Canadian Grand Prix could be disrupted?

[East Londoner]

Oh boy, this has the potential to get nasty. Found this link off F1 Fanatic.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/Grand+Prix+could+target+disruption/6689364/story.html#ixzz1wHMmvzFM

The race will go ahead I believe, but I wonder if we'll be seeing protests in the stands from these useless students/tossers.

[Stramala]

Oh boy, this has the potential to get nasty. Found this link off F1 Fanatic.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/Grand+Prix+could+target+disruption/6689364/story.html#ixzz1wHMmvzFM

The race will go ahead I believe, but I wonder if we'll be seeing protests in the stands from these useless students/tossers.

I can't believe I'm in the same demographic as these prats. Some students are just self-absorbed morons, it makes me sick...

[DanielPT]

Erm... F1 went to Bahrain?

[CoopsII]

Angry students causing violent protests because of social injustice?

I'LL STILL BE WATCHING THAT RACE AT 1130PM!! WHERES THE JUSTICE IN THAT!!!???

Cripes, if it rains again I'll be up all night.

[DalekSam]

One belief I've always held is that sport and politics should never mix. Remember that the British government wanted the Bahrain Grand Prix cancelled this year and Anonymous condemned it if I'm remembering rightly, but the race went on anyway and we had a reasonable race with no disruptions. Obviously last year due to civil unrest it was inevitable and simply unsafe, but hey.

These Canadian tossers can just sod off. While I support the protest against the 75% increase in tuition fees (I also supported the similar protest here in the UK, unfortunately it did bathplug all), they're hardly going to have an effect here. May HWNSNBM forever haunt them.

[dr-baker]

One belief I've always held is that sport and politics should never mix. Remember that the British government wanted the Bahrain Grand Prix cancelled this year and Anonymous condemned it if I'm remembering rightly, but the race went on anyway and we had a reasonable race with no disruptions. Obviously last year due to civil unrest it was inevitable and simply unsafe, but hey.

These Canadian tossers can just sod off. While I support the protest against the 75% increase in tuition fees (I also supported the similar protest here in the UK, unfortunately it did bathplug all), they're hardly going to have an effect here. May HWNSNBM forever haunt them.

If they think a rise of $1,778 over seven years (from here) is steep, that's nothing compared to what happened in this country a few years ago - it tripled fom around £1200 a year up to £3000 all in one go, not over seven years. And it's tripling again now, within 7 years, from £3000 to £9000. In around seven years here, there has been a 900% increase in tuition fees. But the British GP is not at risk of being disrupted...

And the Canadian GP is amongst the best of the year. I would hate to see it be disrupted.

[mario]

It is certainly possible that, should the latest round of talks between the government and the student unions break down, that we might be seeing clashes and violent opposition to the race, plus those who wish to use the event as a platform to vent their frustration at a very controversial law (Bill 78) that the local authorities have pushed through that have effectively revoked the right of the students to free assembly.
There have already been some anarchists and extremist parties launching attacks - a while back one of those groups attacked the Metro system with smoke bombs - and predictably Anonymous have decided to piggy back on the publicity by making various threats (including threatening to release the credit card details of people buying tickets for the Canadian GP), so it is possible that we might see this race taking place under very tight restrictions.

[eurobrun]

Protesters, Oh great.

[AndreaModa]

Oh boy, this has the potential to get nasty. Found this link off F1 Fanatic.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/Grand+Prix+could+target+disruption/6689364/story.html#ixzz1wHMmvzFM

The race will go ahead I believe, but I wonder if we'll be seeing protests in the stands from these useless students/tossers.

I can't believe I'm in the same demographic as these prats. Some students are just self-absorbed morons, it makes me sick...

This. So so much.

[Pamphlet]

Anonymous have threatened to join in as well.

[JeremyMcClean]

As a Canadian I believe those Quebecers should sod off. Even if they're getting a tuition raise they're still getting the lowest tuition in the country! The security at Canada is better, in my opinion, than at Bahrain, and look at the number of people who died in protests: Zero. If any track invasion happens, those people will likely be deported.

This isn't a case of human rights here (which their protests were actually legitimate), it's a protest about higher tuition hikes. Bear in mind there's some people around the world who can't get education at all due to civil wars, lack of teachers, and so on. Besides, the tuition pays for things like textbooks that aren't 20 years old, and the protesters lost their legitimacy when they started raiding the streets.

One belief I've always held is that sport and politics should never mix.

Thank you. And on that note, I'm off.

[BlindCaveSalamander]

As a student, I feel some sympathy for the protestors, but these guys aren just taking it way too far. As dr-baker's pointed out, British students have faced a much, much tougher increase in tuition fees. If they don't like their increases, maybe we could trade?

