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

…. Summer activities, that is.  Sorry it’s taken me longer than usual for this entry, but the lure of recreational activities when the weather is nice is just too strong (to be sitting in front of a computer…)

Since we last “spoke”, I have officially kicked off summer concert season with an awesome Dave Matthews Band show at the Molson Amphitheatre at Ontario Place.  To be honest, the Amphi is not my favourite venue to see a show – too big, and the security is over the top (and totally unnecessary).  But when it all comes together – great weather and great tunes – as it did for DMB, it can be fantastic.

Speaking of fantastic, event season also kicked off with Luminato in June, a 10 day Festival of the arts – ALL kinds of arts – that focused this year on the guitar.  Fantastic free shows at Metro Square and Yonge-Dundas Square, including Randy Bachman (from the Guess Who- Canadian gods…), Daniel Lanois (another famous local boy, more famous for producing U2 albums than his own music), Taj Mahal and Derek Trucks (without doubt, one of the finest living slide guitarists on the planet).  From here on in, the festivals come fast and furious…(gay) Pride next week, Jazz Festival the week after….

Also getting into some serious bike riding now, and Toronto is a great place to do it.  Loads of trails, parks, ravines, that will take you just about anywhere.  You can pick up a great map at City Hall.  I rode my bike over to Toronto’s newest “hot” district for brunch the other day- Liberty Village in the south/west end of the City.  Used to be an industrial district, now a happening place for film and agency types, and more fantastic places to eat than you know what to do with – and each one with a fab patio to catch those glorious sunny days…

Hope to catch you out there!

Mr. Toronto