Protestors Arrested
- Thread starter Rockslinger
- Start date
Wrong, they're breaking the law with their protests right now.Rockslinger said:
Protest the legal way and then they wont get arrested
And your point is? If protesters break the law, they get arrested ... not deported, not branded as un-Canadian, not subjected to hate-crimes, not exterminated ... what a novel idea!Rockslinger said:
Rockslinger said:
They're not protesting against anything in this country...and they're blocking traffic- that is illegal. If they protested standing on the grass at Queens Park, or at City Hall no one would be arrested.
This was a very interesting series of protests.
I'm not a lawyer, but I suspect why the authorities (policia & politicans), did nothing regarding the protests on the Gardiner Express way, is that no one knows the legal ramifications.
In Canada, you're allow to protest, freedom of association, ecetra ...
Now, the bitterness with balant racist overtones we have seen on Terb treads, the detractors of the protestors basically come down to a basic point, that the Tamil supporter should not protest on the roads blocking traffic.
So I think it boils down to two sides saying
1) we have "the right to protest"
2) we have the right to use the roads or in other words, we have "the right to be not inconvenienced"
I do not believe this is a safety issue regarding the protests by the Tamils last week. Watch the news reports, and the police were providing their services, protecting the Tamils right to protest and directing traffic. Therefore, safety on the roads was not an issue here.
If someone hires a lawyer and it goes to court, I cannot see how "the right to protest" will be trump by someone else "the right to be not inconvienced".
That's why I think the politicans and policia won't arrest anyone merely for protesting on the roads. If it goes to court, and Tamils win with "the right to protest" anywhere including the highway, then those suburban drivers will find their sorry asses stuck forever in downtown traffic more often.
I'm not a lawyer, but I suspect why the authorities (policia & politicans), did nothing regarding the protests on the Gardiner Express way, is that no one knows the legal ramifications.
In Canada, you're allow to protest, freedom of association, ecetra ...
Now, the bitterness with balant racist overtones we have seen on Terb treads, the detractors of the protestors basically come down to a basic point, that the Tamil supporter should not protest on the roads blocking traffic.
So I think it boils down to two sides saying
1) we have "the right to protest"
2) we have the right to use the roads or in other words, we have "the right to be not inconvenienced"
I do not believe this is a safety issue regarding the protests by the Tamils last week. Watch the news reports, and the police were providing their services, protecting the Tamils right to protest and directing traffic. Therefore, safety on the roads was not an issue here.
If someone hires a lawyer and it goes to court, I cannot see how "the right to protest" will be trump by someone else "the right to be not inconvienced".
That's why I think the politicans and policia won't arrest anyone merely for protesting on the roads. If it goes to court, and Tamils win with "the right to protest" anywhere including the highway, then those suburban drivers will find their sorry asses stuck forever in downtown traffic more often.
No I don't have the "right" to have a sit-down protest anywhere I damn well please - let’s say in the middle of the 401 because I'm upset with Chinese treatment of Tibet. Yes I have a right to protest, and a right to petition just not in the middle of the highway - It's known as balancing rights.Polaris said:That's why I think the politicans and policia won't arrest anyone merely for protesting on the roads. If it goes to court, and Tamils win with "the right to protest" anywhere including the highway, then those suburban drivers will find their sorry asses stuck forever in downtown traffic more often.
I'd have a far better case if 1,000 people set up on the front lawn at Queen's Park and the police wanted us to move around back - however, even then discretion might counsel moving to the other side of the building.
However, of recent years Canada has taken a much more passive attitude to this than have most other countries e.g. France, the U.K., Germany, the U.S.
I'm still amazed/puzzled that the protesters are at Queen's Park or up on the Gardiner but seemingly nowhere near the Sri Lankan Consulate-General.
It seemly does raise the issue quite what is it that they are in fact protesting?
It seemly does raise the issue quite what is it that they are in fact protesting?
Oh goodie, another apologetic thread that favors the Tamils.Questor said:
Wouldnt wanna be called a racist, now would we???
How many is that now????
