# CityNews Toronto "Invasion" Story



## Flavus101 (22 Mar 2017)

Here is an absolute winner, be sure to watch the video for the full effect: http://www.citynews.ca/2017/03/21/toronto-police-apologize-flippant-tweet-military-exercises/

I really wish the police and military would support each other more. 

I believe this speaks to the need to get into the public eye with more of our training. We are not going to be able to swing every hippie away from their beliefs (no matter how hard we try  >) but the less devoted might be willing to see the light and understand that we are not a "threat" rather we are the exact opposite. 

One commentator wrote about how specific segments of the public like to keep the military in a glass "break in case of emergency" box whereby the public does not see us until we are required. We need to do our best to change that segment of the populations mentality. Exercises (done well) are paid for advertising for the military, then again that would require those exercises to be competently led which is a challenge in and of itself  .

Anyways, those are my immediate thoughts for the story.


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## Halifax Tar (22 Mar 2017)

This is all over my facebook. 

Its rather funny.  I perhaps the unit(s) involved could have made their intentions better known, I its not surprising that is would trigger the snowflakes of the GTA.   

But perhaps these matches are a good opportunity to get out and make ourselves seen and grow a positive presence for the CAF in the GTA. 

I remember a large exercises being run in Kingston and Halifax and it was all over the radio and TV news in the weeks leading up to it.


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## mariomike (22 Mar 2017)

Flavus101 said:
			
		

> be sure to watch the video for the full effect:



2:15 "It's never a good omen when you see military forces on the streets of your neighbourhood."

Hope they re-interview this same individual come the next snowstorm.


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## dimsum (22 Mar 2017)

Halifax Tar said:
			
		

> This is all over my facebook.
> 
> Its rather funny.  I perhaps the unit(s) involved could have made their intentions better known, I its not surprising that is would trigger the snowflakes of the GTA.
> 
> ...



The main difference is that most people in Kingston and Halifax have heard of, if not seen, the folks in uniforms that work there, so it's much less surprising to see them doing military-like things in town.  Also, being Reg F bases, perhaps Kingston and Halifax have better PA contacts with the city to inform people via radio, TV, etc.  

Or, the 32 Bde PAO just dropped the ball hard.  :dunno:


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## Flavus101 (22 Mar 2017)

Halifax Tar said:
			
		

> This is all over my facebook.
> 
> Its rather funny.  I perhaps the unit(s) involved could have made their intentions better known, I its not surprising that is would trigger the snowflakes of the GTA.



That is where my bit about the police and military needing to communicate better with each other. There was an incident in my area where a similar type of thing occurred. An exercise was being conducted at a local park, a concerned resident called the police. The police show up with a police dog and without getting into great detail of the event, both the soldier who was bit and the dog handler share a bit of the blame for what transpired (the soldier probably shouldn't have walked towards the handler even though his hands were up and the handler probably shouldn't have been so quick to release the dog). Anyways, it just goes to show that we need to do a better job passing information between agencies and then passing that information within the agencies.


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## mariomike (22 Mar 2017)

Flavus101 said:
			
		

> The police show up with a police dog and without getting into great detail of the event, both the soldier who was bit and the dog handler share a bit of the blame for what transpired (the soldier probably shouldn't have walked towards the handler even though his hands were up and the handler probably shouldn't have been so quick to release the dog).


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## Strike (22 Mar 2017)

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/21/military-drills-in-toronto-spark-confusion-sarcasm-online.html



> Military drills in Toronto spark confusion, sarcasm online
> 
> 
> Social media furor began when Toronto Police tweeted a public safety alert about the exercises and added “we are not being invaded.”
> ...



I really wish I had access to Twitter.  Some of these comments!  I always love the people who say how military in the streets will be traumatizing for immigrants.  How about using it as a learning experience, that our military is nothing like some of the other forces around the world.   :facepalm:


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## sandyson (22 Mar 2017)

Toronto? Well they should have been carrying snow shovels.  Problem solved.


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## mariomike (22 Mar 2017)

In October, Canadian Forces members of the 32nd Combat Engineer Regiment conducted shoreline landings at three points along the city’s waterfront, prompting much the same response from Toronto Police.

