daveberta.ca: photo post: 300 rally for canada (against coalition) in edmonton.

Saturday, December 06, 2008

photo post: 300 rally for canada (against coalition) in edmonton.

See more anti-coalition photos on Flickr.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...: Very touching "My PM" sign.; Saturday, December 06, 2008 2:36:00 p.m.
Anonymous said...: Has anyone noticed that in the four years our troops were in Afaganistan under Martin, there were four deaths. Since Harper moved our troops into a more dangerous area, in only two years we have lost 96 soldiers. His move to help ease tghe pressure on Bush for his mistake of moving the focus from Afganistan to Iraq has cost us dearly.; Saturday, December 06, 2008 2:42:00 p.m.
Anonymous said...: As a Conservative, the "Please Separate Quebec" sign turns my stomach. Did no one there have the guts to tell them to put that moronic sign down?

Also, rallies are stupid.; Saturday, December 06, 2008 2:43:00 p.m.
Curmudgeon-at-Large said...: I got a phone call yesterday afternoon. The caller id showed 613-667-9996. I answered anyway.

The caller asked for me by name.

"Speaking," I responded.

It was the Conservative Party of Canada calling. They wanted to ask me a few questions. Was I in favour of coalition governments?

"Depends on who is in it," I said.

"The Liberals, the NDP, and the Bloc Quebecois," the female voice specified.

"That's not happening," I said.

She seemed confused.

I clarified. "This country won't have true democracy until we get rid of the first-past-the-post system and have proportional representation."

She guessed that I didn't support Mr. Harper.

"Thank you for your time," she said, and ended the call.

I guess she didn't really want my opinions after all.

How long does it take to set up a nationwide phone-out? How much does it cost? Was the Harper gang prepared for this situation? Phone banks set up and connected? Scripts written? Staff in place?

Can anyone still believe this whole thing wasn't fully planned and engineered by Steven Harper?; Saturday, December 06, 2008 3:00:00 p.m.
Anonymous said...: Harper is my PM??

I think they mean:

HARPER MEIN FUHRER

THE REIGHSTAG IS BURNING

I almost puked listenning to the Harperista's propaganda and lies there... You'd think Harper had promised to make the trains run on time, with union busted (slave) labor in a one party state...

OH BANANADA... with it's parliament padlocked by the Fuhrer.

Zimbabwe here we come!

FIRE HARPER
SAVE CANADA; Saturday, December 06, 2008 3:02:00 p.m.
Anonymous said...: HEY DAVE..

that was quick.. getting your pics posted...

I'm surprised you didn't have a bag over your head. Ya could damage your reputation hangin' out with the fascists LOL

Keep up the battle....; Saturday, December 06, 2008 3:19:00 p.m.
Tylere said...: "Has anyone noticed..."

Probably not, because Harper didn't move our troops down there, so to notice this would be nonsense.

"When the present mission was announced last May [2005], most Canadians thought that the only change taking place was a change of mission venue. Both Minister of National Defence Bill Graham and Chief of the Defence Staff Rick Hillier took pains to try to explain to Canadians that this operation was going to be different, but no one really listened."

http://www.legionmagazine.com/en/index.php/2006/05/canadas-changing-role-in-afghanistan/; Saturday, December 06, 2008 3:22:00 p.m.
Greg said...: @Anonymous at 2:43pm

You think that's bad? Check out this pic I took at the anti-coalition rally in Ottawa today: http://tinyurl.com/5rodxz; Saturday, December 06, 2008 4:36:00 p.m.
Anonymous said...: ??

My P. M. ??

Big PEROGY MONKEY of the Republic of BANANADA; Saturday, December 06, 2008 4:36:00 p.m.
Anonymous said...: "Very touching "My PM" sign."

And not the least bit ironic, as it's a take on a Barack Obama campaign poster, done by the artist Shepard Fairey.

Talk about polar opposites....; Saturday, December 06, 2008 5:44:00 p.m.
Anonymous said...: reply to rc: or, maybe the Tory supporters you see in those pix really are "monochrome and older" -just putting it out there...
Marnie Tunay
Fakirs Canada
http://fakirscanada.googlepages.com/; Sunday, December 07, 2008 11:12:00 a.m.
Anonymous said...: Journal is reporting 500. Does anybody have a take on which attendance is more accurate?; Sunday, December 07, 2008 3:30:00 p.m.
Anonymous said...: Journal is reporting 500. Does anybody have a take on which attendance is more accurate?

