A few days ago we asked for your comments on The Globe and Mail’s opinion poll question: “Most of London is monitored by police cameras. Should Canadian cities follow suit?” (results were: 61% yes, 39% no). Here is what we received:
————
My impression is that people who live outside Toronto have a very different impression of public space than we do here. I have friends and family in Cambridge, Waterloo, Whitby, etc. And, being suburbia, these cities are not designed for pedestrians – so when pedestrians are sighted, they are sinister. People never venture outside their homes… The idea of walking around in a downtown core is frightening to them (even downtown Kitchener is frightening…don’t even think about downtown Toronto). I think people are equally afraid of crime and the scary, unknown, “chaotic” aspect of downtown areas (I actually find these aspects energizing). The idea of security cameras probably makes them feel as though these areas would get “cleaner and safer.”
————
Perhaps Canadians secretly feel the inevitability of universal surveillance, and by hastening it, they are dreaming of an era where cities are entirely transparent and information is available to everybody. They long to wear clear-plastic backpacks, observe public televisions beside every CCTV camera and live in houses made entirely of glass, when having nothing to hide means truly bearing it all.
————
I don’t have a problem with this. With electronic funds transfer and mobile phones, we’re trackable anyway. I was on a jury in the UK where the defendants were identified from over a block away by street cameras. What could be the possible objections?
