your car to your boat including fishing and hunting.
He introduced the health care premium (not called a tax) some couples pay as much as $1,500.00 a year.
He doubled the price of most lottery tickets. (Not called a tax).
He has put a ECO tax on many containers such as paint cans and window washer fluid most people still don’t relies it is on your bill he kept that one real quiet
He has put a disposal tax on all electronics.
He has put the disposal tax back on tires
Now don’t forget that all except the health care premium are subject to the GST and PST (taxes on taxes.)
And now he has pasted the HST the largest tax on the province ever, the only other tax in Ontario that ever came close to this in the past was the health care premium.
He pasted this bill even though 76% of the people in Ontario were against it.
This HST will provide the Province with an additional THREE BILLION dollars a year.
And now we will have our S.M.A.R.T. meters that we will have to pay rent on and do our laundry in the middle of the night and we are going to pay big time for air conditioning from now on because when we need it the most that will be prime time. As if it costs any more to produce hydro at two in the afternoon or ten at night another tax grab.
Let us not forget the E health scandal with one point two billion dollars wasted and paid out to friends and relatives.
What was Mr. McGuinty’s answer to this (well if the people of Ontario don’t like it they can show it in the next election.) Nice attitude. This was after he fired the CEO and gave her a severance package of three hundred thousand dollars not bad for only having the job for seven months.
Then the windmill power plant he awards the contract to KOREA seven BILLION DOLLARS. One would think that there was some place in Canada or North America that could have built these.
He closed the emergency rooms in Port Colburne and Fort Erie because there is not enough money and there has been two deaths since because by the time they got to St.Catharines it was to late.
But awards a hospital in Toronto three million dollars in the riding where there just happens to be a by- election to replace George Smitherman
He has taken the richest most prosperous province in Canada to one of the poorest and has created a deficit of TWENTY SEVEN BILLION DOLLARS and he still has a year and a half to go.
And don’t forget his nice little salary increase of $40,000.00 a year, millions of people in the province don’t earn half that.
All the MPP’S got 14% increase
Now that they all got nice increases he comes out with a new budget and freezes all provincial employees wages for two years.
He has increased the hydro by 10% in April of 2010.
He has increased the tax on liquor and wine by 10% in May of 2010
But mister no tax McGuinty will retire with his nice comfortable pension and all his paid benefits.