So yesterday there was a very big protest here in Toronto, as Tamil protestors trying to get Canada to intervene in the Sri Lankan Civil War closed down the Gardiner Expressway for about five hours. The protests were certainly illegal in that they obstructed traffic without a permit, but were almost wholly nonviolent. (The police later announced that they arrested three people out of over three thousand.)
The following comments are taken from the CP24, Globe and Mail and National Post coverage.
IF YOU WERE REAL MANLY MEN YOU WOULD HAVE STAYED BEHIND AND GOTTEN SHOT BUT YOU DIDN’T DO THAT SO FUCK YOU
WHY CAN’T YOU BE LIKE THOSE OTHER BROWN PEOPLE?
MY HAVING TO TAKE LOCAL ROADS IS JUST LIKE WHEN YOU GOT YOUR VILLAGE BOMBED
IT’S ALSO LISTED IN MY HOMEBREW ANNOTATIONS TO THE FOURTH EDITION “IMMIGRANT’S RULEBOOK”
CATS AND DOGS SLEEPING TOGETHER
ALSO BANNED: THE SWASTIKA, THE FASCES, AND THE… THINGY THAT AL-QAEDA USES ON THEIR FLAG, WHATEVER THEY USE
THEY HAD LOTS OF GEARS AND A PLACE TO PUT A WATER BOTTLE SO YOU KNOW THEY MUST HAVE BEEN EXPENSIVE BIKES
THE CANADIAN WAY TO ACCOMPLISH THINGS IS TO WHINE REPEATEDLY UNTIL YOU GET WHAT YOU WANT – ER, BUT NOT HOW YOU’RE DOING IT
AND THEN THE OPPRESSED MASSES OF BMW DRIVERS WILL HAVE THEIR REVENGE
NOTHING SAYS “FREE SOCIETY” LIKE RANDOM SPOT CHECKS!
I GOT A SUR-GRIP ™ ON IT AND EVERYTHING
THOSE DARN PROTESTERS ALWAYS DRIVING DOWN PROPERTY VALUES
WHY AREN’T THEY PROTESTING ABOUT HOW THE NEW STAR TREK MOVIE DESTROYS THE VISION OF WHAT TREK IS SUPPOSED TO BE? I COULD GET BEHIND THAT
BROWN PEOPLE ARE LAZY!
SO, SO LAZY!1
AND BY “ENFORCEMENT” I MEAN “POLICE BRUTALITY”
SEE, IT’S FUNNY BECAUSE SOME BROWN PEOPLE ARE ALSO ARABS AND ARABS HAVE TOTALLY CRAZY NAMES LIKE KLINGONS OR SOME SHIT2
IF YOU WERE REAL MANLY MEN YOU WOULD HAVE STAYED BEHIND AND GOTTEN SHOT OR MAYBE YOU WOULD HAVE GOTTEN SHOT IN AFGHANISTAN BUT YOU DIDN’T DO ANY OF THAT SO FUCK YOU
NO I MEAN IT
THAT’S WHAT YOU GET FOR LETTING PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO PEACEABLY ASSEMBLE, DIPSHITS
SHE DEFINITELY SAW ONE OF THEM WAVING A SIGN AND IT HAD SHARP EDGES AND MAYBE SHE COULD HAVE GOTTEN A REALLY NASTY PAPERCUT
AND MY POINT IS THAT… UH… WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO PEACEFULLY PROTEST, I GUESS
IF YOU WERE REAL MANLY MEN YOU WOULD HAVE STAYED BEHIND AND GOTTEN SHOT BUT YOU DIDN’T DO THAT SO FUCK YOU AND ALSO FUCK THE PEOPLE WHO LET YOU INTO MY COUNTRY
NO REALLY I’M TOTALLY NOT SOME WHITE GUY SPOUTING OFF ON THE INTERNET
YOU EXPRESSING YOUR OPINIONS AND BELIEFS MAKES RACISTS MAD AND THAT IS ONYOU, BUDDY
BECAUSE WHEN I THINK “LENGTHY CONFLICT BETWEEN TWO RIVAL FACTIONS ON A SMALL ISLAND OVER THE RIGHT OF GOVERNANCE,” I CERTAINLY DON’T THINK OF THE IRISH
UH, WELL, TECHNICALLY AMERICA IS THE MELTING POT AND CANADA IS THE MOSAIC OF CULTURES, BUT I NEVER READ MY THIRD GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES TEXTBOOK SO NEVER MIND
CANADA IS POWERLESS TO INTERVENE IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS… “PEACEKEEPING?” WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?
