Katelynn Northam is feeling really positive about the state of Canadian democracy these days, at least in terms of its grassroots. A flood of support for the upcoming anti-prorogation rally in Halifax is the reason why.
The third-year International Development student is one of the organizers of the rally on Saturday to protest Prime Minister Harper’s decision to prorogue parliament until March.
“People are insulted” by this decision, she says. “He did this clearly thinking people wouldn’t notice or care.”
The decision to prorogue parliament means that any previous discussion on bills before Parliament will essentially start over in March when parliament resumes. Work by parliamentary committees, such as that investigating torture of Afghan detainees, also comes to a halt until parliament resumes.
It’s an issue Canadians feel so strongly about that they may just get up from their computer chairs and into the streets.
“It started with a student on Facebook in Alberta and snowballed into a decision to take this out of the Internet,” says Ms. Northam. She notes that original Facebook page signed up 200,000 Canadians and now people in more than 30 cities and towns across the country are planning protest rallies for Saturday.
In Halifax, 1,400 people have joined the local Facebook site and 600 people have indicated they’ll go to the rally which starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday in front of Province House. Ms. Northam says she’s encouraged by the range of people taking part, including retirees, young moms, local politicians and a good number of university students.
“The message is they can’t do things like this anymore,” says Ms. Northam. “We are sending the message that Canadians are paying attention. And maybe the government will think twice next time.”
LINK: Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament Halifax Rally on Facebook
SEE STORY: Anti-prorogation activists engaged, voting and older in The Globe and Mail