The Aftermath

This is what people are saying about the Vancouver Riots almost a week later.  I found some of these statements by regular people very very profound:

"Let's not forget the culpability of the city govn't of Mayor Gregor Robertson in all of this.

It takes minimal common sense to recognize that putting up multiple massive tv screens at free venues, and then inviting tens of thousands of people into the downtown core, with NO ATTENDANCE RESTRICTIONS and little control, is a recipe for disaster...especially for the last game of the Stanley Cup series. In Vancouver. And given our experience in 1994.

And then Chief Constable Chu says he was "surprised" at the riots, and that they "didn't expect" it to happen. WHAT?! If that's not an admission of incompetence, I don't know what is...

And, stop with this fiction of the small group of anarchists and criminals being responsible for the riot. Does Mayor Robertson and Chief Chu really think that the thousands of rioters in Canucks jerseys were "anarchists" in disguise? Clearly, ordinary Canucks fans, mainly kids from the suburbs, were the majority of rioters" - MacStephens from CBC.ca

"Thought experiment:

If someone went to the Kotylak home to break all of the windows, trash the place, steal everything of value and torch the family car... would the good surgeon and his son accept a "public apology" and let the entire matter slide?

I suspect not." - BC2011 from CBC.ca

"I chuckle at all the hand-wringers protesting that this riot doesn't represent the "real" Vancouver. Sure it does. The riot was the symptom, not the disease.

Let's face it, everyone in town knew a riot was likely to happen, win or lose. A general attitude of permissiveness - and our Mayor's refusal to anticipate reality - allowed this to happen. And it'll happen again.

But at least we have chicken coops in our backyards, and are willing to shut down half of a busy, downtown bridge to allow a few cyclists some elbow room. Progress!

There's some good analogies in there, somewhere." - BC2011 from CBC.ca

--

After reading multiple stories on CBC.ca today, I've realized that normal hardworking Canadian folks who live in BC want justice from these riots.  We are tired of the abuse of the political system by idealists and the far left in Vancouver we are tired of the focus on the trivial in this city and we are tired of treating our city that it is somehow a utopia, "different" from all other cities in the world.  These riots proved that Vancouver is not different.  Vancouver is worse.  In Boston the riot police was prepared and game 7 wasn't even held there. 

Love,

Marty

@martyzylstra  

Ask the Hard Questions

I am a hockey fan.  I am a hardcore fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs and have been almost my whole life.  During the playoffs I played devil's advocate and poked jabs at all my friends here in Vancouver who cheer for the home team.   As the playoffs wore on in Vancouver a part of me was getting caught up in the energy of the city and how great the vibe was in the city.  People seemed happy.  People seemed to be glowing with excitement. 

And then....

It's over.

But.

The face of this playoff run will not be hockey.

It will be pictures of people (not hockey fans, not canucks fans, just people) in Canucks jerseys turning over cars and breaking windows.  Rioting.

These people are not fans of the sport.  They do not play hockey for fun.  They cannot name the starting line-up of the Canucks or the Bruins.  They do not know the jersey numbers of all of their favourite players from past and present.  They cannot tell the difference between offsides and icing.  

My friends and fellow hockey lovers were not involved in this riot. 

Terrible.

Hockey is a great game and this great series will be forever marred by foolish drunkards looking for a reason to spark chaos.

I read this post from a blogger on cbc.ca and I thought I would repost it because it's exactly how I feel about Vancouverites:

The cause of this particular riot goes much deeper than the simple loss of a hockey game. As the most expensive place in North America in which to live, there is by implication, a large group of dispossessed people in Vancouver. Those who have little or nothing in a city of great wealth and prosperity are inclined for the most part, to simmer in quiet hostility. However, given the chance, these people will lash out against a society they feel has ignored and forgotten them. The gathering of many thousands of people in the downtown area gave these people the platform they needed to bring attention to their feelings of alienation and discontent. Unfortunately, some fans, in a state of anger at the Canucks loss, were drawn into the fracas and ended up acting out as badly as those who had instigated the riot.

I think the results of this latest riot will serve to eradicate any feelings of complacency our city officials may have had regarding the safety of the city. How could the Mayor and his staff, or for that matter, the police, not know that allowing thousands of people to mass together into a relatively small area of the city would be a recipe for disaster?

The vast majority of Canucks fans are law-abiding people who would never think of participating in such an abhorrent display of law-breaking. The same can be said of nearly every hard-working person in this city and for that matter, in the province of British Columbia.

Vancouver's image has been forever tarnished by a relatively small group of miscreants. It is up to the Mayor and his council to ensure that this type of situation will never happen again.
--
Thanks for reading!
love,
Marty
@martyzylstra