Rallies held across Canada for coalition
Published Friday December 5th, 2008
OTTAWA - Thousands rallied Thursday on the snow-covered lawn of Parliament Hill to support a coalition of opposition parties who tried to oust the Harper government.
The crowd wasn't deterred by ice pellets whirling from the monochrome Ottawa sky or by word that Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean allowed Prime Minister Stephen Harper to suspend Parliament until late next month.
They huddled together, bundled in parkas, toques and scarves, waving signs that said "Coalition - Yes! Make Parliament Work" and "I'm a part of the 62 per cent majority-" a reference to the combined vote share of the opposition parties in the last federal election.
They blew sharp blasts on their whistles. They clanked tin drums, clanged cowbells and rattled maracas.
Anti-Harper chants broke the crisp noon air.
"Hey hey! Ho ho! Stephen Harper has got to go!"
The Ottawa rally was one of several pro-coalition events organized for Thursday in several major cities to show support for the coalition's goal of defeating the Conservatives and forming an alternative government.
The Tories precipitated the constitutional crisis by delivering a fiscal update last week that lacked economic stimulus plans but would instead have cut public financing for federal political parties and banned public sector unions from striking for two years.
The opposition coalition implored Jean to refuse Harper's advice to suspend Parliament on the grounds that he lost the confidence of the House of Commons. But she approved the suspension.
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion told supporters that Harper was forced to recant on contentious elements of his finance minister's fiscal update only because of pressure from the coalition.
Wearing only a thin, black, wool overcoat, Dion's voice rasped as he addressed the crowd.
"Without the coalition, Stephen Harper would have tried to impose an attack against bargaining rights in Canada," he said.
"Thanks to the coalition, Stephen Harper was in obligation to back away, to backtrack on what he was proposing. . . . We need the coalition. This is important for Canada from coast to coast to coast."
A loud "Duceppe!" chant welcomed the Bloc Québécois leader to the podium. Gilles Duceppe accused Harper of practising the politics of "fear, division and lies."
He evoked a popular former U.S. president to fire a salvo at the prime minister.
"He's trying to fool the people," Duceppe said of Harper.
"But as said Abraham Lincoln, sometimes you can fool all the people. Some people, you can fool all the time. But you can't fool all the people all the time.
"We'll make sure that Stephen Harper won't be able to fool Quebecers and Canadians for six more weeks."
NDP Leader Jack Layton told the crowd Harper essentially barred the doors of Parliament.
"Stephen Harper just put the locks on the doors of the House of Commons so that we cannot vote him out of office," he said.
A police officer watching over the crowd estimated 2,000 to 2,500 people were at the rally.
Those at the rally were undeterred by Jean's decision.
"By delaying this, it's not going to make it go away," said Talbert Johnson, 19, a history student at Carleton University.
"It's just delaying the eventual overturn of Stephen Harper's government."
Events were also taking place Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Regina, London, Ont., Moncton, Halifax, Charlottetown and St. John's, N.L.
Others are to be held today in Yellowknife and on Saturday in Toronto and Montreal.
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