It’s now “only” two months since the Vancouver Stanley Cup riot took place on June 16 and all’s quiet on the Western front.
After all, in contrast to the swift justice dealt those London rioters, here in B.C. we take things a little more slowly, secure in the knowledge that our very own Stanley Cup rioters and looters will ultimately be dealt with by the “firm” hand of our justice system, meting out our very own unique action brand of Canadian justice.
No doubt, Canada’s all-purpose Charter of Rights and Freedoms will come to the rescue of all those who, in response to being eventually charged with criminal conduct during their post-playoff love-in, will claim having their Charter right to free expression violated.
Surely that’s the Canadian way, assuring that none of the looters and arsonists will see the inside of a jail cell, but instead will have to face the consequences for their actions and be subjected to the “full” force of Canada’s tough judicial system by being made to endure the indignity of house arrest and the severe punishment of conditionally suspended sentences.
Indeed, can a class action suit against the City of Vancouver be far behind on behalf of all rioters whose pictures were taken without their explicit consent, in clear violation of their Charter Rights to personal privacy?
Their contrived public mea culpas notwithstanding, when everything is said and done, somehow the rioters will manage to emerge unscathed as the true “victims” of Vancouver’s 2011 post-game riot.
E.W. Bopp, Tsawwassen
