Only cowards use kids as shields
"It's an extremely dangerous situation to put children on the front line of a protest in that way"
Gardiner blockade paid off: Tamils By BRETT CLARKSON, SUN MEDIA
Tamil protesters acknowledged public anger caused by their takeover of the Gardiner Expressway but said the unprecedented highway blockade won real political results for their community.
Unrest costing us big bucks By BRYN WEESE
Tamil protesters are costing taxpayers more than headaches but the city's police chief won't say how much.
Tamil protesters who shut down the Gardiner Expressway Sunday night incurred the wrath of politicians yesterday who decried their actions as "unlawful" and "unacceptable."
While everyone has the right to protest, no one has the right to risk public safety or take over the Gardiner, Toronto Mayor David Miller said.
"What they did (Sunday) night was wrong and wasn't acceptable," he said, noting it is "inappropriate" for him to direct the police chief how to handle such protests.
I'm sorry but this is a copout by Comrade Miller.....he is not above sticking his nose into police operations, although he usually does so behind the scenes using one of his flunkies as point man, so HE should standup and tell Tamil "leaders" that future protests that disrupt the citizens of the city will result in arrests and charges.
"As the police chief said, the protesters were endangering themselves, they're endangering the public, and they're endangering the Toronto Police."
Miller acknowledged the situation in Sri Lanka was "frightening".
"We all support a call for peace and an end to the violence and hostilities, but occupying the Gardiner Expressway isn't acceptable, it's unsafe and we need the protesters to recognize that," Miller said.
But Councillor Rob Ford was far more critical of the protesters' actions, what he called "hoodlumism".
"Enough is enough. If I was mayor, they would have been immediately removed from the Gardiner," he said, noting the parents who took their children on the Gardiner yesterday should be punished and have Children's Aid investigate. "We can't have this bleeding heart approach anymore because people's and kids' lives are in danger.
"I know if I brought my kid on the Gardiner, I'd be arrested and Children's Aid would take my kid."
For Ford, the Tamils should have to protest like everyone else, complete with city permits.
"If you want to protest, fine. Get a permit like everyone else does, go to Queen's Park, go to Downsview Park, go to Nathan Philips Square," he said. "We are not going to tolerate any more of this hoodlumism, as I call it."
Premier Dalton McGuinty invited protesters yesterday to use the front lawn of Queen's Park, home to many large protests over the years, rather than block streets and highways.
"Fortunately the matter was resolved and I hope that the individuals involved understand that that is unlawful activity," McGuinty said of the Gardiner blockade. "We have rights here. We've worked long and hard to ensure that we are a place where we respect those kinds of rights but that's not one of them."
McGuinty said his own daughter spent almost a year in Sri Lanka as an aide worker so he's familiar with some of the issues, and realizes that for many people here the conflict affects them directly through friends and family.
BRYN.WEESE@SUNMEDIA.CA
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