Come join other citizens as we hold a street-corner public awareness protest in front of City Hall on Wednesday morning. Honk for Democracy!
Where: Vancouver City Hall (12th & Cambie)
When: Wednesday March 29, 2006, two times:
Bring a smile and your signs and lets rally Vancouverites again! Don’t have a sign? We’ll have a decent selection!
Help us make the Walk for Democracy a huge success – inform your friends. Here’s some ready made information letters which you can print or email to your circle of friends and neighbours, no matter where they live in the greater Vancouver area.
Media Highlights for Saturday March 26 through Tuesday March 28 2006
Media Watch is updated through the day until the end of the day.
March 27 (Bea Vongdouangchanh, The Hill Times) A chill in floor-crossing sets in to 39th Parliament
Thanks to David Emerson, Stephen Harper and Bernard Shapiro, some political players say a floor-crossing chill is in vogue in the next House.
Some might call it a floor-crossing chill, but some politicos say it would be “political suicide” for any MP to cross the floor any time soon.
People: +1, Politicians: 0
March 28 (Bill Rogers, CNEWS) MP’s got bite: Tory refuses to be muzzled by party
“And so, unlike many of my colleagues who want to be in cabinet, or want to be parliamentary secretaries or want to have additional pay, more titles, a bigger office in a better building or a seat in the House of Commons closer to the boss, I don’t care,” Turner said.
“And I don’t think they should care, either. Because this MP thing is not about them.”
Turner told his audience that while he may be judged “dangerous” in establishment Ottawa, he will follow four rules as an MP: Give people a voice, don’t confuse person with position, know who you represent and communicate.
Turner had been speaking as a guest to the Hull-Aylmer Conservative riding association. According to the article, that association had received criticism for inviting Turner. I can see that. There is a culture of concealment which has developed within my party. Its got to stop.
March 28 (John Ibbitson, The Globe and Mail) Why Garth Turner is the future of politics
Here’s some really bad news: Garth Turner matters.
Despite the lead-in, this is a good story. Turner is a fanatic about representation. He gets it. I’ve said before – if Turner turns out to be only half the person he expresses in his writing, he’ll stand head and shoulders above most MP’s in Ottawa. Strike that. Above most politicians in Canada.
One upon a time I could make a similar statement about a quite a few Conservatives that have ended up as MP’s, but they’ve all fallen strangely silent behind the iron curtain that has been pulled around the Conservative caucus by Prime Minister Harper.
On Monday April 3rd, the day after the Walk for Democracy, the 39th Parliament of Canada will be called to order. Thanks to the efforts of hundreds of volunteers across the country, and the voices of tens of thousands of Canadians, members of Parliament won’t be allowed to forget that Canadians remain outraged over the undemocratic actions of the current government. Vancouver-Kingsway’s fight has served as a wake-up call to all Canadians – our fight is everyone’s fight.
When MP’s head to Parliament Hill next Monday they’ll be delivered a powerful message – a message in the air – that no one will forget.
Message in the Air is the brainchild of Manuel Pereda, who was one of the Emerson Nine ithat staged a sit-in at Emerson’s constituency office on February 25th. Local press got wind of the story – this article in the National Post is written by Vancouver Province columnist Ian Bailey.
“We’re going to send a message to him in Ottawa,” said Pereda. “This has gone beyond just the matter of crossing the floor. Now it’s a matter of Mr. Emerson not even being available to his constituents.”
Emerson’s press secretary has repeatedly declined to return calls and e-mails from The Province seeking comment on the minister’s troubles in the riding.
Manuel’s project deserves our support – you can donate online on the Message in the Air website, or do it in person at the Walk for Democracy this Sunday.
We’ve got a busy few days ahead of us all as its T-4 days to the Walk for Democracy Sunday April 2nd – plan to join us at 12:30pm at the start – 26th & Knight. We walk at 1, rally at 2pm at Norquay Park – Kingsway & Wales (just east of Slocan).
Yesterday a reporter asked if our efforts have slowed down or public support has diminished since the Shapiro report on the Harper-Emerson affair was released. Judging by the activity on our phones, the number of Vancouver-area sign requests, volunteer turn out for public awareness rallies and sign installation parties, letters to the editor – which many helpfully cc us on – if anything, our efforts and support has only picked up steam since the Shapiro report.
The day before I received a call from another concerned Canadian – this one from half a country away in Montreal. We had a long discussion late into the night about the issue, and the gentleman not only pledged his support but asked “how can we help?” If this person’s passion is any indication, we’ll be hearing much more from that city in due course.
Last night a supporter from Vancouver Quadra called with some helpful suggestions – the kindly person dug up my phone number after reading Gary Mason’s article in last week’s Globe and Mail. Aside from the welcome encouragement – she also offered two suggestions: 1) wear black arm bands on Sunday, and 2) the printed “De-Elect” lawn signs ought to have a big black border around them – its a sign of a death.
Interestingly the original handmade signs had that in fact, and they were very striking. I’m going to try to make my own black border on the printed “bag signs” with felt or paint and see how they go.
Yesterday morning we received a call from Ottawa asking “Can we get 20 lawn signs?” Those signs are already on their way. We’ve already got “De-Elect” lawn signs in St. John, New Bruinswick too!
Want to help? Want a lawn sign? Find out how at http://realdemocracy.ca/.