It was a full house at the All Saints’ Anglican/ First United Church in Ottawa this evening for the second of ten election-focused town hall meetings across the country.
The panel featured Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow, Unifor national president Jerry Dias, Canadian Veterans Advocacy president Michael Blais, Canadian Peace Alliance co-chair Christine Jones, PSAC National Capital Region regional executive vice-president Larry Rousseau, and Ottawa ACORN leader Grace Iyabosa.
In terms of comments and statements made this evening, Council of Canadians democracy campaigner Dylan Penner and media officer Leila Marshy tweeted:
Maude Barlow
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quotes Bob Marley at Ottawa forum: get up stand up for our rights -
powerful recounting of Harper’s clearcutting social movement funding -
First Nations being stripped of their right to advocacy
Jerry Dias
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Harper “will never neutralize the voice of the labour movement” -
“Can you believe there’s gonna be a $15 minimum wage & it’s gonna be implemented 1st in Alberta?”
Christine Jones
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“There has never been a govt reacts well to its citizens saying no.” -
getting out the vote is being part of a community of change
Michael Blais
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“We should not be going to war. We should be going to peace” -
veterans are being utterly abandoned by this government -
“we Cdns must retake our democracy”
Larry Rousseau
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“no greater arrogance than that from the perch of privilege”
Tonight’s event was organized by the Council of Canadians in partnership with the Public Service Alliance of Canada, ACORN Canada, and Unifor.
The next election forum will take place in Winnipeg on May 12 and will feature Barlow, CUPE national president Paul Moist, Council of Canadians youth vote campaigner Brigette DePape, Indigenous Rock the Vote co-organizer Sylvia Boudreau, and University of Manitoba professor Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair.
For more on our democracy campaign which seeks to increase voter turnout in the October 19 federal election, please click here.
Further reading
Council of Canadians to launch 10-city election town hall tour (April 2015 blog)
Big audience in Vancouver for election town hall forum (May 2015 blog)
Photos by Maude Barlow, Leila Marshy and Jill O’Reilly.