[madmark1974]

And why does it have to be the Grand Prix they protest at? OK, so there's not much else high-brow activity going on in Bahrain, but surely in Canada there must be some Ice Hockey or Basketball
or Lumberjacking contest they could disrupt instead?

[Sunshine_Baby_[IT]]

F1 raced in Bahrain during a civil war, so I think that Canadian grand prix will go on anyway.

[DanielPT]

F1 raced in Bahrain during a civil war, so I think that Canadian grand prix will go on anyway.

Amen to that.

[FMecha]

It is certainly possible that, should the latest round of talks between the government and the student unions break down, that we might be seeing clashes and violent opposition to the race, plus those who wish to use the event as a platform to vent their frustration at a very controversial law (Bill 78) that the local authorities have pushed through that have effectively revoked the right of the students to free assembly.
There have already been some anarchists and extremist parties launching attacks - a while back one of those groups attacked the Metro system with smoke bombs - and predictably Anonymous have decided to piggy back on the publicity by making various threats (including threatening to release the credit card details of people buying tickets for the Canadian GP), so it is possible that we might see this race taking place under very tight restrictions.

Just out of curiosity, why Anonymous is always trolling F1 again? First Bahrain and now this...

[Phoenix]

It is certainly possible that, should the latest round of talks between the government and the student unions break down, that we might be seeing clashes and violent opposition to the race, plus those who wish to use the event as a platform to vent their frustration at a very controversial law (Bill 78) that the local authorities have pushed through that have effectively revoked the right of the students to free assembly.
There have already been some anarchists and extremist parties launching attacks - a while back one of those groups attacked the Metro system with smoke bombs - and predictably Anonymous have decided to piggy back on the publicity by making various threats (including threatening to release the credit card details of people buying tickets for the Canadian GP), so it is possible that we might see this race taking place under very tight restrictions.

Just out of curiosity, why Anonymous is always trolling F1 again? First Bahrain and now this...

I believe F1 isn't Anonymous' only target. But I have to say, sheesh, why is the world so bathplugged off these days? There are always problems, but we seem to be getting from bad to worse

[fjackdaw]

It is certainly possible that, should the latest round of talks between the government and the student unions break down, that we might be seeing clashes and violent opposition to the race, plus those who wish to use the event as a platform to vent their frustration at a very controversial law (Bill 78) that the local authorities have pushed through that have effectively revoked the right of the students to free assembly.
There have already been some anarchists and extremist parties launching attacks - a while back one of those groups attacked the Metro system with smoke bombs - and predictably Anonymous have decided to piggy back on the publicity by making various threats (including threatening to release the credit card details of people buying tickets for the Canadian GP), so it is possible that we might see this race taking place under very tight restrictions.

Just out of curiosity, why Anonymous is always trolling F1 again? First Bahrain and now this...

Because it's a high profile, extremely corporate event. Much as it feels like a niche interest to the likes of us, who know our Chandhock from our Karthikeyan, it's still massively big business on a global scale, and so is a perfectly valid event to be targeted by protesters. The event will go ahead no matter what; but I think the students have every right to protest it if they wish. Why not?

[pablo_h]

People want to separate sport and politics?
Well I will when states and sport organizations stop trying to use each other for benefit, ie PR or money while shots are being fired an people killed over the regime or the fact that the event is being held. Everyone has their own ideals, morals or 'line in the sand.'
That being said, yes I did boycott Bahrain because it was held just to support the regime/payday for Bernie, and no other reason.
But fook canadian protesters seriously! That's just bandwaggoning because they think protesting F1 is popular these days

[fjackdaw]

It is certainly possible that, should the latest round of talks between the government and the student unions break down, that we might be seeing clashes and violent opposition to the race, plus those who wish to use the event as a platform to vent their frustration at a very controversial law (Bill 78) that the local authorities have pushed through that have effectively revoked the right of the students to free assembly.
There have already been some anarchists and extremist parties launching attacks - a while back one of those groups attacked the Metro system with smoke bombs - and predictably Anonymous have decided to piggy back on the publicity by making various threats (including threatening to release the credit card details of people buying tickets for the Canadian GP), so it is possible that we might see this race taking place under very tight restrictions.

Just out of curiosity, why Anonymous is always trolling F1 again? First Bahrain and now this...

I believe F1 isn't Anonymous' only target. But I have to say, sheesh, why is the world so bathplugged off these days? There are always problems, but we seem to be getting from bad to worse

It's to do with the little people getting screwed over by the big people. The big people got greedy, made mistakes, wrecked the economy - and got off scot free. It's the little people who get punished and bear the burden. The disabled lose their benefits, hospitals get their funding cut, students get put massively into debt, ordinary people lose their jobs... and the fat cats who caused it all are laughing because they're protected by the governments. And people are getting really really fed up about it.

