Journalists watch World Cup Football at International Media Centre as thousands protest in the streets of Toronto.
Photo:Lisa Nickol, B Channel News

Editorial:

by Lisa Nickol, B Channel News Editor
July 6, 2010

The calm that comes after the storm is far more disturbing than the one that comes before.

While the world’s wealthiest nations mixed and mingled over fiscal policy this past June in Toronto, over 900 people were caught up in the largest mass arrest in the history of Canada. What happened on the streets of Toronto has raised questions about who we are as a country, how we are seen by the world and what we will tolerate as a nation.

The arrests extended beyond those whose destructive actions were called into question. The arrests also included peaceful protestors, journalists, lawyers, medics, tourists and people happening to find themselves in a city they didn’t recognize. This isn’t new; economic summits produce protest, there is a strong element of force in the reaction, and violence ensues, rights get removed and others caught in the crossfire. What we know little of is why.

I wasn’t on the streets that weekend. I got a different view of the summits and the protest; I saw the message and how it was created. I was able to watch the whole thing unfold; from policy to propaganda and from riots to rivalries. At the International Media Center the protests were broadcast on one TV in the corner. Throughout the day a handful of journalists were gathered around the screen to watch; the most I saw was little over a dozen. Across the way, by the bar, on massive screens, (which I have read, cost $300 a minute) hundreds of journalists watched the World Cup Soccer game and drank beer, as ‘Toronto burned’ and Charter rights were violated.

I witnessed journalists from reputable companies ask the person next to them what was happening, scribble a few things down and send out information instantly. Not everyone pauses to fact check or source the news we get. There were some journalists that searched for some truth, asked tough questions, dug a little deeper, but you, the reader, don’t always know which is which. So, you’re going to have to ask questions too. Not just of your politicians and police, but of your media and yourself.

Some of the journalists who did go into the field to try to bring you the real story were arrested and assaulted. If the media’s role is to gather and present information to the public so they can chose how to react, when they are unable to do this, who suffers? Because of these actions, parts of the story will not be seen. Bits of information are now gone. No matter what other angle got covered, something didn’t.

What happened in Toronto defied everything I’ve heard this country define itself as. I keep hearing people say, we are better than this, but we aren’t going to change until we know the truth of what’s going on. Not just what you see on the screen, or read in the words, but life as it is; there is a need to see the world just as it is so that people can start making choices and making informed decisions.

There are a lot of questions that need to be asked and lot of answers that will require some digging. There are two sides to every story, sometimes many; we should hear them all.

Asking the right questions to the right people is the only way we will understand this and prevent it from happening again. These are complex situations, they shouldn’t just be simplified. Those with authority that have been silent will have to speak and listen. Perhaps the answer to the question is in the question.

I think this is point in time which we can change the direction of our country. It’s a quick blow to the head, or a long and dragged out death by policy, how can we, a free nation accept these attacks on our democratic rights? No one should suspend anyone’s constitutional freedom at their own will; not a government, not a police officer, not the media, not a protestor or an international summit. Those who remain silent will be part of letting it to happen; complacency will destroy our planet, our democracy, our humanity. Before every atrocity in history, someone had the chance to stop it. There was choice to be made and a decision whether or not to be silent or to speak out against the wrong ones. If we remain silent, we must know that we could have stopped this.

For more B Channel News coverage of the 2010 G20 Summit in Toronto, click here.