Like over 27,000 other Canadians across the country yesterday I was out protesting Prime Minister Harper's proroguing of Parliament. Stephen Harper would love for us not to care about the torture of Afghan detainees, about the dangers in refusing to battle climate change, about responsible limits to a Prime Minister's power. To care, he says repeatedly, marks you as a member of the elite or a leftwing fringe group. Indeed this is his chief retort to any criticism levelled against him. Say a word against him and/or his cronies and you are a bizarro dissident. But what does it mean if, as a leader, you can't handle any kind of dissent?
Ironically, Stephen Harper himelf answered this question back in April, 2005 when he proclaimed, “When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it’s rapidly losing its moral authority to govern.”
I suppose this means Prime Minister Harper would characterize his past self as a member of the elite or a leftwing fringe group! And the Harper of five years ago would probably be content to label his current self a fascist. If life were more like science fiction TV inevitably the paths of those two opposing Harpers would cross in an incident set during a rip in the time-space continuum and both be destroyed but real life is less convenient and means putting your mittens and boots on and marching through the streets in protest to try to set things right.
So kudos to all the concerned citizens throughout the nation (and those in London, England and various locations in the U.S. who showed up for local protests there too) for getting their message out to the Prime Minister yesterday! We do care, Stephen. Your recent prorogation of Parliament is undemocratic and we're not going to stand for it!
This was the scene at the protest in Toronto, beginning with me arriving at Dundas Square about twenty minutes before the rally:
The rally in Dundas Square in full swing:
And here's a tiny bit of the march action from my Flip Video:
Meanwhile in Ottawa, Trevor Strong of the Arrogant Worms sang "The Wild Proroguer" at the protest on Parliament Hill (hilarious song and I love the King Steve-o puppet in the background!):
This time he's got some answering for indeed!
Ironically, Stephen Harper himelf answered this question back in April, 2005 when he proclaimed, “When a government starts trying to cancel dissent or avoid dissent is frankly when it’s rapidly losing its moral authority to govern.”
I suppose this means Prime Minister Harper would characterize his past self as a member of the elite or a leftwing fringe group! And the Harper of five years ago would probably be content to label his current self a fascist. If life were more like science fiction TV inevitably the paths of those two opposing Harpers would cross in an incident set during a rip in the time-space continuum and both be destroyed but real life is less convenient and means putting your mittens and boots on and marching through the streets in protest to try to set things right.
So kudos to all the concerned citizens throughout the nation (and those in London, England and various locations in the U.S. who showed up for local protests there too) for getting their message out to the Prime Minister yesterday! We do care, Stephen. Your recent prorogation of Parliament is undemocratic and we're not going to stand for it!
This was the scene at the protest in Toronto, beginning with me arriving at Dundas Square about twenty minutes before the rally:
The rally in Dundas Square in full swing:
Polar bears protesting on the march route up Bay Street.
Protesters passing Nathan Phillips Square:
Parliament in an open casket to the tune of bagpipes.
And here's a tiny bit of the march action from my Flip Video:
Meanwhile in Ottawa, Trevor Strong of the Arrogant Worms sang "The Wild Proroguer" at the protest on Parliament Hill (hilarious song and I love the King Steve-o puppet in the background!):
This time he's got some answering for indeed!
