On Parliament Hill...
Dec. 4th, 2008 01:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fajrdrakoI spent my lunch break at the rally on Parliament Hill, holding a big blue sign that said COALITION YES - MAKE PARLIAMENT WORK on one side and COALITION OUI - POUR UN PARLIAMENT QUI MARCHE on the other. My only regret was that I hadn't brought my camera to take pictures or my pen to take notes. There were thousands of people there - no, I don't know how many thousands - and dramatic weather, as black clouds blew overhead, and snow fell, and the sun came out again over the Peace tower. The speakers stood on the steps in front of the Parliament Buildings and spoke eloquently.
There were speeches by Stépane Dion (leader of the Liberal Party) Gilles Duceppe (leader of the Bloc Québécois), Jack Layton (leader of the New Democratic Party) and other spokespeople for the Coalition government they are trying to form. I enjoyed hearing each of them; particularly when Duceppe said (and I am both translating and paraphrasing) that Prime Minister Steven Harper lied when he said that the Bloc wants to destroy Canada. "We don't agree about Quebec sovereignty," he said, "But we agree about everything else. For the importance of worker's rights, jobs, the economy, women's rights, the environment, on this we agree with the whole of Canada." There were signs saying "62% IS A MAJORITY".
Jack Layton came to the podium to say that Stephen Harper had just put locks on the doors of the House of Commons, which means that the Governor-General must have allowed Harper to suspend Parliament. Does Harper think he has to kill democracy in order to save it?
There were cries of "shame" for Harper. Layton said that Harper was now revealing the old policies of the Reform Party - anti-democratic, anti-worker, anti-gay, anti-feminist. "He shouldn't be worrying about the locks on the House of Commons," said Layton, "but the locks on the doors of people who have lost their homes, of factories where the workers have lost their jobs.... We have a recession and the only job he cares about is his own." Aah, political rhetoric, but true. At the end, people sang "O Canada".
He also said that Harper was revealing his adherence to the Reform Party platform: anti-feminist, anti-gay, anti-environment. And that he was running scared from Parliament and answerability, trying to save his own skin now, to the detriment of Canada.
I saw a bunch of acquaintances in the crowd there, but it wasn't till I was leaving that I ran into
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commodorified, iclysdale, raynedaze, auriaephiala and audrawilliams. commodorified had made a big illustrated sign saying "DEAR MR. HARPER: THAT TRICK NEVER WORKS - NOT FOR CHARLES I, NOT FOR YOU!". She said it was fun to see how many people 'got it'.As I walked back to the bus stop to return to the theatre, several interesting people stopped to talk to me about politics and what was going on, and to express their hopes for Canada. I felt a certain excitement in being in a crowd of people who agreed with me politically - a rare occurrance in my life, at least since the days of Trudeaumania.
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Unusual coincidence
Date: 2008-12-04 07:35 pm (UTC)At least one of those three at the table next to mine got the reference, too.
Re: Unusual coincidence
Date: 2008-12-04 07:43 pm (UTC)Re: Unusual coincidence
Date: 2008-12-04 07:54 pm (UTC)Your icon is so delightfully appropriate!
Re: Unusual coincidence
Date: 2008-12-04 08:20 pm (UTC)Re: Unusual coincidence
Date: 2008-12-04 07:48 pm (UTC)Oh, what fun! I wish I could have gone too, but I had to rush back to work.
one of her travelling companions overheard me reading that next-to-last paragraph out to others also at the protest to their amusement.
Chortle! I love it!
At least one of those three at the table next to mine got the reference, too.
I am proud of my friends and even perfect strangers who understand a good historical reference, and the implications of it.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 08:05 pm (UTC)Is this going to get ANY better?
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 08:15 pm (UTC)Presumably now not much will happen except media analysis and talk until Harper allows Parliament to reconvene in January. So we all sit back and ask Santa Claus for better national leadership in 2009.
Interesting times.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 08:19 pm (UTC)Yes, in the Chinese sense. :-/
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Date: 2008-12-04 08:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 09:13 pm (UTC)Most of life, I find, is a bit of both.