WE TOTALLY KICKED SOME HEY-HOW-ARE-YA HEY-HOW-ARE-YA ASS! GOOOOOO WHITE PEOPLE!
I, TOO, AM UPSET THAT WE ARE NOT DISCUSSING STAR TREK
RACE IS IRRELEVANT SO STOP PRETENDING TO BE WHITE SO I CAN LOUDLY NOT CARE ABOUT WHAT COLOUR YOU ARE
THERE IS TOO MUCH TOERANCE
JUST LIKE THE IRISH!
IF CITIZENS TRY TO INFLUENCE HOW CANADA CONDUCTS ITS RELATIONS, IT MIGHT GET A SOCIAL DISEASE
ALSO THE SHEEPLE REFUSE TO RECOGNIZE HOW IMPORTANT IT IS THAT WE GET BACK ON THE GOLD STANDARD
ALL THESE BROWN PEOPLE MAKE ME NERVOUS
THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN USING CHILDREN TO PROTECT ONESELF FROM BOMBING RUNS, AND BRINGING CHILDREN ALONG TO A RALLY, BECAUSE IN BOTH CASES YOU CAN EXPECT TO HAVE THE AUTHORITIES VICIOUSLY ATTACK YOU. FARTLEBERRY HAS SPOKEN!3
“THEY’RE LIKE CHILDREN! LIKE LITTLE MONKEY CHILDREN!”
I WAS ONLY INTO THIS SCENE BEFORE IT GOT POPULAR ANYWAY; NOW IT’S, LIKE, METALLICA’S “BLACK ALBUM” OR SOMETHING
TAMILS CONTROL THE MEDIA! THE JEWS SOLD THEM THE MEDIA AND NOW THE TAMILS HAVE IT!
(UM, DUDE, MAKING FUN OF YOU PEOPLE USING ALL CAPS IS MY SHTICK, QUIT PRE-EMPTING ME)
YES, WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS FOLLOW THE SANE, SOBER EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION POLICIES THAT HAVE CAUSED SO LITTLE ETHNIC STRIFE AND ABSOLUTELY NO RIOTING OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT
I JUST WANT TO SEE THEM USE THE WATER CANNONS
I JUST WANT TO SEE THEM USE THE WATER CANNONS WHILE ON HORSEBACK
YOUR OCCUPYING A HIGHWAY ON LATE SUNDAY EVENING AND ACCUMULATING A NUMBER OF MISDEMEANOUR CHARGES OUTRAGES ME BEYOND ALL EXTENT FOR REASON
AND FINALLY…
Top comment: No real Canadians were inconvenienced by these protests, because as everyone knows, REAL Canadians ride their horses everywhere, hitch them up outside their igloos, and go eat their poutine and Timbits in polite silence.
My hat (made of real Canadian beaver fur, from real Canadian beavers) is off to all those brave men and women in their cars on the Gardiner protesting the presence of the Tamil protestors.
I myself plan to immolate myself (or at least develop a very inconveniencing sunburn) in front of the Eaton Centre to protest this protest. — Slab Beefbroth
- See, what’s ironic is that one of my former roommates is a professional chef. He’s whiter than I am, and he speaks Tamil, because he has to, because Tamils are as to Canada as Ecuadorians, Peruvians, Salvadorans and Cubans are to America – they’re the backbone of restaurant and kitchen staff in every city in the country, because they can cook anything and they don’t mind working the crazy hours. Tamils work ridiculously hard, and not just in the culinary industry where they dominate either. But of course they’re brown people so naturally somehow they must be scamming welfare. [↩]
- Which – I mean, come on, if there are funnier names in the world than Tamil names, which even they admit are long and elaborate to the point of craziness… [↩]
- I could have posted dozens more comments like this, and it particularly bothers me that there’s this expectation that brown people should expect to get clubbed down by police for peacefully protesting. [↩]
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37 users responded in this post
You know, coming from Sri Lankan roots, I find it hard to even find your mockery funny. The entire thing is terrible, truly terrible. That people can prove themselves even more terrible, via the internet…goes without saying.
I am disturbed by how many political arguments come down to, “If you just shut up about everything and work yourself to death without complaint, you’d be instantly vaulted to the Western middle-class and would have nothing to complain about.”
I don’t know if I’m sad or relieved that it’s the Same Shit on a Different Day and that the United States hardly corners the market for this brand of jackassery.
The Internet: an immature place for immature people to say immature things for immature reasons. (This website being a very large exception.)
