Tamil Protest In Toronto Today

There are not too many things in the world that I hate more than protests and demonstrations. I have commented before that I truly doubt that anyone's mind will really be changed by a rally, a protest, or a demonstration; rather, it is the protester that probably is the only one that feels that they are making an impact. Perhaps what I hate even more is a protest about something that is not relevant to our country. And a protest that ends up inconveniencing the general populace. This can be anything from greedy union members who are on strike and decide to block entraceways or roads, to any number of social commentary issues, which has its protesters shutting down traffic and such. I should be very clear here - I don't just dislike protests for stuff I couldn't give a rat's ass about, but I also don't like protests for issues which matter to me (ie. I am a staunch opponent of abortion, but I don't believe anti-abortionists should block traffic or whatever, to make their point).

So you can imagine that even though it had no direct impact on me per se (other than taking up some newspaper headlines which I had to wade through while reading), today's Tamil protest that shut down key parts of the city's business core in Toronto, gave me a bit of a irritation. Ok, a lot.

First, as everyone can tell you, there are two sides of the story. The Tamil community are protesting because of claims of genocide in the Sri Lankan civil war. They say that kids are being killed and so forth. What you are not hearing is the other side - I am neither Indian nor Tamil, but I do have a friend from Sri Lanka (Sihanese) who gave me a quick rundown of the history. Ever heard of the Tamil Tigers? The Tamil community loves these guys. But ask any intelligence agency and they will tell you that these guys are terrorists. I didn't need to ask anyone to know that - it is clear in the heinousness in crimes committed by Tigers in the Toronto and Vancouver areas (and elsewhere) to know this. Moreover, much of the fundraising and support for these terrorists comes right from the Tamil community. Canada and 30+ countries considers the Tigers a terrorist organization. Yet, the protesters today, freely wave Tamil Tiger flags (which has a picture of a Tiger on it, with rifles and bullets in the background).

But let's say that I didn't know either side...I still would be absolutely irritated that they decided to inconvenience the public to try to make their side known. Honestly, I am so glad, for so many reasons, that I don't work in downtown Toronto. I am clearly a heterosexual male, but I would probably choose to be gay rather than working in downtown Toronto ever again. It is a cesspool of the worst the city has to offer. Traffic is terrible, people are rude, the streets smell, everything is overpriced...no thanks! Anyway, I do know a lot of people work there and make a living in doing so, whether they like it or not. The business district of Toronto is an important part of the city, so for any group's protest to cause traffic chaos is simply not thinking of the overall good of the city, especially if they are a citizen of it.

Furthermore, and this is perhaps my biggest beef with today's protest, is that what is being screamed and bantered about is not even taking place in Canada! Like, can anyone who was inconvenienced today really do anything about it? Better that they go on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and scream to the government bureaucrats who may have a remote chance of listening (which is doubtful, since Canada doesn't really have much, if any, influence or presence in that part of the world). But as it stands, all this kind of thing does is just irritate people, in that it makes non-Tamils wonder about where these people's loyalty lies. I was not born here, but am a proud Canadian and Canadian issues always come first; things in my ancestral homeland play a (distant) second. By not adopting this way of thinking, one wonders where my loyalties lie and why I don't just move back to my ancestral homeland if I am so concerned about matters "over there". Now, some people may say that well, if people don't protest and cause inconvenience, then perhaps segregation may still be in play. But even then, that's a different kettle of fish, since segregation happened on American soil, so it was an American issue. The Sri Lankan civil war is not a Canadian issue, so the average Canadian cannot effect the outcome or doesn't care (or likely a combination of both).

One can also slag folks like me who disagree with such things as being xenophobic, but isn't that the politically correct language nowadays - that for those who don't think that people should hyphenate loyalities be branded a bigot or racist. I am a visible minority immigrant, so it's kind of hard to make that charge stick on me - I just call it like it is. And I call today's protests an exercise in counter-productivity. You will not get people's support by deliberately pissing them off with an issue that is not a Canadian one.

Ultimately, this again makes me wonder why people even bother coming to this fine country if their minds and hearts still reside in their previous homeland. Don't people come to Canada for a better life? My parents sure did. It's fine to be interested in matters from around the world, but don't forget, you are a Canadian first. For all the energy expended at raising "awareness", these people better be damn well standing on one of the overpasses along the Highway of Heroes the next time a Canadian soldier who died on the battlefield is repatriated and show equal, if not more concern for the country that they now call home.