Don Tai (Canada) Blog

Afghan Kite Flying in Afghanistan. Here in Canada do not use glass covered or metal kite line. They are illegal and dangerous.

Kite flying is a favourite pastime of our family. It is so unfortunate that kite flying at Milliken Park, Toronto, Canada, a very large park near our house, has recently been banned. Kite flying is very kid and family friendly, but has been spoiled by people that come from different cultures. South East Asian (India, Pakistan) and Afghanistan kite flyers in their country use metal wire and glass coated flying line to cut the lines of competitors. They are importing and illegally using this type of line here in Toronto, Canada. They then leave the lines as garbage. Kids and adults using the park get cut up from these types of lines. It is certainly a safety hazard.

China News services such as Xinhua and China Daily are renown to bend news to favour China in all cases. These two news agencies are controlled directly by the Chinese government, so this should be unsurprising. How they treat foreign news depends on China’s relations with the countries concerned. I am happy to read that coverage of Toronto’s G20 riots were reported factually and very measured by both news agencies.

Xinhua photo of playful and peaceful Toronto G20 demonstrators

G20 vandal wanted by police for property damage in Toronto

Criminals should not get away with their crimes. G20 protesters and bystanders were treated badly by police, this is true. Still, those that smashed their way through Toronto need to be found and prosecuted. Please help police find and prosecute these criminals.

Just because our Charter of Rights and Freedoms were squashed by police during the Toronto G20 is not a reason for these criminals to go free. There is no “Get out of Jail Free” card here.

G20 vandal wanted by police for property damage in Toronto.

Sometimes you identify programs that are working well and help so many people. One of these is the summer sports day camps in Scarborough. This camp provides summer jobs for youth in addition to providing a fun day camp for about 250 elementary school kids. This year they even provide lunch. The kids remain active all summer, learn skills and are happy. The youth gain valuable experience in mentoring and coaching. The parents are happy because their kids are doing something other than sit on a computer for the summer. In all, it’s a win-win situation for all concerned. Sponsors include the Boys 2 Men Institute, the Cabbagetown Youth Centre and the Toronto District School Board.

Wu Yuren, husband of Canadian Karen Patterson and daughter Hannah

No doubt about it, I am Canadian, and for a short time, I lived in China. Thinking that the Rule of Law in Canada is interpreted the same in China would seem logical but incorrect. Just because there are laws on the books, decreed by the government, similar in both countries, is insufficient to take the Canadian view of law and apply it to the People’s Republic of China. A case in point is Karen Patterson’s Chinese husband, Wu Yuren, who offered moral support for a friend and ended up beaten up and detained, with little access to his family or lawyer. He is still detained. His case is a good lesson to both Chinese and foreigners that China’s legal system works differently from Canada.

Honey Bee feeding on echinacea, Toronto, Canada

Canada Day, July 01, 2010, Toronto, Canada

Honey Bee on Shasta daisy 1, Toronto, Canada

Honey Bee feeding on Shasta daisy 2, Toronto, Canada

Honey Bee on Shasta daisy 3, Toronto, Canada

Honey Bee on Shasta daisy 4, Toronto, Canada

Canada Day, July 01, 2010, Honey Bee feeds on a Shasta daisy in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Toronto Riot Police and protester: Everything is not Ok

It aches me to read these stories, but I knew from video coverage and from photos of Toronto Riot Police intimidation that many innocent people that live in Toronto would get beaten up and arrested by police. Unfortunately surprising but not unexpected. The stories come from all ages, male and female, and varied professions. It seems that there were no filtering of good or bad, that all at the scene were bullied, beat up and arrested. It is upsetting that such treatment by police can happen in my home town of Toronto. Maybe I am too naive. Those who endured the brutality will never forget. The issue of police brutality, overzealous police behavior and the G20 overall will become a significant provincial and federal issue.

I used to joke that after living in China and Japan for a couple of years, returning to my home city of Toronto was a non event. It was literally a non event because nothing really changes in Toronto. Sleepy and a tad boring, Toronto seemed to always be the same stable environment. I have come to change my viewpoint now because of the startling and sudden infringement of human rights and the rule of law that has occurred due to the G20 summits that are now being held in Toronto. With law enforcement ballooning to 14,000, imported from all police departments throughout Canada, police decked out in full riot gear, secretly enacted laws of search and arrest (Ontario’s Public Works Protection Act, specifics for the G20), without public debate nor following the proper procedures of the courts, Toronto has degraded from a sleepy democracy to a communist country or a police state. Startling is how fast my city degraded to a police state, catching all of us by surprise. I expect this while living in China but I did not realize that democracy can be so easily overturned by so few.