Thursday, December 4, 2008

photo post: 400 rally for coalition in edmonton.




See more pro-coalition photos on Flickr.
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17 comments:

  1. davebertaDecember 4, 2008 at 7:21 PM

    The rally was MCed by former City Councillor Michael Phair and included speakers NDP MLAs Brian Mason and Rachel Notley, and former Liberal candidates Jim Wachowich and Donna Lynn Smith.

    I was pretty surprised with the turnout, considering it was held after 6pm in Alberta in December while it was snowing.

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  2. AnonymousDecember 4, 2008 at 7:47 PM

    Who would have thought you could mobilize that many people to rally for a coalition government in Edmonton. I wonder what the turnout would be for an Alberta separatist movement? (or should I say sovereigntist...)

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  3. AnonymousDecember 4, 2008 at 7:57 PM

    An Open Letter by Eric Finley

    To the coalition: Keep meeting.

    Parliament has been prorogued. So you're not meeting in an official capacity. But nonetheless meet as if you were not prorogued.

    Find a site. Pay for it yourselves, and be explicit about that. You're citizens meeting to speak. But in so doing, keep up the business of Parliament. Debate. Draft bills. Hold (unofficial) committee meetings. Vote... on memoranda of understanding.

    Show the country, its citizens, and its investors that while you do not argue with the legality of the delay, you see no need to go on vacation in this crucial economic time. Assume (without even explicitly saying it) that in January when Parliament reconvenes, Harper will fall, the coalition will form government, and the memoranda of understanding and drafted bills will be dealt with, bang-bang-bang, because you have already hashed this out.

    Invite the Conservatives to join you. If you get some momentum, you might get no few disgruntled members willing to bet that Harper's fury will not control their lives.

    Let the Conservatives take an extended vactation. Shrink the proposed vacation period instead, to mark the severity of the economic need.

    Make it plain that you do not dispute Her Excellency's right to consent to her nominal first minister's request to prorogue, and that you respect her for making a difficult decision in uncharted waters. Open each session with a consistent, well-crafted adaptation of protocol which is sufficiently distinct that it does not trespass upon Parliament's formal privileges... but that nonetheless shows clearly that you do this out of the uttermost respect for the Queen, the Governor General, and the Canadian people.

    Repeat frequently that you're just trying to get work done now, so that things can happen fast when the doors unlock in January. It can't be trespass upon the privileges of government if its level of formality is that of a caucus meeting.

    Be completely transparent. Defeat the smoke-filled rooms meme. Heck, hold it in a bar, if you can find one big enough.

    The media will come to you. I can think of no more efficient way to stretch your advertising dollars than a bold, newsworthy stroke like this.

    If you do this, I will donate to the limit of my ability. I will write letters to the editor praising your actions. I will take my four children and go door to door. In Edmonton. In December.

    Pass it on.

    KEEP MEETING.

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  4. AvnishDecember 4, 2008 at 8:05 PM

    SUPRISING INDEED.

    Omni News was reporting that only 100 people turned out for the anti-coalition rally today at Linda Duncan's office.

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  5. AnonymousDecember 4, 2008 at 8:25 PM

    Thank you for posting. Are you going to the anti coalition rally on Saturday?

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  6. Beijing YorkDecember 4, 2008 at 8:33 PM

    Thanks for the report and photos. That's very uplifting after learning about the Ipsos-Reid poll results. Four hundred is pretty damn impressive. Well done Edmontonians.

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  7. AnonymousDecember 4, 2008 at 9:03 PM

    Breaking: New polls show huge Tory gains:
    Ipsos: CPC 46, LPC 23, NDP 13, BQ 9, GPC 8
    Ekos: CPC 44, LPC 24, NDP 15, BQ 9, GPC 8

    Protest all you want hippy!

    Canadians are going to be rallying for real democracy on Saturday!
    :)

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  8. davebertaDecember 4, 2008 at 9:53 PM

    Anonymous 9:25:00 PM: I am planning to be at the pro-Harper rally to take pics.

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  9. AnonymousDecember 4, 2008 at 10:02 PM

    Those "Coalition OUI" signs are terrible. Until about my fourth glance at that photo I assumed that they said "Coalition OUT".

    Who designed those things? I haven't seen a butchery of our two languages this bad since Justin Trudeau's web ad!

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  10. Beijing YorkDecember 4, 2008 at 10:11 PM

    Obviously you don't know our two official languages very well Anonymous 11:02. Coalition is the same in both French and English.

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  11. davebertaDecember 4, 2008 at 11:12 PM

    Anon 11:02:00 PM: When I took their picture, the two women were speaking French. There's a decent sized franco-albertan community in Edmonton.

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  12. rcDecember 5, 2008 at 12:44 AM

    "I wonder what the turnout would be for an Alberta separatist movement? (or should I say sovereigntist...)"

    Judging by the last one at the Alberta Legislature, a few years ago? I heard there were almost enough people there for a game of pick-up hockey....

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  13. Curmudgeon-at-LargeDecember 5, 2008 at 7:30 AM

    Today's Edmonton Journal in a story well-hidden on an inside page bottom gives a count of 200 for the anti-coalition rally and 300 for the pro-coalition rally, but the photo caption writer (who apparently couldn't believe that) reversed the counts under the photos of the two events (at least in the home-delivered edition).

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  14. tjkDecember 5, 2008 at 10:24 AM

    Pretty sure after the GG's decision, the coalition likely finished and recent polling numbers you'll see a drop-off in any unlikely anti-coalition protest. There's not going to be anything to protest in a couple weeks anyway now.

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  15. GregDecember 5, 2008 at 11:56 AM

    @Anon 11:02:00 PM: Sorry, but you should check your eyes. On second thought, perhaps the french signs should've had a more Quebecois spelling to it - how about: Coalition : Ouais !

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  16. AnonymousDecember 5, 2008 at 12:20 PM

    i attended both rallys.. However, I was a bit late for the Riech wing one at Linda Duncan's office because they said there was going to be a rally at the ND HQ office.
    When I got to Duncan's office about 1:30, there were only about 40 people there.

    However there was a great turn out at city hall.


    I HOPE SOME OF US SUPPORTERS OF PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY HAVE THE BALLS TO GO TO THE LEGISLATURE TOMORROW - Let's show the country that Alberta is not ALL FASCIST.

    F I R E H A R P E R

    S A V E C A N A D A

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  17. Robert VollmanDecember 5, 2008 at 12:43 PM

    Some of those signs are confusing enough to be used again at the anti-Coalition rally.

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