statism watch

Flashback: UN satellite imagery attests to shelling of Tamil ’safe zone’ | Tamil civilians slaughtered as army shells ‘no-fire zone’ | Seventh Tamil suicide by self-immolation to protest Sri Lankan genocide | Sri Lankans protest genocide at Toronto’s Union Station

Nicki Thomas, The Globe and Mail
May 1, 2009

Politicians, workers criticize length of disturbance as police chief defends rights of demonstrators

Traffic flowed on University Avenue yesterday for the first time since Tamil protesters forced its closing five days ago. But even with cars moving again, politicians and people working in the area wondered why the disturbance was allowed to continue for as long as it did.

“It’s okay for a day. Two maximum. But after that it’s a bit gratuitous,” said Max Zavet, a lawyer whose office sits on the block where protesters began congregating Sunday.

The protest, which kept University Avenue closed between Dundas and Queen Streets until just after 9 a.m. yesterday, though mostly peaceful, was noisy and disruptive, Mr. Zavet said. {Ed. Note: You poor thing. Be glad your family isn’t being shelled in a camp.]

The sound of drumming and chanting drifted through the office windows and traffic delays caused some of the firm’s clients to cancel appointments.

With the road closed, and traffic heavy on parallel streets like Yonge and Bay, the commute to and from work was horrible, Mr. Zavet said.

“It’s not a good way to gain public support,” he said.

More than 2,000 people descended on University Avenue on Sunday, filling the street and spilling into the roadway in front of the U.S. consulate.

Only ambulances could make it through the crowd, which was cleared on the west side of the street to make way for the emergency vehicles. Hospitals remained relatively unaffected.

“It was inconvenient for everybody, but it didn’t really have an affect on us,” said Gillian Howard, a spokeswoman for the University Health Network.

But a prominent city council critic of David Miller says the mayor should have stepped in earlier and tried to convince the leadership of the Tamil protest to allow traffic back on University Avenue sooner.

While acknowledging the mayor is not allowed to direct a police operation, Councillor Case Ootes (Ward 29, Toronto-Danforth) said Mr. Miller should have urged the protesters to disperse.

“I think there was a requirement on the part of the mayor to make a statement on the obstruction to the people of Toronto,” Mr. Ootes said in an interview. “One or two days is enough to make a point. More than that shows a disrespect to the people of Toronto.”

But Miller spokesman Stuart Green said the mayor, who handled Tamil refugee cases as a lawyer, felt the group had the right to protest. “He has a certain sympathy for their cause and respects their right to demonstrate,” Mr. Green said.

Another conservative critic of the mayor, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong (Ward 34, Don Valley East), said the group had the right to protest and even block the road to make a point, but that he was relieved the protest was now over.

While traffic was snarled earlier in the week, with disgruntled commuters heading to and from work, police spokesman Tony Vella said protesters didn’t need a permit for the demonstration, explaining that such paperwork is only necessary for parades.

The protest did not have any official sanction or city permit, and it appeared to contravene the provincial Highway Traffic Act by blocking a street. The protest did not spur calls at city hall for any new bylaws or provincial legislative changes.

Mr. Miller received regular briefings on the protest from Police Chief Bill Blair, but did not direct the chief in any way, Mr. Green said, stressing that the issue was strictly a police matter.

“He spoke to the chief numerous times over the last few days.

“That’s appropriate. What’s not appropriate is directing a police operation. So at no time was there any direction,” Mr. Green said.

Police chief William Blair said that, as citizens of the city and the country, the protesters had the right to demonstrate safely. [Ed. Note: Good for the chief.]

He said once the crowd had thinned by yesterday morning, officers were able to clear the roadway without using force, which would have put both officers and protesters at risk.

“A lot of people were putting up with a lot of noise, a little bit of disruption and some inconvenience and we’re mindful of that. But we’re trying to strike a balance here too,” Mr. Blair told reporters at police headquarters yesterday morning.

“It was an event that was important to that community. And we were there with them,” he said.

The situation reached a climax on Wednesday, when 15 people were arrested as they tried to push their way onto Dundas. Police finally disabled the protesters’ sound system, removing a generator and speakers.

By yesterday afternoon, the number of protesters had thinned to less than 200 and all were on the sidewalk in front of the York Judicial District Courthouse.

Kannan Kumar said he and every other protester who stood on University Avenue over the past five days has family or friends still in Sri Lanka, many of whom have been unreachable since the conflict reignited in December.

The 24-year-old political science student, who came to Canada in 1992, said his family lost contact with his uncle on Christmas Day.

Now his parents look at pictures and videos taken in the conflict zone and posted online, searching for his uncle’s face.

“It’s a painful task. It’s harder on the families not to know whether their loved ones are dead or alive,” he said.

Since 1983, a civil war between the separatist Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan army has claimed 70,000 lives. Violence in the country escalated recently, leaving tens of thousands of civilians trapped by the fighting.

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