"L'état c'est moi." A placard attributing the famous pronouncement of Louis XIV to Stevie Spiteful was spotted at the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament rally in Ottawa yesterday, just before Harper showed up. He was large and perfectly cartoonish with a big "Burger King" crown, a kitteh on his shoulder and a sign that read: What! Me worry?We surprised ourselves in Ottawa with an amazingly large turnout. And people kept coming, adding to the crowd for the first half-hour. It was quite inspiring with good public speakers, chosen for their relevance, not party politics. A number of speakers addressed the bills, the issues, the urgent questions that were dismissed by the ReformaTories as irrelevant: climate change, bringing our troops home from Afghanistan and the effect of MASSIVE bankruptcies such as Nortel upon disable workers.
The Raging Grannies sang; we were supplied with lyrics by their young-ish helpers, presumably Grannies-in-waiting. And Trevor Strong of the Arrogant Worms was there too, leading the 3,500+ crowd in song. It was quite a well organized and well-attended event with an effervescent and good-spirited crowd. I took many pictures of the home-made placards, all of them inspiring and appropriate.
