The weather was cold (by southern standards), there was a bit of a wind (a bit too strong to be considered just a breeze), and a few snow flakes fell, but none of that stopped a few hundred of us from showing up at The Hill to tell Paul Martin what we think of the potential Canadian participation in Bush’s ballistic missile plan..
Yes, that means my previous “I’ll weigh the information & options and come to a decision when I’ve done that” stance has been replaced by one against Canadian participation…. but more on that in another post.
At the appointed time 132 of us put on white coveralls and arranged ourselves on the west lawn of Parliament Hill to spell out NO MD in huge white letters. While we were getting organized into a readable format the Radical Cheerleaders cheered us on and the organizers led those who were not involved in more chants and cheers.
I gotta tell ya, the ground was getting pretty darned cold (unfortunately the coveralls were not big enough to let me wear my down vest under them) and hard by he time the media had finised the photo & filming process, and the hot chocolate and snacks that were available for us after we got up were certainly appreciated.
After the coveralls were packed up and stored away, and we’d all had a chance towarm up and have a smoke, the “Raging Grannies” gave us a couple of appropriately satirical songs, the speakers took the mike, the speeches were made (to much encouragement and cheering), the slogans were chanted (to more encouragement and cheering), and then, after a little idle shit-chat and socializing, we all headed home to warm up properly.
As expected the crowd was made up of young and old, the wealthy and the non-wealthy, school teachers, elected MPs, married people, single people, the healthy, and the infirm - if the media was looking for anarchy and chaos they went away dissapointed, we were just a few hundred average Canadians letting our government know what we believe the proper course of action to take is.
Now it’s time to rest up a bit, tomorrow most of the groups are taking the opportunity to complete final planning for actions and rallies that will take place next week, and get ready for the major events on the November 29/30, and December 1st.
Hmmm…almost 7 PM and no sign of him here or on mixedwingnuts.. Prepare the dogs and call search and rescue immediately. Balb, we’ll need an article of his clothing for scent tracking purposes. I TOLD you we should have had the GPS chip inserted in his ear. I’ll go fire up the Stageleft hovercraft - were goin’ to find him. Balb, bring O2, warm towels and pictures of Ed Broadbent, just in case CSIS has tried to reprogram him. I knew this protesting stuff was risky but clearly things have escalated to a “red alert” stage.