It was with heavy hearts that GC and I walked to the rally on Parliament Hill, only moments after the announcement that the Governor General had agreed to the Prime Minister’s request.
But you know what? It wasn’t so bad. The rally was surprisingly upbeat, as politicians and citizens alike agreed to build momentum for the coalition between now and January 26 when Parliament resumes.
Still, I think we were all disappointed and more than a little worried about how much damage the Conservative propaganda machine can do in two months.
GC and I found ourselves on the very front lines of this rally, shaking hands with Gilles Duceppe and Jack Layton and a procession of MPs. Gilles Duceppe has extraordinary eyes for a politician.
(Oh! That reminds me! On the #14 there was a large, gruff-looking man crocheting a white lace blanky. We made eye contact as I was getting off the bus, and he did not look in the least little bit friendly. He looked mean, and for some reason the white lace did nothing to soften his expression. It was so weird and disconcerting. I think I need to revisit my stereotype of men who crochet.)
Anyway, back to Parliament Hill. Right beside us was an unusual man with a black lab named Mac. The unusual man was dressed quite skimpily considering how very cold it was. He told us he lived on the streets and that the messed-up people in shelters could do a better job running this country than the clowns on the Hill. He had a lot to say, this guy, but he kept coming back to the fact that he had to pee and that there aren’t enough legitimate places a homeless person can go to pee. I’ve heard this before and I don’t doubt it’s true.
The crowd started chanting “HEY HEY HO HO, Stephen Harper has to go!”
“What about me?” cried the street guy, “I have to go too! My dog can go anywhere he wants, right there on the street. I don’t even have as many rights as my dog!”
I love this country. How many times have I stood on Parliament Hill, in the shadow of the Peace Tower, exercising my right to express my opinions? I’ve been going to demonstrations on the Hill since I was in my teens. I’ve been to feminist rallies, peace rallies, human rights rallies, rallies of all kinds. I went to the Hill every Saturday morning for months in 2003, during the lead-up to the Iraq war. I was at the sex trade workers rally a couple of months ago.
I’ve been to the Hill for things that had nothing to do with protest too: I was there for a moment of silence on September 12th, 2001, for Canada Day celebrations, for fireworks as we entered the new millennium, for yoga on the Hill, to visit the Parliament Hill stray cats shelter, and to honour John Lennon when he was murdered. (We lit candles and sang Imagine and Give Peace a Chance on Parliament Hill. It was brutally cold. It was beautiful.)
We lost the battle today, but it made me feel good to stand on Parliament Hill with politicians and strangers and friends and homeless people and dogs, exercising our rights to assemble, speak, protest and dissent. There are many places in the world where this is not permitted, and there are people with power right here, right now, in Canada, who would happily strip us of these freedoms if they could.
And, while I think it’s a travesty that the GG let Harper duck out the back door today, I’m not ready to give up. I’m disappointed, but I’m a lot more hopeful than I was a couple of weeks ago. You?
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While I don’t necessarily agree with your view on the coalition, I too love the fact that people can express their views as you did today. Whatever happens out of this whole mess, it’s one of those things that make me proud to be a Canadian!
I was disappointed, too. I had hoped that maybe just this once we’d do something really spectacular and right (as in correct).I’m also very disappointed in the Canadia media who keeps quoting Harper and disguising it as news stories. No wonder so many people are going around spouting stuff about overthrowing governments and coups and treason and how Canada “democratically elected Harper to govern the country” and we should just let him and how the other guys are just mad and power hungry because they didn’t win. People have some strange ideas. I don’t hold out a lot of hope for end of January. In 6 weeks there’s no telling what the incredibly wealthy Conservatives can cook up. But here’s a scary thought — can you imagine what could happen if they have another election and win a majority?
Thanks Valerie. I hope it stays that way.
XUP, I’m mystified by how the conservatives got elected last time: I only know three people who vote for them.
When the announcement initially leaked this coalition was being seriously negotiated one of the first questions was, of course, who gets to be Prime Minister? Nobody at first really thought Dion would continue as PM in a coalition, so the rumour started that afternoon the Liberal caucus would have a vote and put Iggy in as PM.
But Dion and his supporters fought back, as did Mr. Rae. And by the end of business that day, or maybe early the next day, it was settled Mr. Dion would be PM under the agreement until a leadership convention next spring.
