You know the origin of the “down with this sort of thing” sign, right?! And I love the “I can haz democracy” one.

Here are some more pictures of the event. http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnhansen/sets/7215762327 0153034/

The people speak
by John Geddes on Monday, January 25, 2010 9:58am – 20 Comments

Of all the possible issues to trip him up—the deficit, stubbornly high unemployment, Afghan detainees—who would have predicted that a four-syllable term for a parliamentary procedure would send Stephen Harper’s poll numbers tumbling? Yet prorogation, the antique-sounding word for suspending Parliament, has done it. Harper’s Dec. 30 decision to send MPs on an unscheduled break until March 3 galvanized dismay over both his leadership style and the state of a democracy in which the Prime Minister feels free to wield such unchecked power. “It’s solidifying a very deep sense that there’s something wrong with the way we govern ourselves,” says Rick Anderson, a long-time advocate for democratic reform who, like Harper, worked for Preston Manning back when Manning’s Reform party embodied a grassroots desire for politics less dominated by prime ministerial power.

Harper, though, never really swam in that populist Reform current. Manning wanted to change the way Ottawa worked in order to give more clout to ordinary MPs, and in turn make them more responsive to voters; Harper was mostly interested in economic policy and conservative ideology. Later, after uniting the right to create a winning new Conservative brand, he proved himself an uncommonly disciplined top-down organizer, first of his party and then of his government. Harper’s underdeveloped populist instincts never seemed a serious liability—until lately. He clearly underestimated the backlash against proroguing for the second time in about a year. In late 2008, he suspended Parliament to avoid being defeated in the House by an opposition coalition. Last month, he resorted to it again, this time, his critics say, to cool the Afghan detainee controversy until after the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

The only other embarassment was they had an otherwise nice girl lead the signing of the national anthem, but I am fairly certain she screwed up the lyrics. Could be she thought she was doing alternating French and English lyrics but she missed a few lines in either language. Given the nature of the rally you’d want to make sure you get the anthem correct.

It’s also the first time I’ve ever felt that I understood the meaning of “The people, united, will never be defeated.” It’s not trivially false (as I previously believed), but trivially true. The trouble is, trying to unite the people.

I have a few shots on my blog.

Given your shots of Layton and Iggy you must have been right in front of me.