There is a police union labour action going on in Toronto right now. The issues boil down to, as usual, money.

I have no opinion one way or another as to how much police should be paid. I am not familiar with the employment market, nor much with the intricacies of the ever-confounding and ever-growing municipal budget. So when an intrepid local reporter asks the “man on the street” about whether they “support the police”, the invariable “yes!” response makes me shrug. The average “man on the street” around here is an urbanized Liberal voter, not equipped with a strong grasp of government … or finance.

The easiest comeback to such knee-jerk-supporters is not tell them to educate themselves first, since they will rarely do so. It is rather to ask just how much their “support” is worth: how much of their own money would they like to donate to the multi-million-dollar cause. It’s easy to show “support” when this act consists of merely speaking the words in front of camera. When “support” affects one’s personal budget, perhaps one will be less eager to spout off.