Were the summits worth it?

Now that we've seen everything that happened before, during and after the summits, do you think they were worthwhile?

Comments

[Michelle Hruschka]

Give me liberty: There is a facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=135629036463012&ref=ts

People have been posting all sorts of good information, some of which lead to links yuo probably know of as well. Many, pages now.

Hope that helps

[GIVE ME LIBERTY]

Wow, Michelle, interesting stuff... I'd love if you could post links to the youtube video and the article about the police being told to not arrest "Black Bloc"... That's quite an important piece of the puzzle if it's from a credible source. Please post links when you get a chance. Thanks.

[GIVE ME LIBERTY]

"What we need to do in Canada is ban protests all together." Wow, I'm speechless. Let's just put prozac in the drinking water while we're at it.

[Michelle Hruschka]

Ian: first, let us get one thing straight, I am not a unionized worker, never worked in a unionized workplace. But let me tell there are times I wish I had union protection because at least I would have been entitled to a grievance process.

Not all private sector employers are the good guys, many of them step on workers basic rights.

Many healthcare workers are covered by union contract and well I guess those workers should be talking to the union leadership if they are unhappy with the amount they are paid.

Any healthcare worker who may work in private sector and gets crappy money may need to organize to fight for better working conditions and pay. Many healthcare workers go through temp agencies and well the law has changed,
people can go into the Ministry of Labour website and search for Temp Workers Bill and see the changes in the law.

As far as your rant goes there, you come across as a bully. You cannot intimidate me from exercising my right to free speech, whether you agree with my stance or not.

A movement is growing and I am sorry Ian but your views are not by any stretch of the imagination the majority. Many people have come up to me and thanked me for the work I have done and I am doing.

Solidartiy for all workers!

[Peter Michael]

"And is it really fair that an uneducated autoworker gets paid more than a healthcare worker who has gone to university for 4 years?"

Amen, Ian. Unions are the Robin Hood of free enterprise and capitalism. They steal from the rich and give to the poor. And then the unions cry to the government wondering why all the businesses that are drained financially go to where they can produce their products for cheaper.

[John]

The correct answer to the question is:
Yes

[Ian]

Michelle, I am so tired of your babble about pensions and benefits. You do realize alot of us self employed taxpayers have no benefits and no pensions. If I don't go to work everyday I don't feed my family, i get paid piece work, and I wouldn't have it any other way because I am a hard worker and the more I do the more I get paid. So, really, I couldn't care less about your poor little workers who are already overpaid, overprotected and underworked. I had to work in an union environment once and it was the most abrasive and vile work atmospheres ever, nothing was ever done because they were too busy worrying about their entitlements. And is it really fair that an uneducated autoworker gets paid more than a healthcare worker who has gone to university for 4 years?

[eat that and don't forget to pay your taxes]

$1,000,000,000,000 eat that and pay your taxes.Praise the leader.

[Michelle Hruschka]

Yes just exactly what was th G20 all about, we know what they are publically telling us but is that the same message as what was discussed in camera.

If they were discussing austerity measures, which would affect many workers in which they could lose not only their jobs but benefits and pensions as well. This should be a wake up call for all people.

They will cut social programs which could leave those who are the most marginalized with very little.

I have watched video on you tube that clearly shows that the police were letting those who were dressed like the black bloc behind their lines.

Now it seems that the head of the police union is coming out and saying that officers were told not to arrest those who were dressed like the black bloc.

[nate borges]

its pretty obvious that most people only know about the G 20 and its funtions from what they read in the newspaper. Having a vidio confernece would not work. It would be like asking a girl out to a video chat insted of acutally taking her out on a dinner date. Sure its cheaper but wouldnt accoplish much. In the end she'll be someone else.
We want to increase our exports and have a voice on world issues. we all depend on this.
someone watches too much star trek.

[Kathy Hagan]

The G20 leaders saw nothing of Toronto or Canada except the riots on TV .
I think the people who damaged property have no cause or protest they are terrorists just there to stir up trouble.
What these summits achieved in the past is passe today, they are too big and everyone wants their own piece of the pie.
The key issues of the summit; Global economy and reduction of poverty do not require all these leaders to congregate in one place . In our fragile world much could have been accomplished by teleconferencing and at a much less cost.
It is my hope that the next G20 conference in Korea will be cancelled and other means of world leaders communicating between each other will be less costly.
Billions of dollars is way too high a price, anarchists and terrorists can find some other way to have fun.

[Dave]

What they might have done is provided a far more people friendly environment, put a whole extravaganza together, have a string of concerts and put a global festival together showing off the best of all the nations had to offer and let the people in the area get a taste of what the visiting nations have to offer us when they come to visit.

