To: theintellectual

I missed your comment. Spamassassin canned it before I had a chance to look at it, so it must have contained some of its key words. I am forced to think that it wasn't very polite. If you'd care to resend it, I've turned on my spam long now.

That really ties the can on Blair's tail, if true. This is an indication of a divided command, which everyone knows does not work. I guess we can pin the tail on that donkey after all, eh? Well deserved and earned before this fiasco, too, I believe.

BTW, can't you get a better avatar. It is very out of focus and indistinct.

Sure it does. I was being facetious right back.

Well, I guess that makes you a gLiberal or a Trendy-pee supporter. Poor Mike, didn't he kick the can up there in his northern retreat? You shouldn't speak ill of the dead. It's too bad that history says the next Ontario government will be Conservative (another word for Federal Liberal?). The tie-dye couple and their followers should be replaced by the environmentalists (Green Party) as the crying-in-the-wilderness party. Olivia, Jack & Co. have had their innings and should let someone else at the plate.

Well, you are certainly right about Blair with respect to his command ability. He came up from the TPS ranks, and that is not, in my humble opinion, a qualifier for the rank of chief. If anything, it is a major disqualifier as you can't really command the old boys in this situation. In the military, commanders generally come from outside. So let it be with police forces. Now that he has demonstrated what a sycophant and clay-foot he is, he is now eligible for hierarchical exfoliation. His pal, David Miller, is certainly eligible for de-election next time out. He's been there too long, anyway. Hazel McCallion he is not! The city needs somebody strong, now, to face up the the pressures of being Canada's largest and most cosmopolitan city, not some ward hack.

The guy in Barrie who had overall command is eligible for crucifixion if enough wood and nails can be found. As more information comes to the light of day, we see this eminence gris of the whole mess trying to efface himself.

I am sorry for the couple from the Keg. However, they could not have gotten there without knowing there was trouble in the city. They should have gone out on another evening, just to avoid being caught as they did. Even though they have right on their side, it doesn't protect you from what amounts to a police riot. There are two million stories in the broken city, and this has been one of them.

The city will either interminably delay or settle any suits. I don't think you can sue any part of the crown without its permission, so things may be dicey here at best.

The inquiry, if any, needs to be conducted on neutral ground. How about Hamilton or Kingston?

Now let's see if anyone is looking at this old thread...

Hockey is all very well, but whatever happened to Lacrosse? It is, after all, Canada's official national sport unless somebody snuck a bill past that I didn't notice (possible, because I don't subscribe to the Canada Gazette).

Side note: My spelling checker has never heard of the past form of sneak (snuck). I suppose it wanted 'has sneaked', which I consider a really poor construction. Oh, well ...

“For many, it seems,” writes the Toronto Star’s Christopher Hume, “God is an Englishwoman.”

I really love how reporters are able to get a major sin of presumption and lese majesté into the same sentence. It is iconoclasts like him that keep the world spinning in reverse. Great use of the English language. Now how about saying something nice, for a change?

How I hate acronyms and alphabet soup. Why can't you people spell these names out?

Well, it is not worth spending several hundred thousand dollars on an inquiry unless and until the person running the inquiry has the power to bring charges against offenders.

All you people have been watching Spencer Tracy in Justice at Nuremberg, and believing that this kind of thing can happen now. The chief offender is the guy who was in charge of the OKW at Barrie (as I choose to call it). This generalissimo seems to have disappeared behind poor Bill Blair, who should not be used as a scapegoat.

As for Miller and his bunch of publicity seeking minions, there wasn't much that they could do once the action started. Miller could have proclaimed the Riot Act, which is within his powers, but I don't expect he even has a copy.

We all know the whole thing was mishandled, but I still believe that there was an unprecedented number of Pollyannas marching around as if nothing could possibly happen to them. If there is ever one of these gatherings in the city again, maybe the optimists and the foolish will stay out of the rain of bricks.

Protest marches and gatherings are just fine in semi-controlled circumstances when you are not expecting people like the bloc noir to be present, but, for God's sake, use an ounce of sense next time.

When the Feds throw the next party, what if nobody comes?

The police were probably in a caucus race with the OKW in Barrie trying to get the mandate changed from protecting the red zone, to jumping on the mess in the down town core. For a Billion dollars, they could have built luxury accommodations at either CFB Borden or CFB Trenton, and had money to spare. Now, I admit they would have needed the fake lake at Borden, but at Trenton, which is practically in the Bay of Quinte, they could have just taken them out to the Officer's Club island.

The shopkeepers should have been fully aware that any losses suffered due to the action of the anarchists was not covered by their insurance, nor would any company underwrite such a policy. they would have been better off to have boarded up and closed for the duration.

Seems to me there were a lot of Pollyannas involved in this mess.