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Date: 2008-12-04 08:17 pm (UTC)[Sadly, I didn't ... I was rather minus on sleep and I usually wind up catching up on same come Thursday. Oh well.]
And yes,
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 08:24 pm (UTC)It was a good crowd - I probably knew others there but there were too many people there to pick out individuals. I saw Caph Woodgold, for example, and spoke to her briefly. (Assuming you know her through OSFS Or Apaplexy?)
I would have slept late today if I could have - !
England's Charles I was able to pull it off for over a decade, but the same tactic ultimately failed. The question now is whether Harper remembers enough History to "get it" too.
Lucky for Harper, decapitating royalty is considered passé.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 08:32 pm (UTC)I have also raised a question (http://duncanmac.livejournal.com/24701.html) related to this mess in my blog.
Decapitating royalty may be passé, but some people (not yours truly) may want to make an exception. I hope enough of us are opposed to Capital Punishment to put a stop to That Idea.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 08:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 08:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 08:36 pm (UTC)Well... not for Charles, though, poor man.
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Date: 2008-12-05 12:09 am (UTC)But there is a distinct difference, mother. Charles was king who thought he could do anything he pleased. Harper wishes he were king and could do anything he pleases.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 02:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 09:09 pm (UTC)After I picked my jaw up off the floor that he was allowed to do that, Charles I was the first thing I thought of!
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 09:11 pm (UTC)The precedent does spring to mind, doesn't it?
But Harper doesn't wear such spiffy clothes.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 09:35 pm (UTC)wonders if Harper supporters are pro-prorogue or just "pro-rogue" (as in, "rogue and scoundrel"). Harper,the Gimlet-Eyed Maverick!
no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 11:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-04 11:53 pm (UTC)There is an American "Reform Party," too. It also (as yours, I see) should just go ahead and call itself "Reactionary Party." Insipid and mean-spirited, in this day and age. Enough, already.
Locks?
The energy of the assembled people was probably utterly vibrant, eh? How I felt the night of November 4, when I'd just heard on the radio that McCain had conceded, and was on the phone with you talking through weeping. Energy. Changing energy.
(Just for the record, I get the Charles I sign. Heh.)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 02:08 am (UTC)So far so good... but the drama isn't over yet. Just in recess.
There is an American "Reform Party," too. It also (as yours, I see) should just go ahead and call itself "Reactionary Party." Insipid and mean-spirited, in this day and age.
Kind of sad. Intellectually tragic.
Locks?
Yup. They locked the doors. Practical and symbolic at the same time.
Of course you get the Charles I sign. I suspect most of my friends do. And I can't even take credit for that!
no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 10:42 pm (UTC)And I can't even take credit for that!
Sure you can! You collect only cool people! It's your energy. Your vibe repells the general doofus in the population. (I don't know the plural of "doofus." I should make one up. I'll say, doofi. Heh.)
I was wondering: is this the civilized way to reshape one's government? I wish we Americans had had that kind of energy about five years ago. We couldn't even keep those jerks Bush and Cheney from invading Iraq.
But finally I do think that things are going to get better. Obama is already working hard during this transition period. Just too bad that so many people are upset that we will soon have an Irish president. Because, after all, O'Bama is an Irish name, right?
no subject
Date: 2008-12-06 12:35 am (UTC)I wish we Americans had had that kind of energy about five years ago. We couldn't even keep those jerks Bush and Cheney from invading Iraq.
Interesting point. Hmm.
Obama is already working hard during this transition period.
Maybe change in the US has made it easier for some Canadians to imagine change here.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 12:12 am (UTC)Oh my goodness sake I was totally thinking of Charles when you mentioned this yesterday but didn't want to sound like the English Civil War geek that I am by mentioning it. :)
If only you had Eden... haha.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 02:04 am (UTC)My dear, you forget what company you are in here. We play English Civil War geekery on a daily basis, along with medieval geekery and English Regency geekery and age of sail geekery and... and so on. We rather love it.
Yes, if only we had Eden. Sigh.
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Date: 2008-12-05 04:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 12:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 01:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 01:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 01:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 02:04 am (UTC)Exile to one of the moons of Jupiter?
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Date: 2008-12-05 03:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 03:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 03:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 03:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-05 03:48 am (UTC)