Distraction instead of separation would likely have gone 5 time farther and everyone would likely have had a far better time, and the economy would have enjoyed it too.

[Peter Michael]

"Michelle enters stage right and proceeeds to issue her NDP talking points."

Ian, do you realy expect otherwise? Every opinion is either about how bad workers have it or the poor in Canada.

As for the protestors, it is obvious that a few troublemakers made the whole lot look bad.

What we need to do in Canada is ban protests all together. They serve no purpose this day in age, nobody pays any attention to them, unless they become rowdy and riot, and they just plain don't work.

Just use the summit as an example. Not that I even care but I, any likely most others, don't even know what ANY of the protests were about.

[GIVE ME LIBERTY]

Have you ever been to China, Ian? I have been fortunate enough to visit and I have to say, it shares some similarities with Canada. On the exterior, China seems to be a great vacation spot, lots of culture, nice people... But when you dig deeper or find the government upset with you, it's an entirely different experience. It's unfortunate but the western world is going in that direction. China is the globalists' proving ground (a big experiment) to see what will work against a population. I think journalists and protesters having Toronto Police pull down their pants for them so they can urinate in a cage is pretty demeaning and a violation of human rights. We are constantly moving in that direction and sure the NDP will take us there... But the point you're blind to is that the "Conservatives" are happy to lead the way as well.

[Michelle Hruschka]

Mister Doobulous: I think the two posting you did were great, it really brings many things into focus.

We have members of our own community, who blame the poor, yet fail to bring in co-hesive debate into the picture.

I look at your picture and did go into wikipedia to check out who this MP is, as I have never heard of him.

I note these two items in the posting in wikipedia, the first being that he delivered wheelchairs to Afghanistan. I guess from my view I find that sort of an oxymoron, since the military uses weapons that causes people to become disabled.

The second item was his reasoning for the high expenditures for transporting his family back and forth across the country. Yet we have people who are accessing welfare, who cannot even get amounts for tranportation to look for work.

What sad times these are!

[Gene Simmons]

Oh, P. Stevens, CHCH is horrible. The only ones I like are Nick Dixon, Steve Ruddick and Brian Wood. The rest of the gang irritate the heck out of me for one reason or another.

[ED2]

It was a complete waste of money and time and resources. Why is a summit not held at the UN building in New York where Security measures are or have been in place for years, and the delegates facilities are geared to multi-languages and cultures?

It has been verified over and over that summits are destructive tools for those in society who talk the talk but cannot walk the walk.

Low IQ idiots destroy a city in the name of FUN, not causes.

[Mary McDonald]

I think everything was fine with G Summit. What they should have done is held it in the city of Hamilton. A crappy city with the protesters to destory that City would be an improvement. Money well spent.

[Ian]

Michelle enters stage right and proceeeds to issue her NDP talking points.

I balk at your use of the word "police state" and am offended by it. If you have every left this country and travelled to china (NDP's protege) you would know what the word police state means.

Lastly, when you talk about your work for the poor, use the proper phrase "the lobbying for the use of hardworking taxpayers money to fund the lazy".

[mister doobulous]

Posted by: Michelle Hruschka | June 28, 2010 at 07:10 PM

We are being abused in REAL TIME by MP's who think the Taxpayer's Dime provides a GPS direction to their concept of heaven.

BRITISH EXPERIENCE …

MPs who were caught fiddling their expenses will be among those receiving a share of £153million in golden goodbyes when they stand down from Parliament at the general election.

They will each receive average £1million pay- off, consisting of gold-plated pensions and generous resettlement grants that private sector employees could only dream of.

Nearly a quarter of MPs, 148, have announced they are quitting. Many of them have made the decision to leave in the wake of the expenses scandal.

Same thing happened in Nova Scotia … Taxpayers Dimes Abused the World Over

I believe your question was; 'Where do the marginalized / impoverished fit in the MP's concept of heaven?'

Based on what I'm seeing in terms of MP's rushing about trying to justify themselves, I don't think the poor are given a minimal consideration.

[mister doobulous]

Posted by: Michelle Hruschka | June 28, 2010 at 05:00 PM

Who you vote for is entirely your own business.

Speaking of spending big money, Harper, Flaherty, Baird and Clement represent the trailing STYNK from the Harris Kremlin years.

We respect your views on the potential calamity that awaits world economies if they fall into the dreaded double-dip phase without the required growth to regain forward movement.

If the double-dip happens, we will ALL face the dreaded social implications.

Meanwhile, ENJOY one creative taxpayer's attempt to call his CONservative MP's spending largesse to a halt!

http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/65752surreyLetters_May28_2010.jpg

Personally, we can hardly wait for Sheila Fraser to perform her value-for-money audit of MP expenses.