Honestly I don't see it so much as hate for Tamils - although there is some, as much as I see it as a reaction to some extremely stupid and troubling political moves by the protestors. I don't think these threads would have been here at all if there were no Tamil Tiger flags at the protests and if the protests were entirely peaceful protests held in public parks with the necessary permits etc. . .Questor said:Oh goodie. Another hate thread against the Tamils.How many is that now?
The problem the Tamils face, and they are v-e-r-y slow to realize, is that the vast majority of Canadians simply don't give a shit about them. And it doesn't help when you're a terrorist organization with AK-47's on your "flag".
Yeah, you got in the news. So what? Joe average Canadian still doesn't give a shit. On the contrary, joe average Canadian is getting pissed off about being continuously inconvenienced. And then you expect joe average to support the Tamil cause?
Fuck 'em. It'll all be over in Sri Lanka soon enough.
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
Yeah, you got in the news. So what? Joe average Canadian still doesn't give a shit. On the contrary, joe average Canadian is getting pissed off about being continuously inconvenienced. And then you expect joe average to support the Tamil cause?
Fuck 'em. It'll all be over in Sri Lanka soon enough.
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
Another point is that the Toronto protest is a bit like Irish-American support for the IRA in the 1970's.Keebler Elf said:
You don't see (or least I haven't heard about) the protesters protesting about the Tamil Tigers using civilian fellow Tamils as human shields and shooting at them and in some cases killing them when they attempted to flee to the Government side of the siege lines.
They're protesting because they want media attention and to cause inconvenience, in turn hoping that simmering anger will cause us to contact our MPs and MPPs and demand they do something. The UN body that monitors human rights -- that Canada is NOT a part of -- is who needs to step in here.
Aardvark154 said:
Extremely stupid and troubling have nothing to do with it. Nor do Tamil Tiger flags. These are public relations issues. The flags clearly symbolize suicide bombers to many people. Suicide bombing is a form of terrorism and I am not here to defend that. But we might consider what the flags represent to the Tamils that are holding them. Perhaps they represent a national identity. On the other hand, if the protests were held in public parks, we would have never heard about it.
Would it be a fair comparison to look at the fleur de lis in Quebec. During the FLQ crisis, there were many demonstrations where fleur de lis flags were flown as a symbol of national pride. Would it be fair to point to the flag and say that it is the flag of terrorists? And then to condemn all those holding the flag as well as all present at the demonstration as terrorists? This comparison probably doesn't work on all levels, but I am hoping that people can see while a bunch of Tamil flags at a demonstration does not mean that 200,000 Tamils in GTA support suicide bombing. Nor does the presence of the American flag mean support for torture condoned and used by the Bush administration. How about the use of the Israeli flag? So all Jews are terrorists?
The Red Cross describes what is happening in Sri Lanka now as a humanitarian disaster. What would you do if your parents were there? Write letters to your MP? I think it is a complex issue and I don't really know what the right thing to do is. It is clear that blocking the Gardiner Expressway is not winning them any friends. I believe that some Canadians like to latch onto certain aspects of this issue, like the Tamil flags. But I don't for a minute believe that is the issue. The issue is that people's lives are being disrupted over something that they don't really care about and they don't like it. And they don't want to try to see it from the point of view of the Tamils. But Tamils are Canadian citizens too. And apparently there are 200,000 of them in the GTA. The Canadian government needs to represent them too.The Bandit said:So you think what they're doing is right?
But I don't need to defend the Tamils. I think it can be argued that they are both right and wrong in the tactics they have used. What disturbs me is the hatred that comes out here on terb and elsewhere. It saddens me that people carry this hatred around in their hearts. It is a poison in our society.
Questor said:
Fucking bullshit.
They have AK-47's on their fucking flags. You can spew bullshit about symbolism all you want. It means fucking violence. Or, alternatively, it means as a collective they're some of the stupidest fucking people on the planet for putting a gun on their "flag."
Only a few more days to go and the Sri Lankan government will have solved the problem for us.
National Anthem: "And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air"Keebler Elf said:
Great Seal of America: a bald eagle clutching arrows.
This does not mean "fucking" violence? As a collective, the Americans are some of the stupidest "fucking" people on the planet? Mr. Elf, I am trying to examine the issue here in an intelligent way. I am pointing out that there are different ways to look at the issue. All you can come back with is "fucking" and that the only legitimate way to see it is your way.