I’m disappointed that you didn’t include any comments from the CBC articles.
Your selection is significantly less frightening.
And right-wingers wonder why any media outlet that requires a degree of intellectualism simply doesn’t respect them
Now now, Screaming Yellow, there’s no need to underestimate us, we can be pretty imature too.
*BOOOOOOOOBIES*
hee hee
**POOP**
hee hee hee
***SMART RIGHT WINGERS***
hahahahahahahahaha
see?
Al: Heh, point taken. 🙂
Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis denounced the highway blockade as “not the way to go.” He’s right, highway blockades are not the accepted means of political protest in Canada — pie to the face, people! Pie to the face! At least they got the ‘peaceful’ part right.
(This website being a very large exception.)
Zonk, I’d have to say that this site is for immature people to say immature things for mature reasons.
That makes all the difference. 🙂
I’m a little lost as to what the correct reaction is then supposed to be to this blockade.
Canadian racists and right wingers seem much more polite than the US racists and right wingers. Their impotent rage is a little less raging.
If, as Gary says, to be a REAL Canadian you have to be fighting for Canada in Afghanistan (?!), I say fuck being Canadian. I’m pretty sure most Canadians would agree.
Perhaps Gary would like to establish the Independent Republic of Real Canada somewhere along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. I would drive him to the airport.
Neat article in the Torontoist. Not sure what the post here is about. I admit not knowing that much about Canada, but even I knew it had racists and idiots with internet connections.
I’m shocked that people would be pissed off that a group of terrorist supporters was blocking a major roadway.
I’m torn because I think your commentary is awesome and yet somehow I still just want to throw up.
@Omnibusboy and @Andrew W — I think the point is that, in Canada, there is a right to peaceful protest, even or perhaps especially should such protest inconvenience the citizenry. Protests that are conveniently out of the way don’t really do a whole lot in the way of … protest.
When did Stormfront change its domain name?
Amen to that, brother.
Seriously, though, protests in the middle of a busy intersection really don’t carry much weight. If you want to be effective, a protest in front of your Congressman’s / Parlimentarian’s office at least shoves the message right into the face of the person that can do something about it. An impromptu street protest will get you cameras, but it really does raise the question of what you’re trying to accomplish.
Get a bunch of people to run a food drive in front of a bunch of grocery stores. Bombard the local papers / call-in radio stations / tv news stations with letters and phone calls to get some light on the issue. But blocking traffic really just gets people pissed off.
Dude, here in Chicago, back in ’03 (I think, I’m recounting this from my admittedly poor memory) there was an anti-war protest that spilled into a busy intersection and stopped traffic for several hours.
The cops got on a blowhorn and said, “In 5 minutes everyone blocking the street will be arrested.”
Ya know what happened? 61 (maybe 63….stupid crappy memory) people got arrested, three of whom were friends of mine. No violence, no resisting arrest, and no jail time. People spent a couple hours in lock-up and all got either a fine or community service or both.
Bottom line, if you’re at a protest and it turns illegal, you either need to leave or be prepared to get arrested. If you don’t feel strongly enough about something to get arrested for it, you shouldn’t bother protesting.
NOTE: I assume that Canadian right-to-assembly/peacable protest laws are the same as the USA’s. If not, consider this criticism respectfully withdrawn.
Also,
SAD FACT ABOUT US NEWS COVERAGE #1128:
Our news media is completely ignoring this. I heard about it on MGK first, and so far I’ve only seen it here!
Nor was I aware of Canada’s apparently large Tamil population.
Nor is anyone I know (except me, hooray BBC online) even AWARE of the Sri Lankan Civil War.
….so….yeah….bad times.
No real Canadians were inconvenienced by these protests, because as everyone knows, REAL Canadians ride their horses everywhere, hitch them up outside their igloos, and go eat their poutine and Timbits in polite silence.
My hat (made of real Canadian beaver fur, from real Canadian beavers) is off to all those brave men and women in their cars on the Gardiner protesting the presence of the Tamil protestors.
I myself plan to immolate myself (or at least develop a very inconveniencing sunburn) in front of the Eaton Centre to protest this protest.
I want to see the LTTE crushed in a way I haven’t felt since the Shining Path were still “Maoist guerillas.” To take some political point and turn it into an excuse to kill and kill and kill and… I have a hard time not seeing the minds behind the LTTE as psychopaths who take more pleasure in seeing their own deluded followers die than in the slaughter they accomplish in the process.
That said, the LTTE drew support for a reason, and there’s no reason to think Sri Lankha will suddenly be a place of equal opportunity and tolerance for its absence.
