The Halifax Chronicle Herald reports, “Nova Scotians at a series of protests Wednesday asked the province’s Conservative MPs to back away from their party’s omnibus budget bill. …Neither round of protests was organized by the NDP. The earlier one was co-ordinated by the Council of Canadians, and Wednesday’s was organized through LeadNow.ca, an online political forum.”
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“Critics don’t accept the argument that omnibus budgets should be the new normal in the House of Commons. About 200 protesters gathered at Halifax’s Grand Parade on Wednesday, many holding signs saying ‘Stop C-38. Split C-38. Start Over’. Smaller protests were planned at Conservative MP’s riding offices across the province, part of a string of similar events across the country. …More than 60 protesters showed up at (South Shore-St. Margarets MP Gerald Keddy’s) Bridgewater office last week…”
“British Columbia MP David Wilks, a Conservative, expressed anxieties over the bill last month and said many fellow Tory MPs shared his concerns about the mammoth budget, which includes more than 70 pieces of very different legislation, including major changes to employment insurance, Old Age Security, the fisheries and the environmental protection system. But just hours before they went into a marathon voting session over the bill Wednesday, Nova Scotia’s MPs said they stand behind the bill and the process their party has chosen.”
To oppose C-38, Council of Canadians chapters have organized protests in front of Conservative MPs across the country; chairperson Maude Barlow wrote an op-ed for the Windsor Star; trade campaigner Stuart Trew wrote an action alert calling for the bill to be split up and for more debate; campaigner Anil Naidoo has presented to the House of Commons finance committee; and we’ve participated in both the ‘Black Out, Speak Out’ web-campaign and in the Leadnow ‘Blackmark Budget Bill’ protests.
For more please see http://canadians.org/blog/?s=C-38.
