Posted by Winnipeg Chapter on October 8, 2012 at 11:10 PM
You may have read and heard about the arrest at the September 17th rally; about the police reaction and their statement accusing protesters, about the protesters’ concerns over permits and police behaviour, about bystanders and drivers, down-town traffic and public safety – but have you read about the reason for the rally? Did you come across an article that discussed why so many people felt the need to walk with signs and banners along Portage Ave at rush hour?
I didn’t.
On September 17th nearly one hundred people gathered in Winnipeg to join groups in 14 other cities across Canada uniting in solidarity to stop Harper’s agenda and work together to create true democracy.
September 17th marked the opening of Canada’s Parliament, venerable bastion of the democratic system, and – coincidentally – the one year anniversary of Occupy Wall St. It was an opportunity to address the deluge of undemocratic actions taken by the government of this parliament, and bring to light some of the immediate crises.
September 17th was 3 days before Kim Rivera, her husband and their four young children were deported from Canada to the united states. Kim was taken into custody, separated from her children (the youngest is only 18 months) and sent to military prison where she is expected to serve a sentence of five years.
Kim is an Iraq war resistor, a heroic soldier who chose to go on patrol in Iraq without a rifle because of the horrors she saw inflicted on everyday Iraqi families by the United States military. She made the courageous decision to walk away from the war and speak up about the abuses she saw in Iraq. She came to Canada, relying on our long time reputation as a country that respects and upholds international law and the rights of conscientious objectors.
The Harper government ignored those rights, disdained international law, and deported her – and most appallingly cheered when the announcement of her arrest was made. Yes – our elected representatives stood up and cheered in Parliament when they heard that they had successfully broken up a family and punished a good soldier.
September 17th saw the Conservatives put the opposition on notice that a second omnibus budget bill is on its way. Like Bill C-38, the budget bill whose passage now allows CIA and FBI agents to cross the border and arrest Canadians on Canadian soil, we can expect this new oversized bill to cover many, many things that have nothing to do with a budget. Even some of Harper’s own MPs admit that they had no idea what was in the last omnibus bill. It was 400 pages long and hurtled its way through the required three readings as the government shut down debate and used their false majority to vote it in.
On September 17th the courts were slowly inching through the bureaucratic legal mess created by the Conservative Party as they attempted to prevent or obfuscate a trial on their election activities. In several ridings across Canada, citizens came forward to substantiate claims that the Conservative Party had attempted (often successfully) to misdirect voters to non-existent polls, and prevent votes for other candidates. Even while witnesses speak out and proof piles up that this government won several close run races through manipulation and dishonesty – that it does not and never did have the support of the people of Canada – even now, the Conservatives fight back without regard for the truth, and continue to make devastating decisions on our behalf.
These are the stories that should have been in the papers and on the morning news. These are the stories that really matter – and these are the reasons why so many people felt impelled to put themselves at risk that day on Portage Ave. Please – help spread the real news everywhere!
Contributor: Mary Robinson – Council of Canadians Winnipeg Chapter Chair