I haven't been home since the Vancouver riot. Since I live in Ottawa, my worldly possessions were not in peril. Being away I have not had the time to write about what I think on this situation. The delay has allowed me to move past the initial gut reaction so many people felt.
I lived in Winnipeg for a long time. Winnipeg is a rough city. Anyone who lives there knows that. However, there has never been a riot in my lifetime. So why does the apparent forward thinking, cosmopolitan city of Vancouver suffer from this dark cloud?
I don't know.
There are reports that it was started by a small group and a lot of otherwise law abiding people got wrapped up in the moment. I'm no expert but that seems reasonable. We encourage individuality but often do not give outlets for great creativity. So when people se the chance to let their freak flag fly, they jump at it, even if it inappropriate.
I don't know how to prevent these sorts of things. I know I felt sickened, by the images I saw but I can't fix it.
I hope Canadians can move beyond this incident but it's going to take a lot of healing.
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