Photos: Vancouver anti-prorogation protesters march to Victory Square
Anti-prorogation protesters march through downtown Vancouver.
More than 1,000 protesters marched through the streets of downtown Vancouver on Saturday (January 23) to register their condemnation of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's prorogation of Parliament.
Protesters gathered outside the Vancouver Art Gallery in early afternoon and then marched to a rally at Victory Square, where they heard from several speakers and chanted "Get back to work! Get back to work!"
The demonstration was one of 50 held across Canada on the same day and orchestrated by a 200,000-member Facebook group called Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament.
Speakers included Jason Gratl, vice president of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, and Shoni Field, a member of Fair Vote Canada's national council.
Elected federal politicians from the Liberal and New Democratic parties, as well as Green party representatives, attended the protest.
On December 30, 2009, Harper shut down Parliament until March 3.
Video: Vancouver anti-prorogation protest calls on Stephen Harper to "get back to work"
Photos by Stephen Hui
Protest signs outside the Vancouver Art Gallery at the start of the march.
Vancouver police escort the march.
The march reaches Victory Square.
NDP MP Libby Davies at the rally at Victory Square.
Liberal MP Joyce Murray, candidate Wendy Yuan, and MP Hedy Fry.
Shoni Field addresses the rally.
Protest signs at the rally.
MC Charles Demers speaks to the crowd.
You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenhui.
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Comments
We need our democracy to work. In order to do that, parliament has to be open!
While a crowd of 50 is not going to make the national TV news, it was large enough that Kamp's people had one of their helpers stationed across the street, perched on the front bumper of her car for over half an hour, taking dozens of pictures and texting away.
The cost of organizing this protest? About $20 for felt pens and coloured paper, a good deal less than the Gov'ts multi-million dollar ad campaign promoting the "Economic Action Plan".
At one point the megaphone was handed over to a young lady, about age ten, who had joined the group on her own. She wanted to know what to say, and a local Councillor suggested she should coin her own slogan, which she did:
Canada Rules - Harper Drools!
`
Rod Smelser