Oct 23, 2016

Canadian army storms Toronto's western beaches 

Toronto police quip: 'We are not being invaded' 
http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/6926032-canadian-army-storms-toronto-s-western-beaches/



			
				Strike said:
			
		

> I really wish I had access to Twitter.



https://support.twitter.com/articles/100990#


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## Strike (22 Mar 2017)

It's a DWAN thing.  Guess I could set up the BB, but I'd like to avoid using that as much as possible. lol


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## RocketRichard (22 Mar 2017)

mariomike said:
			
		

> 2:15 "It's never a good omen when you see military forces on the streets of your neighbourhood."
> 
> Hope they re-interview this same individual come the next snowstorm.


Interesting comment at 2:15. Here in Calgary lots of support for military folks during the 2013 flood. Seeing highlanders walking down my street was reassuring TBH. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## mariomike (22 Mar 2017)

Sandyson said:
			
		

> Toronto? Well they should have been carrying snow shovels.



Once in my lifetime. 

Only a week ago 2,000 members of the National Guard deployed into New York City for a snowstorm warning. A warning only. 

The storm bypassed the city, but the troops were deployed into NYC anyway as a routine precaution.


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## Lightguns (22 Mar 2017)

Strike said:
			
		

> It's a DWAN thing.  Guess I could set up the BB, but I'd like to avoid using that as much as possible. lol



you missed the tweet by one woman who said her neighbours had been bombed by Canadian troops overseas and were very traumatized by seeing Canadian troops in the streets.


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## Strike (22 Mar 2017)

Lightguns said:
			
		

> you missed the tweet by one woman who said her neighbours had been bombed by Canadian troops overseas and were very traumatized by seeing Canadian troops in the streets.



But they moved to Canada anyway?  Yeah, right.


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## Kirkhill (22 Mar 2017)

Are "training rifles" really a thing?


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## Loachman (22 Mar 2017)

Chris Pook said:
			
		

> Are "training rifles" really a thing?



Yes.

They are copies of the original C7 (fixed stock, carrying handle, and all-black) made of hard solid rubber with metal barrels. They are used for BFTs and such.


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## BernDawg (22 Mar 2017)

Chris Pook said:
			
		

> Are "training rifles" really a thing?


Yes, or at least, they used to be. Hard rubber rifles with steel barrels and front sights. No-operational, of course, and full weight. I believe the thought was to save wear and tear on the real rifles for training activities like running obstacle courses etc..


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## mariomike (22 Mar 2017)

See also,

Rubber rifles
https://www.google.ca/search?q=site%3Aarmy.ca+%22rubber+rifles%22&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-CA:IE-Address&ie=&oe=&rlz=1I7GGHP_en-GBCA592&gfe_rd=cr&ei=hdXSWMOqNsGC8Qf0zIn4BA&gws_rd=ssl#spf=1


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## FSTO (22 Mar 2017)

Lightguns said:
			
		

> you missed the tweet by one woman who said her neighbours had been bombed by Canadian troops overseas and were very traumatized by seeing Canadian troops in the streets.



I always find it curious that it is white people who are longtime residents of a city who state "my neighbours were traumatized" and we never get to hear from the neighbours.


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## Jarnhamar (22 Mar 2017)

FSTO said:
			
		

> I always find it curious that it is white people who are longtime residents of a city who state "my neighbours were traumatized" and we never get to hear from the neighbours.



Exactly. Virtue signalling by a bunch of idiots.


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## mariomike (22 Mar 2017)

FSTO said:
			
		

> I always find it curious that it is white people who are longtime residents of a city who state "my neighbours were traumatized" and we never get to hear from the neighbours.



I wouldn't know about the "traumatized" neighbours. But, if they are anything like the Holocaust survivors we used to treat, perhaps they were.  
They were easily triggered. You had to speak to them in a quiet tone of voice. Gently reassure them. Use the siren sparingly, if at all. 

I live near the CNE Airshow. I'm used to it, but not everyone is a fan,
https://nowtoronto.com/news/think-free-blog/10-people-who-hate-the-goddamn-toronto-air-show/


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## CBH99 (22 Mar 2017)

Thats interesting MarioMike, I never would have thought of that, re:  the holocaust survivors.  I couldn't even imagine the kind of emotional/spiritual/physical truma they carried with them.  Honestly I have a difficult time literally imagining it.