[DanielPT]

Just out of curiosity, why Anonymous is always trolling F1 again? First Bahrain and now this...

I believe F1 isn't Anonymous' only target. But I have to say, sheesh, why is the world so bathplugged off these days? There are always problems, but we seem to be getting from bad to worse

It's to do with the little people getting screwed over by the big people. The big people got greedy, made mistakes, wrecked the economy - and got off scot free. It's the little people who get punished and bear the burden. The disabled lose their benefits, hospitals get their funding cut, students get put massively into debt, ordinary people lose their jobs... and the fat cats who caused it all are laughing because they're protected by the governments. And people are getting really really fed up about it.

This. The day where one will need to make the fat cats bleed count me in. The only problem is that there will always exist people who are willing to protect the fat cats in return of some food. If their family is fine, then everything is fine. Narrow minded people...

[pablo_h]

You'll be sad to hear this has been the case for hundreds, if not thousands of year. The same stuff happening over and over. That's the real reason why people were scared about the cold war, because stuff always happens like that, so they expected it to happen and it go nuclear.
But every dick move by someone to endanger people , get them killed, rob and/or profit, has continuously happened throughout human history, it's nothing new. From the roman era to the 18th century you can find info or books that suggests nothing has changed for us in the last century.

[fjackdaw]

You'll be sad to hear this has been the case for hundreds, if not thousands of year. The same stuff happening over and over. That's the real reason why people were scared about the cold war, because stuff always happens like that, so they expected it to happen and it go nuclear.
But every dick move by someone to endanger people , get them killed, rob and/or profit, has continuously happened throughout human history, it's nothing new. From the roman era to the 18th century you can find info or books that suggests nothing has changed for us in the last century.

And people have always protested about it, or risen up and overthrown governments, or had revolts. This is nothing new. It comes in waves - riots in the 80s, student protests in the 60s etc - but it's as old as the causes themselves.

[fjackdaw]

As a student, I feel some sympathy for the protestors, but these guys aren just taking it way too far. As dr-baker's pointed out, British students have faced a much, much tougher increase in tuition fees. If they don't like their increases, maybe we could trade?

But surely the fact that there is always someone worst off doesn't prevent someone from having the right to complain? Yes, the British students may have had it worse, but there are billions of people across the globe who have it worse still than them.

We all complain. We all write e-mails or make phone calls if we feel we've been screwed over by someone. If you get ripped off, you don't think, "Ah well, someone somewhere has got ripped off more badly than me" and let it drop - you want to do something about it.

To the people here complaining about students exercising their freedom to protest at a major international sporting event... you know, there are billions of people the world over who have no access to watching Grands Prix or any kind of world stage sports event, so what are you grumbling on here about? Shut up and be grateful for everything you have.

Or, on the other hand, bear in mind that everyone has as much right to make their feelings heard as you do.

[Row Man Gross-Gene]

It looks like the protesters aren't targeting only the race, they've been disrupting business for a while and will continue to do so. The fact that one activist called F1 a bunch of rich guys or whatever is just grandstanding. I think the students have a right to do what they're doing, and the GP has a right to go ahead as it has been planned. If everyone follows the laws/rules, no one will get hurt and their message will get out.

[Klon]

This. The day where one will need to make the fat cats bleed count me in. The only problem is that there will always exist people who are willing to protect the fat cats in return of some food. If their family is fine, then everything is fine. Narrow minded people...

DanielPT, fighter for social justice. Sorry, don't take it personally, but I am not impressed.

Don't worry though, you are not alone - if it were to come to a revolution, most of us would be running away quite fast since such a revolution would involve violence since, as we have learned multiple times, barely any peaceful revolution is long-term efficient in changing things.

[DanielPT]

This. The day where one will need to make the fat cats bleed count me in. The only problem is that there will always exist people who are willing to protect the fat cats in return of some food. If their family is fine, then everything is fine. Narrow minded people...

DanielPT, fighter for social justice. Sorry, don't take it personally, but I am not impressed.

Don't worry though, you are not alone - if it were to come to a revolution, most of us would be running away quite fast since such a revolution would involve violence since, as we have learned multiple times, barely any peaceful revolution is long-term efficient in changing things.

But I wouldn't run away. Despite not having any followers to be able to rally them against fat cats, I have no problem to follow a leader. As you may have guessed, such man is yet to show his face. He is out there though.

And no offence taken.

[Sublime_FA11C]

I don't suppose the protests will make a dent in the GP but if it does happen it is within the rights of protesters to try. Anything short of physical destruction and bodily harm should be on their menu. Even if most of us would rather have a GP without this controversy, and none of us would agree with the protestors, people have a right to protest that must be respected regardles of the protestors agenda or intelligence so long as their aims are legal and tolerant.

