G20’s Toronto takeover: a roundup of snarls, snags, closures and general headaches
It’s becoming increasingly clear that the perimeter fences that will cordon off vast swaths of downtown for the G20 (June 25 to 27) are just the beginning of Toronto’s security woes. As officials try to wrap their heads around the logistics of the whole thing, it seems that every passing day reveals further details about how Torontonians will be inconvenienced, bothered, harassed or otherwise forced to do things differently due to the summit. Below, our list of closures and disruptions, updated as we learn more.
School’s out
The University of Toronto decides to ban students and staff from its downtown campus from June 24 to 27 now that the much-discussed “protest zone” has been moved to Queen’s Park.
ID cards
Residents who live in and around the security zone are being encouraged to register for identification cards that will allow them to get through checkpoints faster.
Cameras everywhere
The Toronto Police Service has already started putting up 77 new security cameras around downtown. The footage will be destroyed after the conclusion of the summit.
No patios
Downtown patios will be shut down for two weeks before the summit begins, while other restaurants and business could be subject to further restrictions if they are located in the inner security zone.
Nay to the Jays
Toronto FC games will proceed as scheduled, but the Blue Jays’ much-anticipated series against the Phillies—and Roy Halliday—will take place in Philadelphia, rather than at the Rogers Centre as originally planned.
Road closed
Drivers can expect delays and closures on the Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Boulevard.
The slower way
TTC riders can expect delays—well, more than usual.
Bike strike
The G20 will be no walk (ride?) in the park for cyclists: summit officials will be removing 1,000 bike parking rings from the downtown core.
Tourist trap
The CN Tower will be closed from June 25 to 27. Please view Buffalo by driving there.
Pedestrian Sundays
For the first time in its seven-year history, the Pedestrian Sundays program in Kensington Market has been denied a permit, possibly due to concerns that the market could become a rallying point.
Exiled from Bay Street
In a rare move, the captains of finance will be asking their bankers to work from home.
Daycare dilemmas
Parents who keep their children at downtown daycares have been told to keep them somewhere else.
Home security
Residents of 33 University Avenue, the only condo behind the G20 security fence, will have to enter and exit their building through police checkpoints.
Blocked Path
According to a memo from a downtown property management group, the Path will be closed from Bay Street to the Royal York.
Traffic snarls
Eighty-three motorcades of 10 to 50 cars, including decoy motorcades, will be passing through downtown, tying up traffic all the while.
Casual dress
The RCMP is recommending that Bay Streeters ditch the suits and wear civilian clothes to avoid standing out.
Slow news month
Mediavores will have to find an alternate source for news as around 745 newspaper boxes will be stripped from the downtown core by June 9. We admit that the advent of the internet makes this pill a little easier to swallow, but it’s part of a larger plan to remove around 1,000 pieces of furniture, including five information signs, 200 litter bins and 29 transit shelters.
Vacation Time
Those seeking to enter the security zone will feel like they are in an airport. In addition to government-issued ID cards, residents and business owners will be subject to an “airport-style” screening which may include metal detector scans and searches of personal belongings.
The show won’t go on
Toronto productions of Mamma Mia! and Rock of Ages will be cancelled from June 21 to 27. Factory Theatre will also be ending its season on June 20, a week ahead of schedule.
Stop that train
Via Rail will bypass Union Station—its busiest hub—from June 24-27, a move that will inconvenience thousands of riders but please Guildwood newsstand owners.
Hold the phone
Officials could use signal jamming technology as part of their security measures, potentially causing cell phone interruptions in both downtown Toronto and Huntsville. They won’t confirm whether the technology will be used or not, but wireless companies say they have been warned their signals could be temporarily jammed later this month.
Clear Skies
Air space restrictions over Toronto for G20 weekend mean that locals will be unable to go parasailing, radio controlled aircraft and kites.
School’s out II
At least six schools will be closed in anticipation of G20 chaos this week, but the real hassle comes for students whose schools are remaining open. The public and Catholic school boards have cancelled all bus service in the city this Friday.
Lean streets
Humanitarianism is taking a back seat to the capitalist agenda. Osgoode Hall, which provides over 2,000 meals a week to the city’s poor, has been closed for the week.
Dry spell
Torontonians looking to temporarily drown their G20-induced woes should be aware that seven LCBO stores near the security zone will be closed.
 are just the beginning of Toronto’s security woes. As officials try to wrap their heads around the logistics of the whole thing, it seems that every passing day reveals further details about how Torontonians will be inconvenienced, bothered, harassed or otherwise forced to do things differently due to the summit. Below, our list of closures and disruptions, updated as we learn more.