The Journal doesn't seem to source the figure in its article, which makes it suspect to me - other rallies I've seen reported in the press often will state where the figure came from.

So, where'd the EJ get it from? The Edmonton Police? A EJ reporter? Or the organizers themselves?

The pictures Dave posted don't include any of the complete crowd in a single shot, so it'd be unfair to try and count those people he did take pictures of and estimate a total.

I will say, though, that I've seen other rallies of 500+ people... and the crowd on the Leg steps looks a little thin for that many.; Sunday, December 07, 2008 5:59:00 p.m.
Greg said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; Sunday, December 07, 2008 7:17:00 p.m.
Greg said...: I wouldn't put it past the Journal that they asked one of the organizers what the turnout was.. organizers of these events ALWAYS over-estimate the turnout.

For example, the anti-coalition rally that I went to in Ottawa was reported by the Citizen as having 3500 attendees. Interestingly, that number is very close to what Stephen Taylor, creator of rallyforcanada.ca, say attended the rally: 4000. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Citizen did not ask one of the mounties there for an estimate, but rather asked an organizer.. or perhaps Taylor himself.

The pro-coalition rally on Thurs on the Hill was maybe a little bit smaller (but not by much at all), and that rally was estimated by one of the mounties there, to whom I spoke with, to be around 1000-1500. Therefore, there was no way that there were 3500-4000 ppl there. Definitely closer to 1500 at the anti-coalition rally.; Sunday, December 07, 2008 7:20:00 p.m.
Robert G. Harvie, Q.C. said...: ..and absent from the usual anti-conservative commentary is any mention that "the One' who would have been anointed as PM in the coalition is apparently resigning as early as Wednesday.

Please.. I can acknowledge that Harper's desire for more power interfered with his brain-functioning.. an you acknoweldge that, perhaps, appointing a PM whose own party can't stomoch him was, well, not well thought out either.; Monday, December 08, 2008 9:26:00 a.m.
daveberta said...: roblaw -- I agree with your point about Dion.

From the beginning,the Liberals should have appointed an interim leader (Ralph Goodale, perhaps?) to act as the coalition leader in Parliament until they chose a new leader.; Monday, December 08, 2008 9:29:00 a.m.
Robert G. Harvie, Q.C. said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; Monday, December 08, 2008 10:03:00 a.m.
Robert G. Harvie, Q.C. said...: ..as I posted on James Curran's site.. I think the Liberals would have been better served by being more patient, and going through a full leadership process.. slow and steady wins the race..

Clearly, outside of Quebe, the coalition hasn't played well, and if Ignatieff gets anointed.. as much as I sort of respect him, I think it won't play well with Bob Rae supporters (see James Curran)..

..and, while I'm obviously partisan, I think it's going to hurt Alberta Liberals.. if the brand was damaged a month ago, it's worse today.

What we need are calmer and more reasoned thinking from all parties.. really, they should be appointing you and I Dave.. LOL..; Monday, December 08, 2008 10:04:00 a.m.
Anonymous said...: "HARPER MEIN FUHRER..."

Dude, you were a coward at the rally and now a coward on the blog. Nice.
Just so that all know, this coward, as he was leaving the Edmonton rally at the Legislature had enough balls to yell and be aggressive towards towards some teenage boy but when asked by an adult to actually explain his point, he broke into rants about perogies and nazis as he retreated to his minivan.
This is why the west does not enjoy NDP'ers... the yelling, screaming and running away before actually having to come up with a real argument or being held accountable for comments you make.
There were 2 other pro-coalition supporters in attendance, one was actually able to articulate his thoughts unfortunately the other had his preprinted sign and was only able to regurgitate everything that he heard on the CBC and was unable to form an opinion for himself... pity.; Monday, December 08, 2008 10:20:00 a.m.
Anonymous said...: Great pictures! thanks for posting!; Tuesday, December 09, 2008 8:45:00 p.m.
Anonymous said...: "HARPER MEIN FUHRER..." was Adil Pirbhai, a perennial nut in City Elections and at rallies like these.; Tuesday, December 09, 2008 8:47:00 p.m.