And if such protests get out of hand it's almost allways the fault of the authorities who are competent for little else except collecting taxes and electioneering.

I would guess there will be some mild controversy, followed by Bernie's comments that there is no controversy, followed in turn by a mild increase in controvery, followed in turn by rain during the race, hopefully an epic race, followed by our 7th winner of the season.

[golic_2004]

It's already Reject of The Race before the race even begins.

[mario]

I don't suppose the protests will make a dent in the GP but if it does happen it is within the rights of protesters to try. Anything short of physical destruction and bodily harm should be on their menu. Even if most of us would rather have a GP without this controversy, and none of us would agree with the protestors, people have a right to protest that must be respected regardles of the protestors agenda or intelligence so long as their aims are legal and tolerant.

And if such protests get out of hand it's almost allways the fault of the authorities who are competent for little else except collecting taxes and electioneering.

I would guess there will be some mild controversy, followed by Bernie's comments that there is no controversy, followed in turn by a mild increase in controvery, followed in turn by rain during the race, hopefully an epic race, followed by our 7th winner of the season.

The major concern, though, is that some of the hard line student unions have made it clear that they are prepared to resort to rather aggressive tactics (smoke bombs on public transport, trying to drive students who wished to attend lectures out of the faculties etc.) in order to make their point, and in some of the riots it appears that it was the protesters that decided to resort to violence first (with the use of fireworks, rocks and bottles as missiles against the police guarding government buildings).
It is probably the case that the majority of the students are protesting peacefully, but there does seem to be a not inconsiderable group that have turned to more violent means as a way of grabbing the newspaper headlines, and with multiple high profile events coming up in the next few months (including the Canadian GP), not to mention those that saw how the protesters in Bahrain were able to briefly voice their concerns to a global audience, we could see outbreaks of violence if the current situation remains unresolved.

[WeirdKerr]

*builds a fire proof handcart*


just in case....

[tzerof1]

What the bathplug do they have to be complaining about? They ought to be grateful that it's such a small, gradual increase. They have it quite easy, even with the fee increase. To put it into perspective: An undergrad student at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec will have to pay a total of around $1456.87 US per semester whereas an undergrad student going to Concordia University in the state of Wisconsin will have to pay around $15,980 US per semester. My point being that there are similar differences across the entire college system in both countries.

So, Canadian students, be grateful. An extra couple of hundred bucks a year isn't too much to ask. Other places have it much worse. AND LEAVE THE GRAND PRIX OUT OF IT!

[pasta_maldonado]

Who do these Canadians think they are? I understand their cause (I will be (hopefully) going to Uni in 3/4 years) but to use it as a cause to vandalise property, deny students of lectures, disrupt our sport and in general be bathplugging arseholes is unacceptable. We in England have much worse Uni fees, but you don't see our students invading the British GP, do you? May I refer you to this and this. Both of which you may already have seen, but the first one shows what happens at just 20-50 mph, and I fear we might get another Silverstone, if these protestors get too caught up in the moment and do something stupid...

[Stramala]

If these damn Quebecer students ever show their face in Scotland, rest assured I will personally see to it they get a good glassing

[pasta_maldonado]

my original reaction to this:

[fjackdaw]

Who do these Canadians think they are? I understand their cause (I will be (hopefully) going to Uni in 3/4 years) but to use it as a cause to vandalise property, deny students of lectures, disrupt our sport and in general be bathplugging arseholes is unacceptable. We in England have much worse Uni fees, but you don't see our students invading the British GP, do you?

No, probably because it's "too remote to make an effective demonstration". But there is always going to be a hardcore minority in any country, Britain included, who want to escalate things. I'm pretty sure parts of our own student demonstrations turned violent. The vast majority just want to state their case and not riot or destroy things.

[Sunshine_Baby_[IT]]

As I have been an university student since five years, I understand that Canadian students could have good reasons. In Italy university fees are increased throughout the years too, and there has been some students demostrations... but I don't really understand what's the link between students rights and Formula 1. Do they really think that they're able to stop Canadian grand prix and if they stopped it, university fees would stop increasing? I don't really think this could really happen.

[Stramala]

Gotta love being Scottish. No tuition fees.

[tzerof1]

May I refer you to this and this.

While we're on the subject of people and near misses with F1 cars, may I remind you all of the 1977 South African GP as a reminder of the grave consequences when it's not a near miss?

[Klon]

Gotta love being Scottish. No tuition fees.

Ha, try Schleswig-Holstein: no tuition fees, slightly better weather and lots of fish on our plates.