Mr. Toronto

I can’t let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity go by without reporting a bit of “coverage” (mainly for my out-of-town readers who may be unaware). Which leads me to my first reflection…how can an event that is so huge, and has such an impact on the host city (and supposedly the world!) have such little awareness just miles away? For those of you who need to be brought up to speed, Toronto has just finished hosting the semi-annual meeting of world leaders (it used to be just 8, but they’ve swelled to 20). We have been preparing for this event for months, and have spent over a billion dollars, mainly for security.

And what security — chain-link fences surrounding the downtown core where the meetings took place; public transportation and office buildings shut down; thousands upon thousands of police in riot gear ready for action…

In Toronto the safe, clean and genteel? What kind of action could there possibly be? Plenty, as it turns out. Protesters and hooligans were imported from all over the world to turn the City into a disaster zone, the likes of which we have never seen…smashed store windows, burning police cars…it looked like the set of one of those “Armageddon” movies….thankfully, no casualties or serious injuries. And now it’s all over.

Yes, all of this money, violence, craziness — for a 36 hour meeting. Toronto turned into a Police State, something out of the novel 1984. Was it worth losing our innocence for?

I suppose we should feel honoured and flattered that Toronto — which is such a fabulous city — is a leader in so many ways that Presidents and Prime Ministers from around the globe wanted to see the place. But what kind of place were they seeing? The inside of a convention centre, hotel, concert hall…in the meantime, the “real” city that they had supposedly come to see was under lockdown, fenced in. Stores and restaurants closed. Theatre productions and concerts canceled. Baseball games moved out of town. Highways shut down.

I have a suggestion — why don’t all the countries that participate chip in a few million dollars, and build a five-star hotel and airstrip on some remote island somewhere and use that as a permanent facility to house these meetings. And every meeting they can choose another country to host and showcase — the leader can show a nice video of his or her country, and order take-out flown in to give an authentic taste…now wouldn’t that be sweet.

Thanks for letting me vent

Mr. Toronto

We Torontonians are currently in the middle of our first “Summer Festival” of the season — Luminato (billed as the “Toronto Festival of Arts + Creativity”). Running til June 20, it’s a pretty eclectic mix of free and ticketed events incorporating dance, music, film and art. I went to see Rufus Wainwright last night, performing a very weird solo piano piece dressed in a long black gown with a feather collar…gives you some idea.

But there are LOTS of other (more accessible?) festivals coming up over the next couple months — here are some highlights:

• Pride Toronto – our epic Gay weekend and parade (June 24-July 4)
• Fringe Theatre Festival – 150 different shows! (June 30-July 11)
• Summerlicious – 150 of Toronto’s top restaurants offer special – and cheap! – menus (July 9-25)
• Festival of India – some of this food is actually free! (July 17-18)
• Caribana – our wild and crazy Caribbean extravaganza (July 28-August 1)
• Taste of the Danforth – if your taste buds are more Greek-centric (August 6-8)
• Festival of Beer – if you need something to wash all that food down with; great music, too – at Exhibition Place (August 5-7)
• Summerworks – more than 40 plays, concerts and workshops (August 5-15)
• And, of course, the good ol’ CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) closes down the summer festivities (August 20- September 6)

So pack your sunscreen and party hats and come on down – we’re waiting for you!

Mr. Toronto