Among the thousands of grass-roots rallies held from Halifax to Yellowknife was one in Kingston, where more than 300 people packed into a corner of Market Square on Saturday afternoon to add their voices to the protest of the prime minister's government tactics.
Carrying signs with messages ranging from Save Our Prison Farms to
Stand Up To Harper -- the latter in NDP campaign orange, in case there was any doubt where it came from -- people lined the railings and packed the amphitheatre in such numbers that organizers had to remind them to leave a lane open so Market Square skaters could get through.
Internet campaign fuels nationwide protest - The Whig Standard - Ontario, CA
Yeah, I certainly think the NDP and Liberals promoted, if not funded, these rallies.......
So what?????
It is a free country, so they get to spend their dollars and their energies as they please.
I am simply sorry that they are having such success at deceiving the Canadian public....
Prorogation is a NORMAL part of Parliamentary procedure....it is NOT a suspension of democracy, the opposition will have every chance to throw out the gov't as soon as it returns and presents a Throne Speech and budget.
There are several excellent reasons to "reset" Parliament at this point...
1. The economy is beginning to recover, but spending is out of control......time to re-asses and redo our economic plan....
2. This is a minority gov't, yes.......but it has to rule. Time out gives the PM a chance to stack the Senate with Conservative appointees.....(I DARE the frickin' Liberals to whine about that!!!!) and to reset committe membership to more efficiently handle the government's business.
3. We are at war in Afghanistan. There is NO accusation that Canadian soldiers have tortured Afghan detainees.....none (that I know of!!!) The tempest in a teapot over the detainee issue NEEDED to be silenced, as it simply presents our enemies with a propaganda blitz........
That said, two points on the Afghan thing......first, the gov't deserves censure for its dishonest and yes, idiotic reaction to the issue from the first. Second, the opposition is free to resurrect the issue in the new session......
Perhaps this action is not up to the idealized standards of some people.....but it is within the rules, and that is how the system works......and always has worked.
It is sad how Canadians are being led around by the nose on this one.....
That's how I see it.......