School’s out
The University of Toronto decides to ban students and staff from its downtown campus from June 24 to 27 now that the much-discussed “protest zone” has been moved to Queen’s Park.
ID cards
Residents who live in and around the security zone are being encouraged to register for identification cards that will allow them to get through checkpoints faster.
Cameras everywhere
The Toronto Police Service has already started putting up 77 new security cameras around downtown. The footage will be destroyed after the conclusion of the summit.
No patios
Downtown patios will be shut down for two weeks before the summit begins, while other restaurants and business could be subject to further restrictions if they are located in the inner security zone.
Nay to the Jays
Toronto FC games will proceed as scheduled, but the Blue Jays’ much-anticipated series against the Phillies—and Roy Halliday—will take place in Philadelphia, rather than at the Rogers Centre as originally planned.
Road closed
Drivers can expect delays and closures on the Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Boulevard.
The slower way
TTC riders can expect delays—well, more than usual.
Bike strike
The G20 will be no walk (ride?) in the park for cyclists: summit officials will be removing 1,000 bike parking rings from the downtown core.
Tourist trap
The CN Tower will be closed from June 25 to 27. Please view Buffalo by driving there.
Pedestrian Sundays
For the first time in its seven-year history, the Pedestrian Sundays program in Kensington Market has been denied a permit, possibly due to concerns that the market could become a rallying point.
Exiled from Bay Street
In a rare move, the captains of finance will be asking their bankers to work from home.
Daycare dilemmas
Parents who keep their children at downtown daycares have been told to keep them somewhere else.
Home security
Residents of 33 University Avenue, the only condo behind the G20 security fence, will have to enter and exit their building through police checkpoints.
Blocked Path
According to a memo from a downtown property management group, the Path will be closed from Bay Street to the Royal York.
Traffic snarls
Eighty-three motorcades of 10 to 50 cars, including decoy motorcades, will be passing through downtown, tying up traffic all the while.
Casual dress
The RCMP is recommending that Bay Streeters ditch the suits and wear civilian clothes to avoid standing out.
Slow news month
Mediavores will have to find an alternate source for news as around 745 newspaper boxes will be stripped from the downtown core by June 9. We admit that the advent of the internet makes this pill a little easier to swallow, but it's part of a larger plan to remove around 1,000 pieces of furniture, including five information signs, 200 litter bins and 29 transit shelters.
Vacation Time
Those seeking to enter the security zone will feel like they are in an airport. In addition to government-issued ID cards, residents and business owners will be subject to an "airport-style" screening which may include metal detector scans and searches of personal belongings.
The show won’t go on
Toronto productions of Mamma Mia! and Rock of Ages will be cancelled from June 21 to 27. Factory Theatre will also be ending its season on June 20, a week ahead of schedule.
Stop that train
Via Rail will bypass Union Station—its busiest hub—from June 24-27, a move that will inconvenience thousands of riders but please Guildwood newsstand owners.
Hold the phone
Officials could use signal jamming technology as part of their security measures, potentially causing cell phone interruptions in both downtown Toronto and Huntsville. They won’t confirm whether the technology will be used or not, but wireless companies say they have been warned their signals could be temporarily jammed later this month.
Clear Skies
Air space restrictions over Toronto for G20 weekend mean that locals will be unable to go parasailing, radio controlled aircraft and kites.
School’s out II
At least six schools will be closed in anticipation of G20 chaos this week, but the real hassle comes for students whose schools are remaining open. The public and Catholic school boards have cancelled all bus service in the city this Friday.
Lean streets
Humanitarianism is taking a back seat to the capitalist agenda. Osgoode Hall, which provides over 2,000 meals a week to the city’s poor, has been closed for the week.
Dry spell
Torontonians looking to temporarily drown their G20-induced woes should be aware that seven LCBO stores near the security zone will be closed.){kind=link}
What about the harbor? Will public ferries be suspended? What about private ferries?
Wow – they can’t tele/video-conference?
the tele/video conference would make a HELL of alot more sense!
This seems to be a plan that they may think is plenned out perfectlly…but in fact is an awful plan!
why should we all have to deal with this crap!?!
and worst of all for me..my b-day is on the 25th!!!
if i cant sit on a patio downtown on my b-day im gonna be 10 times more pissed off!!!
Thanks, Harper! Heckuva job you’re doing.
This is Harper’s revenge against Toronto. Take that!
