New Media

It is the day after the riot in downtown Vancouver following the Canucks loss to the Bruins in the Stanley Cup final. The city has come together, cleaned up most of the mess and shown true civic spirit in the aftermath of a very bad night. Some images I took with my iPhone from Granville Street in the heart of Vancouver.

Vancouver may have had the most well-documented riot in the history of the world, thanks to social media. A few choice tweets:

If you’re one of the idiot thugs on the streets of Vancouver lighting police cars on fire, picking fights with strangers, taunting cops or smashing windows of downtown businesses, I hope you get your head smashed in.

More pix from my TV (I have no intention of leaving my apartment to grab my own photos. Thanks, CBC).

The Vancouver Canucks lose the Stanley Cup game. Right on time, idiots roam the streets looking for fights, burning cars and throwing stuff. Latest word is that a Boston fan’s been badly beaten.

Just took some pix off my TV. What a disgrace. Go home, jerks.

Sentencing is supposed to provide a deterrent — except when it doesn’t. I’m not asking for Old Testament-style justice. But surely our judiciary can do better than this?

“The conduct you engaged in here is so appalling the court has to address the principles of denunciation and deterrence,” said Justice Guy DeMarco.

“You pose a continuing danger to society and particularly children. Society expects the mother of a toddler would do everything in her power to make sure her child is protected from harm . . . Not only did you not protect your child, you preyed on that child.”

And, so, in the interests of justice, this predator “will likely spend an additional six to eight months in jail after getting the usual two-for-one credit for the nine months she spent in pre-sentence custody”.