Not quite business as usual in Toronto – The Globe and Mail
Globe and Mail UpdatePublished on Sunday, Jun. 27, 2010 9:30AM EDTLast updated on Sunday, Jun. 27, 2010 3:31PM EDT
Only a handful of people were out as the sun rose in downtown Toronto Sunday, the morning after officials says more than 400 people were arrested during G20 protests.
Of the people spotting the sidewalks at 6 a.m., some were heading to work; others were heading home from a night at the bar. On the corner of Yonge and College, one man looked down the street, trying to spot a streetcar that would not be coming.
The windows at the College Park shopping complex were boarded up after Saturday night’s assault, the 24-hour drugstore was closed, and the coffee shops still had shattered glass on their now-empty windowsills.
But across the street at Fran’s Restaurant, the neon lights on the “open” sign flashed, and a small contingent of post-bar partiers trickled in for pancakes and bacon.
Ricky Lahey, 32, stood outside with a group of four friends, smoking a cigarette. he had spent his night at the Green Room, a bar on Brunswick Ave. he said the bar scene was the same as it always was at his favourite low-key watering hole.
“it was pretty quiet,” he said, blowing a puff of smoke. “People were chilling, having beers like nothing else was going on.”
‘Watching the carnage’
His friend James Meheu, 29, said the only difference was that the televisions were all tuned to the news.
“People were watching the carnage,” he said with a smirk.
Inside Fran’s Restaurant, a young female hostess who asked not to be named had been working since 11 p.m. the night before. She said it had been a quiet shift. around her, only a dozen people filled the vinyl booths. She said that usually, on a weekend, there would be lineups out the door as people rushed to the restaurant after the bar.
“I think everyone is afraid to come down here,” she said. She added that, during the night, one of the protesters broke out of the march, ran into the restaurant, and threw a ketchup bottle threw the window. The window was boarded up as restaurant-goers ate their breakfast.
An hour later in Dundas Square, Nicolas Band wheeled a suitcase down the sidewalk. The 57-year-old was heading north, where he said it would be quieter and easier to find an open restaurant. Mr. Band lives in a shelter at Queen and Sherbourne Streets, but he said he’s used to the noise.
“It’s always loud around there,” he said with a shrug.
‘History in the Making’
As people started to fill out the sidewalks at 7:30 a.m., Usman Anwar, 27, sat on a stool, nearly hidden behind a wall at the vandalized Urban Outfitters at Yonge and Dundas streets. beside him, the display windows were shattered beyond repair. The young security guard had been watching the store since 8 p.m. the night before.
“my mother was concerned for me,” Mr. Anwar said, brown eyes peering out from under his hat. “but it’s my duty to be here.”
He gestured at the plywood sheets he helped erect to keep people out of the store after vandals smashed the windows.
“I wasn’t nervous,” he said.
“The second rally that happened was peaceful and calm.”
Constable John Labelle stood on the corner of Bay and Wellington Street at 8 a.m. Sunday, keeping an eye on the security fence. he said that last night the protesters got awfully close.
“They came about a thousand strong,” Const. Labelle said.
He says that today he expects twice as many people, and a different tactic. Protesters will be “de-centralizing,” he said – going to several places at once, in smaller groups.
“It’s history in the making.”