(Bob Dunkin)

By Bob Dunkin, G20 citizen blogger

Saturday I went to a good friend's wedding. It turned into a beautiful day. There was a picnic in the afternoon at Jean Sibelius Square. We were supposed to have been at Christie Pits (it was even booked for them) until Monday when they up and cancelled the reservation, because the park was double-booked. They booked it on the first day you could book (January 4th), so the calendar says they were first ...  But that's beside the point. The day still turned out great!

That is, except for the traffic. By now, you probably know that streets are shut down everywhere in the downtown core, both for the G20 and the MMVAs, the MuchMusic Video Awards. I left myself an extra 30 minutes to get there, and did I need it. The walk to the subway station took more than twice as much time as usual, maybe even three times. There was no point taking the streetcar because the streets were blocked off, forcing people to find their way around. The police were not offering any help whatsoever that I saw, even though there were many of them out there. There was a two-hour gap between the picnic and the ceremony, which was JUST enough time to get from Dupont station to home (Wellington and John), grab a quick shower, change into a suit and head back. And I almost didn't make it. One of the bridesmaids was also stuck in traffic, and didn't make it for the ceremony.

(Bob Dunkin)

Speaking of being stuck in traffic, weeks ago people were assured that first responders would have basically a free pass through the security zones. This is very good, except for one small thing ... actually getting to the zone. I was just out for a while and saw a fire truck stuck in traffic on King Street for about two minutes. It could not go anywhere since no one else could, either. So it seems as though there could be a potential problem there.  

Just now out my window I witnessed something a little ... odd. It looks like the two police officers at the Wellington and John intersection are not very observant.  An ambulance was coming across Wellington in one lane, a cab in front pulled off to the side, to the lane the ambulance wasn't in, and then the ambulance moved over. The ambulance was now directly behind the cab and someone inside turned on its loudspeaker - "Can you pull over to the right please?" Both vehicles were in the left lane, the cab moves over and then is flagged down by the officers. It didn't look like they wrote him a ticket, so maybe the driver's explanation was enough.

This next week is going to be rough for first responders. I hope that at least some of the police in and around the security zone will be available for medical emergencies outside the zone when paramedics simply cannot get there.

Related: The view at Union Station