Gregor Robertson, Christy Clark up ante on Stanley Cup riot “losers”

by Matthew Burrows on Jun 16, 2011 at 3:45 pm
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Many store windows were smashed during the riot.
Stephen Hui

Speaking to a throng of media types downtown today (June 16), a clearly agitated Mayor Gregor Robertson lashed out against what he called “a bunch of losers” who smashed and looted Vancouver’s downtown core and tarnished the city’s reputation worldwide.

“We have the Festival of Lights celebration in English Bay, we have the Grey Cup later this year, and we fully intend to have big celebrations,” said Robertson at the news conference today, flanked to his right by Premier Christy Clark and Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association executive director Charles Gauthier. “We are not going to back off and give our city over to a bunch of losers. We are not going to let them change our plans to gather in big numbers and celebrate who we are in Vancouver.”

The mayor and the premier both insisted the perpetrators of the violence were a small, determined, and targeted group of what Robertson called “hard-core criminals” but offered no specifics. The premier said there is too much evidence out there for the acts to be “anonymous”. She asked that people turn in their footage so the perpetrators could be brought to justice.

“You’re not going to be able to hide behind your bandana or your hoodie,” Clark said.

Gauthier said he could not provide estimates yet of the cost of the damage to downtown businesses that suffered damage due to vandalism and looting. He said about 50 properties suffered some form of damage, adding that it is hard to ascertain costs because many merchants were just waking up to the realities of the extent of the damage done following yesterday’s Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.

Two Georgia Straight boxes were totally melted in the rioting and countless others were tossed around, while one was tossed through a store window.

Robertson was joined by all the Vision Vancouver councillors this morning, with NPA mayoral candidate Suzanne Anton also watching from the sidelines.

Robertson, Clark, and Anton later signed the so-called “Sorry” wall that was put up on the side of the boarded-up Bay building today.

Comments (7) Add New Comment
Bandwagon Jumpers
Jun 16, 2011 at 5:16 pm
From the Canucks bandwagon to the riot bandwagon without missing a beat, very impressive.
If these rioters are know to the mayor and police, why were they not ready for them?
Answer - they are full of sh...
These riot people are Vancouverites. Even in a riot they were polite to others. I bet less people were hurt last night than a normal night in Vancouver. These are the unwashed that Vancouver pretends doesn't exist so the rich immigrants will continue to buy up Vancouver and support local politicians.
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Fact Check
Jun 16, 2011 at 7:30 pm
These rioters have done more than any other event to push people to agree with the Conservatives law and order platform. Until last night, I had a pretty solid stance against that plank in the Conservatives platform. Today I say build as many jails as are necessary and track these idiots down and segregate them from decent society. This is the only kind of effort that our society should expend on these morons.
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few losers?
Jun 16, 2011 at 11:09 pm
After watching the brave 5'2" woman and petite Asian woman try to save two cars, it was sickening to see all the by-standers watch. There weren't a few losers, there were hundreds or thousands of losers and the ones watching can count themselves in.
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Morty
Jun 16, 2011 at 11:45 pm
Thanks, Christy. Now how about working on things like the education funding you cut? My kid's school is losing her teacher next year because the VSB has to lay people off—stuff like that's a bit more important than a photo op next to a sheet of plywood.
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BC RAIL IN PERSPECTIVE
Jun 17, 2011 at 12:16 pm
Why is that when a million dollars of damage is done people freak out. When BC Rail is stolen from the people and given to a corporation, that slides by.
Just a reminder - BC Rail was worth 1000 times the destructive value of the riot.
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Mantis
Jun 19, 2011 at 8:32 pm
Hmm.. Does anyone really care what mayor juice box has to say. Let's face it; it's Christy Clark who has emerged as the true leader in all this.
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Stan v
Jun 21, 2011 at 12:37 pm
Should read "Christy Clark ups ante....., cleans up Gregor's mess like so many Prov and Fed politicians have done before...."
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