Fun at the Office

This is the scene (taken with my new Blackberry - woo hoo) that greeted me when I got off of the subway on Monday. University Ave - one of the busiest streets in the city . . . home to businesses, three major hospitals, research facilities, and the Ontario Legislature had been closed by a protest.

Truth be told the protest had been going on since last week. Toronto is home to the largestTamil population outside of Sri Lanka. 100s of Tamil-Canadians were protesting outside the US Embassy (three blocks south of the office) in hopes that the US and Canadian governments could somehow stop the attacks on civilians inthe Sri Lankan civil war.

What struck me particularly though was the respectful and peaceful nature of the protest. Despite the brutality of the fighting int he civil war there was no hint of violence here (well, until today but those hooligan youths were arrested and the chanting continued). It was a very Canadian protest -- remembering origins but recognizing that here protests are orderly and lawful at all times.

It has been odd to be working away in my office overlooking the protest or up in the gym (it is on the top floor of the building) running on the treadmill and observing the yellow-vested police officers patrolling. All day long there is the sound of chanting, whistles, the odd siren, and the drumming coming from helicopters as the hover over the street.

Sure it is a bit annoying. It will likely be VERY annoying tomorrow because I have to drive to the office but at the end of the day I am happy that I live in a country where people with concerns can take to the streets and engage in a democratic protest. There are lots of countries where blood would have been spilled by now of the tanks sent in to crush things.

Heck - I have taken part in my share of protests myself. Thank goodness for democracy!

Comments

[Barb Cabot]

New Blackberry toy...you are cool!

[Jerry]

LOL - hardly Barb. I've had a BB for awhile but it was an older model. It took me awhile to damage it to the point that our IT department had to replace it with a newer one - with a camera - woo hoo!