Canada's Shame

Whenever anyone from another country is asked what their impression of Canada is, the answer is usually either "A country of polite people" or "A peace loving country". On Saturday June 26th during the G20 summit in Toronto, the second statement is no longer valid. In my opinion.

While "some" of the protestors tried to have a peaceful demonstration, that was not to be. A radical group of thugs called "The Black Bloc" descended on Toronto leaving a trail of destruction behind them. Smashed windows, burned out police patrol cars, and more. There were even reports of looting and assaults. If you were anywhere near them with a camera, you were practically taking your life in your hands. These thugs should be rounded up, charged top the fullest extent of the law, made to pay restitution for "everything" and made to clean up the damage they did.

The one lingering question in all this is..."Where were the cops when the Black Bloc was creating all this mayhem and destruction?" That's a good question. In a lot of the videos shown on main stream media videos and on YouTube, they were just standing nearby doing absolutely nothing.

To be honest, the cops did make arrests during the melee. Out of an estimated 700 to 900 arrests, most were protestors. The part that is really troubling, of those arrested, 1 was a shop owner on her way to work (held in detention for about 5 hours or more with no washroom facilities), 1 was a security guard on his way to work ( held in detention for 20 hours) and the list goes on. The cops overstepped their bounds. There is no question about it. They should be held accountable for not doing their job properly. In my opinion, the cops in Toronto during the G20 did a worse job than the O.P.P. did in Caledonia. And that's doing some.

Canadian TV "IS" Crap

According to Alberta Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett, the Canadian television industry produces nothing but crap and I have to agree with him. I can "probably" count on 1 hand the number of Canadian made shows that I believe merited any type of accolades for being worthy of watching.

"I sit here as a government representative for film and television in the province of Alberta and I look at what we produce, and if we're honest with ourselves … I look at it and say, 'Why do I produce so much shit? Why do I fund so much crap?'" Blackett told the panel, to ripples of laughter....Alberta Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett

Let's face it, when it comes to watching high quality television programming, Canadian tv is miles behind what comes out of our southern neighbours studios. Granted there have been some pretty good movies made here in Canada (The Hulk with Edward Norton wasn't too bad) but there's a lot of work to do to get the same quality as that of American television.

Just for the record, what I considered pretty good Canadian television programs were...1) The Beachcombers (From what, the 1970's?)...2)The Red Green Show...3)Corner Gas (I've always been a fan of Brent Butt though)... 4) The Murdoch Mysteries (Not to bad but could be better)....5) Royal Canadian Air Farce (Was great at first but after John Morgan died and they brought in Alan Park and the other 2, it just went downhill fast).

I could have listed "The Rick Mercer Report" but to me he's nothing more than a comic trying to do a video blog. Trailer Park Boys is crass, rude, and panders to the Canadian version of a hillbilly redneck. Others include...

• Kids in the Hall....Boring inane nonsense.


• Mantracker...Not too bad at first but how of many times can you watch 2 guys on horseback chase down 2 people on foot usually with the same outcome.


• Da Vinci’s Inquest....Snore, Snore.

One Canadian show I can't really comment on is Slings and Arrows with Paul Gross. I've only seen a couple of episodes (it's hard to get in this area without paying through the nose.) but what I have seen looks pretty good. Then again, Gross is a fine actor whose comedic timing rates right up there with Leslie Nielsen.

To those who disagree with Minister Beckett and myself, just ask yourself this, "Would Canada be able to produce shows like N.C.I.S., Numb3rs, or even something as sappy as Ghost Whisperer and have it come out just as good?" My answer is, I doubt it.

On a side note, there is a new news show coming out from the Sun media outfit that is nothing more than a CNN clone but geared for Canadians. Will it fly? Doubtful. We'll just have to wait and see.