Friday, June 11, 2010

Insecure locations

It figures to be some time before stories stop circulating about smaller pieces of the Cons' G8/G20 billion-dollar boondoggle. But for all the problems with fake lakes, boats that don't float and random gazebos in the middle of nowhere, the most telling sign of the Cons' incompetence can be found in the spending which makes up the bulk of the cost of the summits.

The news that the security firm responsible for the summits isn't even licensed to do the job - and is scrambling to staff the event - seems to have mostly been considered as a sidelight to the main story. But it's worth noting that the Cons' supposed focus on security doesn't seem to be reflected at all in what's actually been done.

For all the talk about the importance of planning, what can it say about the ability of either the Con government or Contemporary Security Canada to plan for event contingencies when neither seems to have put any thought into making sure CSC could legally work the event?

Likewise, for all the moves to shut down public activity in and around Toronto in the name of security, what could make for a more golden opportunity for a would-be saboteur (with enough foresight to be licensed as a security guard) than to be brought on-site by a firm desperately trying to assemble temporary manpower at the last minute from a limited pool of applicants? And what happens if the lack of preparation means that CSC isn't able to provide as many bodies as it's planning to have available?

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