Peacenik thinks it is curious that the G20 leaders have to be protected from their own citizens. But of course the G20 leaders aren't doing anything at G20 that will help their citizens. The G20 leaders are just pledging more globalization. More trickle down econonics. More market driven economies. More transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. Yes the G20 leaders need to be protected. But why are unionized policemen and women so keen to do the leaders bidding? Policemen and women are regular folks, with kids and mortgages and too much consumer debt. They drink beer and cheer for the Leafs. But this week, Peacenik fears Peacenik will be ashamed of the police. But Peacenik hopes Peacenik is not.
By James TraversLiving large on the world stage isn’t easy or cheap. It takes rock-ribbed determination and a certain lack of due diligence to spend nearly a $1 million every minute, or more than $1 billion in total, hosting a three-day world leader whoop-de-do.
To understand the challenge of plowing through that much money that fast, consider the sheer magnitude of a billion. If you were lucky enough to have $1 billion in $1,000 bills, stacking them would require 10,000 piles of 100 each. Or think of it as some industrious internet mathematicians have: A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
However it’s measured, a billion of anything is a lot. Yet a ruling Conservative party that unduly flatters its own fiscal prudence is somehow spending that much on security alone for the twin Huntsville and Toronto G8 and G20 summits.
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