Being a local, ie, 20 minute subway ride from my house, the G20 and G8 meetings are going to be an interesting experience for me.
I cannot think in the past of ever being so close to something this "big", except perhaps a F1 race in Vancouver some years ago.
The level of security preparation is ridiculous, and the citizenry uproar is, while expected, somewhat confusing.
What bothers me the most is that people are complaining that "the government is spending too much money on the G20 and G8 meetings"
I think the current figure is somewhere around 1.2 billion dollars of "tax payer money"
However, since the event is localized, i cant imagine much of this money going anywhere other than back into the city. Which begs the question.. why are people complaining?
Am i missing something? The government pumps 1 billion dollars into a city of 3 million and people are complaining? All that overtime for the cops, the special forces unit, the RCMP, all that will later be spent within the country. With 1 in 3 Canadians in astronomical debt, i cannot see these people holding on to this cash for very long.
All the marketing associated with this, people are getting jobs, they are getting paid, they pay off their debts, they dont stress out.
anyway
thoughts? Am I the only one that seems to think that these meetings are not going to be all that bad? Honestly the only thing i'm worried about are a bunch of 17 year olds running around screaming "abortions are womens rights" at the top of their lungs and throwing pizza boxes at mounted policemen..