Re: Toronto mayor demands riot damage cash, June 29.

When I heard that the federal government was asked to pay for damage to Toronto merchants for the destruction of their premises, I was floored.

The federal government should not pay for damages. Most of the protesters (at the G20 summit) were not violent and not all Canadians were there. There is no reason for us to pay through our taxes for this mess.

If the 900-plus people who were arrested were made to split the costs between them and pay for it themselves, instead of the rest of us paying for their mess, they may think twice before damaging other people's property and looting.

They could have their wages garnished or even be require to do the repair work themselves as part of their punishment. They may not all have caused the damage, but they were certainly there and part of the problem.

We are making it too easy for them by having the government pay the merchants for damage, yet I understand that the merchants will want compensation and so they should get it, but not from the government. Let the delinquents that caused the damage pay.

By having the government pay, they know they got away with it and will have no regrets doing it again in the future.

I applaud police for acting the way they did. I'm glad they got as many as they did. The actions of these thugs make me ashamed to call myself Canadian. I know I am not the only one to feel this way.

Wendy Greene,

Carleton Place