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On Sunday, barricades went up around the legislature and hospital row with little explanation
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For the second time in a week, major streets in the core of Toronto were shut down on Sunday.
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Also, for the second time in a week, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) was not overly forthcoming in why those shutdowns were happening.
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Starting at around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, the area around Queen’s Park and hospital row on University Avenue was closed to traffic. Police cruisers, garbage trucks and city buses blocked key arteries and intersections from University Ave. just south of College St., while the area around Queen’s Park Circle all the way up to to Bloor St. got the same treatment.
Local residents trying to get home and people trying to head out to restaurants or to visit friends were blocked by police officers, backed up at times by massive vehicles, with no real information provided.
“We became aware of potential demonstration involving vehicles, out of an abundance of caution the roads were closed in and around Queen’s Park and hospital row,” TPS spokesperson Const. Laurie McCann told the Toronto Sun in an e-mail.
TPS were equally tight-lipped about a similar blockade for the same area that happened a week ago.
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Late in the evening of Monday, Sept. 25, police cruisers, buses and garbage trucks were deployed to the same area. Most people didn’t notice them until the morning of Sept. 26 when major commuting routes were disrupted.
Again, there was little information coming from the Toronto Police Service.
“It’s a demonstration, involving vehicles, to come to the City of Toronto and we are closing the roads to ensure the roads stay clear,” Insp. Suzanne Redman said nearly a week ago.
“My understanding is that the demonstration is part of the Save the Children protest group.”
Two shutdowns, no protests
No demonstration emerged, no threat appeared and sometime around noon last Tuesday the blockades were dismantled. It was the same on Sunday — the blockades went up, locals and those passing through were inconvenienced but no actual threat emerged.
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On Sunday, the barricades were removed just after 9:30 p.m.
While TPS has been tight-lipped on this matter, those with offices in Queen’s Park, including the media, were informed that the first blockade happened after a “tipster” had informed TPS that a convoy was headed to Toronto and that they would “arrest any politician they see.”
That would be difficult to do on a Sunday night, also on Monday given the Ontario legislature isn’t sitting because the civil servants have the day off for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
There would be no politicians to arrest, no one will be there Monday.
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We could speculate that maybe that is part of the crafty goal of the convoy organizers, to sneak in when all is quiet and set up camp like they did in Ottawa in late January 2022.
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We had convoy protests in Toronto back then — they were never able to dig in to a permanent position at Queen’s Park thanks to the swift action of Toronto Police Service. The trucks came, the tractors came, the protesters came, they all made their views known and then they went home.
We should all appreciate that TPS was able to properly handle the massive protest that showed up when Ottawa so clearly failed.
Now, though, we need TPS to be open and honest with the population. Why are they shutting down these roads twice in a week?
Vague information from a “tipster” isn’t enough, neither is making strange references to a convoy that twice now has failed to appear.
TPS needs to do their job, which they are clearly capable of doing on this front, but they need to be upfront with the public as well.
blilley@postmedia.com
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