Yeah, it’s all Harper’s fault. Get a grip.
How can we register for a pass. I’m on queensquay/york street which is just south of the convention center…. no one has notified us if we need anything(pass…etc..)
Actually, the advice given to Bay Streeters to ‘dress casual’ is wrong: You want to suit up so you’re not mistaken for a protester. No joke: acquaintances were ground zero for a police crackdown here a few years ago, but because they had suits and ties the fuzz treated them as if they were invisible.
Actually it is, to a large extent, Harper’s fault. He was advised repeatedly by several people – including security specialists, the Toronto Police, and others involved in analyzing the logistics of holding the even in Toronto, to not hold it in Toronto. Especially since it falls over the World Cup, when Toronto Police are already stretched, and a day after the Aboriginal Day of Action (they are already planning to block CPR lines, and the Trans Canada, and remember the threats following the bomb in Ottawa a short time ago..).
Every other city in the world can deal with this crap, why can’t we I have friends in B.C. still bitching about the Olympics…………….get over it!!
i live avenue and st. clair, and travel to University and Dundas for work. how will this affect me? and where do we get these cards from? etc…
I’ve got to cycle through this mess to get to work… and will have nowhere to park? Great. Thanks guys.
oh ya cuz it’s all about you; your birthday or your bike ride, or your hassle. newsflash, the world does not revolve around you. it’s one weekend – deal with it!
@Karin, your obviously not reading all the closures before hand. Please familiarize yourself with the whole picture, which includes almost ONE BILLION dollars of money we donthave being spent irrationally on a meeting that could have taken place out of city. With all the business closures, life disruptions and cost of the billion dollars….this doesnt really make sense.
I am still in shock that the federal government will NOT step in if our city needs a clean up following this. If businesses lose their windows, or things get trashed, Harper said that they will not provide money to help with the mess… it’s like a parent telling a child that they will use their room to throw a huge party for their friends and then force the kid to clean up after everyone.
+1 Anastasia for your analogy. This is a meeting that will cause a lot of businesses to lose money. People will be totally inconvenienced. Also, a huge possibility of damaged property. Why Toronto? Why Stop a Machine only for it to potentially become damaged when there are other smoother, cheaper ways?
– why wasn’t some of the money set aside for cleanup after the summit?
– why does this event seem sooo disorganized?
– why have some things been changed close to the summit?
– did U of T have a say at all?
– where are the broke U of T students expected to stay, or are the residences not in the security zone?
– is this a test to see how safe Toronto can be during an international event?
– it seems like businesses in Toronto have been allowed a step forward, but then were pushed ten steps back. Yay [sarcasm].
Why don’t we all send a really strong message, and leave town for the weekend? Or at least visit the Zoo – more and better things to see than through the fence downtown…..
what I don’t understand is why are this G20 meetings take place
in such of central areas, im sure there a good reason for it,
why they don’t do it out side is not like they telling us what they are taking about anyways.
I think is just to show us that they are the authority and they can do what ever that hell they want either we like it or not. so they trying to send us a message to be ready for what is coming.
is just what make sense to.
Harper is already setting himself up as a mulroney who disregrards voter opinion as lowly humble obedient citizens..
That is a big mistake by steve and he will pay the price.
1 billion and growing on G20 security means his friends are all getting rich on my tax dollars.
Filmon in manitoba is a prime example of this kind of thinking. He’s sitting on the board of MTSAllstream after destroying the company and asking employees to take a drastic cut in everything so he can enjoy the 300,000 anually for sitting on his duff. I’m looking for you filmon. Hope I don’t meet you on a winnipeg street.
The G20 Summit has been very poorly planned. This is for me the last straw of incompetence that I can possibly handle with our elected leaders. I have dutifully voted year after year and made informed decisions to the best of my capability. My Vote counts for nothing. The Politicians don’t care. They don’t listen and above all they will do whatever the hell they want to do once they are in power. I will never cast another vote again in result of this flagrant disregard for the public majority saying, “TAKE THE G20 ELSEWHERE!” I’m done! Never again! I waste my time voting for these tax leech pimps in Ottawa.
Seriously, why in downtown Toronto? what for?
So the big bankers just stole tens of trillions of dollars from governments across the world, leaving massive deficits which will be paid for by slashing benefits to the middle class and raising taxes on working people and productive industries.
So why should we be surprised when they decide to shut down an entire major city so they can have a party? The billion dollar cost is not coming out of their hide, and what do they care that the little people are inconvenienced?
The Canadian officials who allowed this travesty to occur should all be impeached.