Ottawa has had a 'homeless protest' in front of city hall for two months now (sympathetic CBC coverage here). No one in the municipal government or the police has had courage to shut it down, so of course it's grown and taken on a carnival atmosphere. So what is the Mayor's solution to deal with this? Well, how about we invite some of the 'protesters' in, explain things to them and ask them to see reason, and maybe toss in a couple of small bribes? A fat lot of good that did...

Appeasement never works. It just feeds the appetite of the recipients and gives them more power and confidence. It's a very simple fact; but for so many like Ottawa's dopey Mayor Chiarelli, it's impossible to understand. These guys are extortionists, plain and simple. It's a shakedown -- and even though they've made no clear demands, they all feel they're going to get a nice payoff at the end. The law is on the city's side and they should have moved in and evicted them a long time ago. But now these campers have made a large investment in this project, and they're not going to go without a big score or a violent confrontation.