toronto stories

g20, gee whiz

If there hasn't been any criticism of how the government has been spending our tax dollars, it's coming out now. Thanks to the G20 being hosted in such a busy downtown core, half the city will be shut down, including my firm's office, which is on the perimeter of the 3 meter high fencing. The insane amount of money (pegged at $1.2 billion so far?) they are spending to host this summit just boggles the mind. I'm sure they could pay for a subway twice over, and there would be no need to put in place the HST.

In any case, as it is, the CN Tower is closing, as are the AGO, two theatres (Royal Alexandra and Princess of Wales), the Rogers Centre (the Jays game is being moved to the US), along with most major banks. They are shutting down the underground PATH, and even the University of Toronto and the legislature are closing due to fear of protests getting ugly. They have already begun erecting fencing 3 weeks in advance, and started removing garbage bins and taping large clear plastic bags to lamp posts instead. Classy.

If you're still interested, check out these very entertaining stories - it would be funny, if it wasn't so maddening. G20: Closed for Business and From Megacity to Ghost Town: Toronto Powers Down for G20 Really, what better way to show off the city? I particularly like the fact that are encouraging Torontonians to get out of the city that weekend.

posted by toronto girl @ 10:19 PM