G20: That's a LOT of Police

I was walking to the subway yesterday and needed to walk past the US consulate. There were easily over 100 RCMP officers parked outside, armed and carrying their riot helmets. And they were holding off the evil forces of myself and a couple walking their dogs. Now I understand that Harper is a paranoid nut and he wants to make sure that everything goes off smoothly but these guys were just sitting there all day doing nothing but chatting, walking to Tim's to get some coffee, and redirecting pedestrians off the consulate's street.

I have loads of respect for the Mounties, they're one of the top police forces in the world, but I can't help but believe that this was massive overkill, it would have made more sense for the standing force to be smaller and to bulk up the security when VIPs were transported to and from the consulate. On the other hand I'm sure the local Tim Horton's appreciated the added business.