And then there are all the civilians…
But Torontians being stuck on the Gardiner? That’s just funny. Especially when they “miss their flights.”
1) As Panzer said, hadn’t heard much about the war in Sri Lanka or the Tamil presence in Canada. American media isn’t very good for international news unless it’s an ally or enemy of the US.
2) Thought Canadians were all tolerant liberals, good to know there are ignorant hicks over there too. Although none of them dropped any racial slurs. I don’t know what that would even be for Tamils.
3) If an ethnic minority were to block, say, the Jersey Turnpike near NYC, I think some people would die. Canadians are at least more peaceful than that.
“@Andrew W — I think the point is that, in Canada, there is a right to peaceful protest, even or perhaps especially should such protest inconvenience the citizenry.”
But even Bird said the protest was illegal. So does the fact no one got hurt trump that it was against the law, and I shouldn’t think they did anything wrong, or what?
“But even Bird said the protest was illegal. So does the fact no one got hurt trump that it was against the law, and I shouldn’t think they did anything wrong, or what?”
Sorry, badly phrased. What I meant was, I imagine the correct response to the blockade ISN’T “oh gee whiz I wish they’d all go home to Sri Lanka,” “peaceful protest is the greatest evil to face our society today,” or — perhaps most relevant — “my inconvenience trumps the fact that your families are being murdered.”
It may have been illegal but it didn’t HURT — and it’s arguably within the ethics if not the law of a democratic society. Being pissed off that an illegal protest made you late to work is not wrong, but it’s demonstrably different from what MGK lists above, which are largely things like “since they made me late to work they threaten the very fabric of our once-proud nation.”
Dude, you only used that last one so you could rub in my face that you cut out my trenchant observation.
They blocked traffic, but noone was killed? Canada is sounding better and better to be, because that would never happen in New York. I fear for the protesters who would try to block Queens Boulevard (AKA, the Boulevard of Death). They’d get run over without mercy (and I’m including the people in the sidewalks) before the protest could even begin.
Oh my god, your right-wing xenophobes’ spelling is light-years beyond our right-wing xenophobes’! And the grammar- why, that grammar was relatively impeccable! Can we trade?
Also, Canadian right-wingers haven’t shown up to post (impeccably spelled) trollish comments here yet. Should we lure them with fresh poutine?
Two things.
One, I thought Canadians were universally polite! Where is this tremendous vein of racism coming from?
Two, though I disagreed with 99% of what was spouted off above, haven’t we all wanted to see – and for a while now – a mob of Irish attack, throwing potatoes at passers-by? American or Canadian, I believe that this is overdue.
Also, poutine is gross, and an affront to most everything holy.
Wow, that’s depressing.
CATS AND DOGS SLEEPING TOGETHER
Okay, that cheered me up a bit.
“Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis denounced the highway blockade as “not the way to go.””
Well no, obviously if there is a blockade you should take a different route. That’s just sense! *eyeroll*
I’m disappointed that you didn’t include any comments from the CBC articles.
Yeah, I didn’t recognize any CBCesspool formatting, either.
Actually, the comments about how cowardly and terroristic it is to use children as human shields make perfect sense. At least if we assume that those comments are made by the same people who are being outraged that the police didn’t use water cannons etc to break up the protest.
Dude, I’m not sure how healthy it is to be collecting news article comments and putting them in one place, let alone responding or even try to comprehend the thought process behind them. Everyone already knows those are the worst.
I didn’t get all the way through those comments but some of them are really unbelievable. The worst one I got to (there may be something worse further down) was the guy who bragged about how “we white people kicked Native butt.” That is fucked up. As is the comment by the guy who called for “enforcement” and actually put quotes around the word so it’d be clear that he WAS calling for police brutality.
Back in February or March I was walking down Bloor and passed a Tamil demonstration on the sidewalk. It seemed to be loud, but peaceful, and wasn’t causing any problems that I could see. I think that’s the best way to protest.
Blocking the Gardner’s different. It’s pissing people off by inconveniencing them, and if you piss people off they aren’t going to be terribly inclined to help you. I don’t see how doing this helps their cause.
The way I see it is that the Sri Lankian (sp?) is using a crack down on the Tigers to conduct a genocide on the Tamil minority. They are trying to keep it on the down low, which is why they’re keeping aid workers and journalists away from the conflict.
I think the reason the Tamils are using the Tigers flag is because there is no official Tamil flaf and they’re using it as a symbol.
Finally, I believe that all racists should be beaten to the full extent of the law.
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