A whole lot can be concealed within each expense element on a single line, as represented by the MP expense summary trailing.

http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/GeneraLInformation/MembersExpenses-2008-2009-e.pdf

[P. Stevens]

What I find disgusting is that in the media frenzy to report all the stupidity going on, it was not mentioned once on CHCH or any other media that we lost another two lives in Afganistan. The Spec saw fit to make note on page 10 today. What a shame that these mindless thugs garnered so much media attention while the death of more fine Canadians goes unreported. In my opinion this whole excerise is a waste of time and money. The issues were discussed and agreed upon before the summit even started. But by all means let's feed the huge egos of the leaders and so called protestors alike.

[GIVE ME LIBERTY]

t8: I already accused Michelle of this... And I was simply wrong dude. The NDP do like to waste money. And we sure as hell know the Liberals like to waste even more money... And now, our righteous "Conservatives" have joined the club. They wasted our money big time. Such a massive security budget and look how calm and controlled things turned out. I shouldn't surprised though, these are the same "conservatives" who gave us OHIP and provincial income tax, and what do you know, helped lock us into HST. Thanks Stevo. This flock of Christian sheep are happy to give up their liberty for freedom... It's quite interesting that Dalton proved his allegiance to the NWO this time around. I had always suspected it but it's out in the open. He really is not ashamed about enslaving us. The summits were worth NOTHING seeing as the most prominent "achievement" was that Harper suggest everyone cut our debt to GDP ratio. After he spend $1 billion on the security that sat back with their hands tied like Caledonia Part 2.

[Michelle Hruschka]

t8: What makes you think I work for social services. Please explain that to me.

What because I advocate for people who live in poverty, is that what makes you think I work in social services.

[t8]

Michelle my bet is you probably vote NDP and work in social services and I know they like to waste alot of money..

[Michelle Hruschka]

What a waste of money. I am sure that provocateurs were engaged by the police, what else explains why they allowed certain things to happen.

Then to use that as an excuse to go after many peaceful protesters and those from the media, says a lot of what is possibly coming down the line.

I find it very strange the few people who live among us, who actually like the idea of the police state apparatus. They think they could never lose their homes or lose their pensions or their jobs and to be left with nothing. These types are in a state of denial.

All I know is that I did not vote for either Harper or McQuinty, neither one of these two leaders or their parties represent my views.

[nate borges]

I think it was very worth it. We live in the greatest country on the planet. I am proud to have the leaders from the 19 other biggest nations come for a short visit. I would have prefered to see signs welcoming the other world leaders rather then the anarchist. I guess someone one got it right when drawing up the security plans. No wonder we had to spend so much. Wish we had a better welcoming for our guests.
I love this country. If you dont like it here then save up your welfare checks for a plane ticket and get out. Dont come back!

[Gene Simmons]

I still say teleconference would have been just as effective. There was a Bell Canada (boooooooo!!!) commercial a few Christmases ago showing musicians in various parts of the world making music together. So its got to be possible.

Why did the protesters and others yell at the police "Billion Dollar Bullies"?? They were just doing their jobs. The real billion dollar bully was the PM...the protesters should have gotten in front of him and yelled that at him. But why bother...he would have just given that irritating smile and moved on...

[Ian]

As if the regular Joe knows what went on behind closed doors between 10,000 international delegates. And this doesn't take into account what the poll maker meant by worthwile. If you are a bottom feeding vandal "activist" then of course you don't think they are worthwile, you'd rather have the country fall apart and let anarchy reign. If you are a taxpayer with a mortgage or any international investment, then you would say Harper hit it out of the park.

[Peter Michael]

Simple answer after seeing the destruction which occurred is no.

These summits need to be held on neutral ground or far from civilization.

A cruise ship or maybe even the arctic or antarctica where trouble makers likely won't appear seems a logical choice.

[Peter Swire CMA]

Were the summits worthwhile? This is a very good question warranting closer analysis.

Did the summit create a sense of greater world peace? No.

Did the world's leaders help the poor, the sick and the marginalized in Canada and abroad? Some work was done for maternal health and Haiti but again not much.

Did we improve our sense of optimism in the economy and political leaders, here and abroad? I do not feel any beter off.

Did we create rules to prevent another financial bubble and collapse? Nothing concrete to stop excessive greed.

We did get some agreement on reducing government debt over time.

Did we do anything on climate change and the environment? I have tried to find reports on it but can't.

On a positive note, many leaders did meet and talk. It will take time to develop trust and mutual understanding so that they can express their own country's hopes and fears in a safe environment.

We need to remember that the G20 is very new. Rome was not built in a day but it collapsed very quickly.