Back in 2012 I had the troops in Lethbridge doing their annual BFT.  Full kit, marching down one of the main traffic corridors.  People would be honking, giving big thumbs up, even had the firefighters pull up & brought all 15 (17?) troops an Iced Capp!  Nothing but positive support from the community!


And in 2013 when the floods hit Calgary, and people were literally being plucked off roof-tops, support for the CF couldn't have been better.  Calgary Stampede parade crowd always gets loudest when the Leopards & LAV 3's roll infront of them.


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## CBH99 (22 Mar 2017)

I guess what I was really trying to say there is....

Toronto sucks, and we all know it


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## Eye In The Sky (22 Mar 2017)

CBH99 said:
			
		

> I guess what I was really trying to say there is....
> 
> Toronto sucks is full of too many mambie-pambie sheltered *half-human, half My Little Pony* beings, and we all know it



Alternate version?   ;D


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## armyvern (23 Mar 2017)

Oh look!!   Yet another thread becomes a Toronto (or Ontario) Emergency Services link-plentyful topic. 

WHY??  Au contraire, the nation and this site's threads do NOT rotate around all things/links - Toronto EMS.

It's a story about MILITARY training in Toronto, not Toronto EMS.  Give it a freakin' rest already.


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## CBH99 (23 Mar 2017)

I can see the connection mariomike is making...

On the one hand, you have all the latte sipping hippies up in arms that MEMBERS OF THEIR OWN CANADIAN FORCES are visible to them, and therefore must be invading.  (I'm not sure how you invade your own country, but let's all agree that logic isn't high on the priority list here...)

These same people are up in arms on behalf of their neighbours who - as was pointed out above - we never actually get to hear from.  (Are these imaginary people terrified of the news reporters too?  It would appear so.)


I THINK what MarioMike was trying to express was that....YES, there are groups people who are genuinely very sensitive towards seeing armed soldiers in the streets, and simply used his experience with elderly holocaust survivors as an example.  However, the latte sipping hippie crowd shouldn't be one of them.


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## Journeyman (23 Mar 2017)

ArmyVern said:
			
		

> Oh look!!   Yet another thread becomes a Toronto (or Ontario) Emergency Services link-plentyful topic.


All roads lead to Rome Toronto EMS.   :nod:


Maybe in an alt-universe, there's a Toronto EMS site where every thread has someone posting irrelevant links and "this one time in Meaford at Militia band camp..." stories.


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## mariomike (23 Mar 2017)

CBH99 said:
			
		

> I can see the connection mariomike is making...
> 
> I THINK what MarioMike was trying to express was that....YES, there are groups people who are genuinely very sensitive towards seeing armed soldiers in the streets, and simply used his experience with elderly holocaust survivors as an example.



 :nod:


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## mariomike (24 Mar 2017)

FSTO said:
			
		

> I always find it curious that it is white people who are longtime residents of a city who state "my neighbours were traumatized" and we never get to hear from the neighbours.



Written and directed by Maya Bastian, ‘Air Show’ is a short narrative film that interrogates the experience of newly-arrived Toronto refugees who experience the Canadian Air Show for the first time. 

Amongst cheers of glee and exhilaration from it’s viewers, the Canadian Air Show has been tormenting Parkdale citizens for nearly 50 years. The Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale is a diverse area which owes it’s vibrancy to the scores of immigrants and refugees that influence it’s streets.

Nearly 20,000 displaced persons call Parkdale home, many of whom have experienced war and aerial bombing first-hand. What happens when they arrive traumatized by conflict, only to have an extravagant show of Canadian military strength in their front yard? Do the fighter jets above their heads, the deafening noises and the windows rattling elicit a distinct response? This film poses these questions through the eyes of a newly widowed father and his young daughter. The pair arrive as refugees from the 30-year civil conflict in Sri Lanka. They are adjusting to a new, impoverished life when the Canadian Air Show interrupts their dysphoria.

‘Air Show’ aims to explore the intersection of Canadian culture and tradition with our ever-evolving climate of diversity and acceptance. The result is an intimate look at the trauma of conflict, the remnants of which are oft carried over into daily life. 

In an experimental fashion, the film was shot during the 2016 Canadian Air Show. All of our professional actors are also victims of war who have experienced air raids. While filming, the actors had the opportunity to react in real-time to the noise and disruption of the fighter jets flying above.
http://www.mayabastian.com/press/

Maya Bastian ( pictured ).


