It was March 2005, and as a member of the local Conservative Electoral District Assocation, I had the priviledge of attending the inagurual Conservative Party of Canada National Convention in Montreal. It was an awesome time, connecting with other Tory activists, hearing the future Prime Minister give his most fiery speech to the faithful, good hors d'oeuvres, Montreal smoked meat (excuse me while I momentarily drool a la Homer Simpson here) and free booze. To me...it was a mixture of networking, serious policy discussion and a bit of hero worship.
And of course...there were protesters that were opposed to certain ideas that the Tories believed in. About 100 people or so held placards, outside the Palais de Congress convention centre, shouting equal rights for gays and lesbians, hands off my womb, the Tories hate Quebec, etc, etc. And...they were absolutely entitled to their viewpoints and protest
Now...think about a new scenario (for us right wing types, this might seem straight out of the Matrix, so make sure you swallowed the blue pill!)...in an NDP government where the RH Jack Layton, in his assymetrical federal wisdom, has just shut down the Alberta Oilsands but has allowed development of Quebec's shale oil resources. Their convention is going on in Vancouver, when all of a sudden, 100 newly unemployed Alberta oilsand workers descend on the Vancouver Convention Centre, shouting that the NDP is killing jobs, hates Alberta, etc. The fallout begins and the accusations being that big oil is behind these protests, the protesters are redneck uneducated rubes that are being used, Tory donations were used to help with travel expenses, and generally speaking this protest is not reflective of "tolerant Canadian values."
Why do I describe this hypothetical (and possibly really far-fetched) example above...well...the name Brigette DePape, the now turfed Senate Page who displayed the "Stop Harper" sign during the throne speech comes to mind. Some of my friends on the left have made the argument that as context matters, there is more justification in her actions. Speaking on the right (and I think for those who are not really engaged politically), I think that her actions should stand by itself. Labels such as "she's got spunk" and "rage against the machine" are all of a sudden in-vogue by the left vis-a-vis her actions.
But there is another element to this story that should be considered. Protest happens whenever people feel disenfranchised. But...disenfranchised people are not the exclusive domain or monopoly on the left, as the right feels the same way depending on their issue. And..as I reflected on what I consider the unprofessional nature of Ms. Depape's protest I started thinking about why is it that when one trends more on the left, it is somewhat acceptable to protest in radical ways. Think about this...if there were two thousand farmers descending on Parliament Hill screaming their heads off about the continuance of the Canadian Wheat Board, they would be labelled as neo-Nazi, dumb-ass farmers that are standing in the way of progressive policies. On the other hand, if there were two thousand people descending on the same hill, advocating the shutdown of Canada's nuclear reactors and a Greenpeace banner was displayed on Centre Block (again), it would be seen as somewhat enlightened, clever, witty, etc.
It just makes you wonder whether some disenfranchised protesters are more equal than others.
When you really have nothing to back up your position other than loud noise and violence, it is imperative that you perceive yourself as superior, in order to continue to function. Ergo the leftists. They murder their own people and have done so for decades, all for the good of the state they said nodding their heads in agreement.
ReplyDeleteThis is correct. Protests on the left are typically given sympathetic coverage -- while there is contempt for (or just an ignoring of) protests on the right. I am thinking of how the Right to Life protests are generally downplayed. I guess, as you say, some are more equal than others. In my view DePape's one-person protest was totally inappropriate, and offensive to Canadian voters. Yet, she gets lots of media attention and an opportunity to articulate her views on national TV.
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