Late that afternoon or early that evening a CTV camera crew caught up to Iggy in an airport and asked about his involvement. And he denied he had anything to do with the negotiations between the NDP, Liberals and Bloq.
During that interview is when I knew this thing would never go ahead.
On the Liberal side this whole thing has been, in my opinion, led by Mr. Rae and Mr. Dion. Neither of whom, coalition or not, will be PM after next spring. And, since the only Liberal leadership candidate with a shot at being PM doesn’t entirely support the coalition, every Liberal member of Parliament will have an extra couple of weeks to decide if it’s best to go ahead with the coalition, or just sit and wait for Iggy to take over.
Ottawa is really a bit of a Liberal, NDP bastion… go to Barrhaven and Nepean, you’ll find some Conservatives. Heck they elected Poilievre…
The Man was at the rally today, did you see him? He looked like a Narc in a suit. I think in other parts of the country (i.e. every where except Quebec), all this has played into Harper’s hand. Where the media have failed is in explaining the Canadian parliamentary system to the masses, I was struck watching the U.S. election how often the U.S. media spent explain the system to Americans. Something the Canadian media never do. But most Canadians aren’t all that well versed in our system…
I’ve seen a lot of explanations of the system on tv and in the papers this week – entire stories on how a coalition is constitutionally applicable in minorities, graphics, charts, bullet points. I’m not sure what else it takes to make it clear. If an entire country full of people seem to have skipped out on grade 12 civics, how much more responsibility can reporters take for educating them?
I wish I felt hopeful but I don’t. I think it is likely that people will be swayed by Harper’s rhetoric and lies, but also by their fear of being left adrift in a time of economic crisis. If we go to another election after a vote of non-confidence it will mean at least 15 weeks without an effective parliament. I am afraid that people will believe the lies about illegitimacy and be more than ready to embrace the devil they know just to get experience, no matter how autocratic, back in the driver’s seat. I fear for Canada.
If the boys on the coalition side had any brains they would have put forward and interim leader like Goodale to be the front man for this. Then Iggy and Bobby could still have their little hissy fit but they wouldn’t have been plagued with the tongue tied Dion. And what was with the tape? My dad could do better than that the second time he used a movie camera.
Oh well. Harper got his stay of execution and maybe just maybe this will smarten him up a bit about playing nice with the others. There are a lot of conservatives royally pissed at him and his tactics right now. And even if they get to stay n power which seems likely thye are going to have to spend a boatload of money they didnt need to 2 weeks ago.
I know you know only a handful of conservatives, Zoom, but you obviously hang out with only cool people. Fact is, this whole coalition thing has made the Tories popularity soar. At work I am surrounded by people who didn’t vote Conservative, but would if there was an election tomorrow because they see this coalition thing as a treasonous power-grab and they think that since Harper was “fairly elected to run the country” we should just let him. Now that’s some scary stuff. I’ve stopped trying to argue with them. Meanwhile Europeans can’t even understand how someone with less than the majority of the popular vote can even be appointed leader. Over there a minority government automatically means a coalition. This has made the news all over the world and boy do we look stupid. The rest of the world seems to understand our political system much better than Canadians do and they are aghast at the stuff Harper is spewing in the media. Go read some UK and EEC papers
Think of the prorogue as a “time out” – and since it is occurring over xmas, maybe some good will will be generated.
What Canada needs is their own version of Obama?
Glad the rally went on in good spirits anyway.
I’m surprised at the GG’s decision.
How long is the Xmas break of parliament usually? It isn’t much more than a week more than the usual time off around New years.
Great to hear about the rally – wasn’t able to go. But I think handing over the govt to the coalition would not have been a good idea under the present circumstances, and the GG made a good call by just shutting down parliament – and hence, with it, the offending economic statement. Either explicitly or not, Harper has been told: you don’t get to govern unless you play nicely with others. You need the confidence of the House. He knows he has to negotiate with the other parties to arrive at an acceptable budget. It is a more desirable outcome to have our autocratic-leaing ruler brought back into line than to have the government suddely swing way over to the other side – a side which I tend to agree with but I recognize many don’t, and would be outraged by this outcome. Also, such a sudden swing would paralyze the mechanisms of government, something I am keenly aware of withing the machine. And, I think that immediate takeover by the coalition would hurt the NDP and Libs in the long term, for various reasons, including that it would piss off a lot of people – including some of their supporters.
Excellent thoughtful comments, all of you – thank you.