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## Halifax Tar (24 Mar 2017)

mariomike said:
			
		

> Written and directed by Maya Bastian, ‘Air Show’ is a short narrative film that interrogates the experience of newly-arrived Toronto refugees who experience the Canadian Air Show for the first time.
> 
> Amongst cheers of glee and exhilaration from it’s viewers, the Canadian Air Show has been tormenting Parkdale citizens for nearly 50 years. The Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale is a diverse area which owes it’s vibrancy to the scores of immigrants and refugees that influence it’s streets.
> 
> ...



Its a damn shame Canada cant celebrate its own sons and daughters because the new house guests/renters might be nervous.  WTF is happening to my country ?


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## Journeyman (24 Mar 2017)

mariomike said:
			
		

> Maya Bastian
> 
> ...from it’s viewers...
> Grammar: "its" is already a possessive; "it's" is a contraction for "it is."
> ...


/pedant


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## Humphrey Bogart (24 Mar 2017)

Journeyman said:
			
		

> /pedant



She's cute though so I'll give her a pass on everything and cancel the air show in exchange for a phone number and dinner for two  ;D


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## Fishbone Jones (24 Mar 2017)

mariomike said:
			
		

> Written and directed by Maya Bastian, ‘Air Show’ is a short narrative film that interrogates the experience of newly-arrived Toronto refugees who experience the Canadian Air Show for the first time.
> 
> Amongst cheers of glee and exhilaration from it’s viewers, the Canadian Air Show has been tormenting Parkdale citizens for nearly 50 years. The Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale is a diverse area which owes it’s vibrancy to the scores of immigrants and refugees that influence it’s streets.
> 
> ...



Instead of enabling our new immigrants, we should be showing them that these sounds are the sounds of their new freedom. And now that they are free, they should come out and see and hear what they are now paying taxes for. After all, some things aren't free.


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## Flavus101 (24 Mar 2017)

Humphrey Bogart said:
			
		

> She's cute though so I'll give her a pass on everything and cancel the air show in exchange for a phone number and dinner for two  ;D



And here comes the berating about how females aren't objects and what you just said completely sexualizes them.

Oh wait, did I just assume a gender?

In all seriousness, we need to stop pandering to fear. If immigrants are scared then we need to stop sheltering them, instead it should be encouraged for them to come out and see that there is nothing to fear or be scared of. Is that not what we ask of our own who suffer from mental trauma? We ask that they do not suppress and hide it, rather that they come out into the open and talk to people about their experiences. 

"This world of ours... must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower


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## Oldgateboatdriver (24 Mar 2017)

Sri lanka has a great total of 7 jet fighters. Five of them are old Mig-21 used for jet training only (with likely only one or two in flying condition at any time). The other two, ever so slightly more modern can only be used to keep one of them in flying condition at any time.

I very very very much doubt that any of them has been used for air attacks in their more than 30 years of civil wars. It's a ground based - jungle run affair and none of those jets would be very useful in it, if they could even come close to seeing what is going on on the ground.

Moreover, if these two immigrants are Sri Lankans, then their life in Canada has most likely (unless from the very small ruling cliques) enriched them, not impoverished.

Finally, if you suffer from dysphoria (a state of unease or generalized dissatisfaction with life), you probably don't mind something "interrupting" that state, unless you are Hardy Har Har the laughing hyena.


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## jollyjacktar (24 Mar 2017)

Like I would ask those callers to Shearwater who wanted to complain about the noise of the yearly airshow and flight operations.  "Shearwater has been a military airfield since 1918, when did you move into the neighbourhood?"

The Toronto show came first, maybe these new comers could get out of the city for the day and explore Ontario.   Much like a Calgarian will get out of town during Stampede week if they don't want to deal with tourists.  Or is this woman wanting to teach them to get on the whine train with the rest of her kind?


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## GR66 (24 Mar 2017)

What about those refugees that may rejoice to see a Western fighter jet overhead as it reminds them of the people that risked their own lives in a foreign country to protect them from barbarians intent on killing all those that don't subscribe to their particular flavour of belief?


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## Jarnhamar (24 Mar 2017)

I wonder if Maya Bastian would agree that we should ban burkas as it may trigger victims of abuse by Islamic men or especially the sex slaves that escaped with their lives and are coming to Canada?


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