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The Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament (Kelowna-Okanagan Chapter) Facebook page.
The power of Facebook will be put to the test on Jan. 23, when a series of more than 40 anti-prorogation rallies organized through the popular social networking site take place in communities across Canada, including here in Kelowna.
“I think there is a time when the Canadian public needs to draw the line on what they feel is acceptable behaviour of politicians,” said Lisa Dahrouge, a master of arts student at UBC Okanagan who started the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament (Kelowna-Okanagan Chapter) Facebook group and one of the Kelowna rally’s main organizers.
When Prime Minister Stephen Harper suspended parliament for the second time in a year on Dec. 30, he appeared to think Canadians were more interested in the economy and the Olympics and would largely react to another prorogation with a collective shrug and move on.
It hasn’t quite worked out that way.
An Angus Reid poll released yesterday found that almost 48 per cent of Canadians are following the prorogation story either “very closely” or “moderately closely.” Only 22 per cent of respondents said they were not following it at all.
The poll also found that 61 per cent of Canadians disagree with Harper’s decision to prorogue, including 44 per cent who “strongly disagree.” The level of disagreement has jumped eight points in a week.
The poll is considered accurate within plus or minus three per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Many of those disgruntled Canadians have taken to the web. The national Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament Facebook group now has over 182,000 members, while dozens of local chapters have sprouted up across the country.
It is in many ways similar to how Canadians used Facebook and the Internet to express outrage at the prospect of opposition parties forming a coalition to oust the Conservatives before Harper saved his government by proroguing parliament the first time.
But the question with protests groups organized through Facebook is always, does does all that online anger really amount to anything? After all, it doesn’t take much to click the join button on a web page. It doesn’t mean those people will actually do anything about their concerns out in the real world.
So, can participation in a Facebook protest lead to more concrete action?
Dahrouge thinks so. She said that like a lot of Canadians, she felt helpless when she heard parliament was being shut down.
“We see trouble with parliament and we feel so helpless but we’ve got a force, we’ve got momentum and we can take a stand…it’s about accountability and how our leaders are abusing their power.”
Dahrouge joined joined the national CAPP Facebook group shortly after it was formed and connected with activists across the country who shared information about how to organize local chapters and rallies.
“I thought, you know, someone has to step up and organize these rallies,” she said.
So far the Kelowna-Okanagan group has 82 members, while on the Facebook page advertizing the Kelowna rally in front of Conservative Kelowna-Lake Country MP Ron Cannan’s office, 43 people have indicated they will attend the rally and another 71 have indicated they might attend.
The rally takes place Sat. Jan. 23 from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the corner of Gordon and Harvey Avenues.
Dahrouge described the national anti-prorogation movement as having “a non-partisan grassroots spirit.”
It’s a spirit she hopes is embraced by those who participate in the rally. For her, the point is not to push the agenda of a particular party but to let the government know Canadians expect our MPs to do what they were hired to do.
When parliament still has a host of important issues to deal with including the alleged torture of Afghan detainees and crime legislation, the government should not be able to simply shut things down because it doesn’t like how things are going, she said. “The governing party has an obligation to essentially finish what it started.”
Many of the rally’s details will be worked out this Saturday afternoon, Jan. 16, at a planning meeting where organizers will figure out logistics and make protest signs.
Anyone interested in getting involved or who wants to learn more about the Kelowna rally can contact Dahrouge through the Facebook group or by e-mail, lisadahrouge@gmail.com.
adrian@kelowna.com
250-575-3517
5 Responses to “Kelowna Facebook group part of national anti-prorogation movement”
Tags: canadians against proroguing parliament, Facebook, Kelowna, prorogation
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Don’t understand the fuss! Now that the bizzare games of parliament are off for awhile, maybe some real work can get done.
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What don’t you understand? Harper proroguing Parliament is the most bizarre game of them all! And by the way, NO work is getting done while Parliament is out.
The fact that the Conservatives believe that it is a good move proves once again that there only is contempt for the electorate within the party. Win at all costs…that’s not democratic representation.
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Theirs two unfortunate items here one is Harper proroguing parliament basicaly saying he can do what he wants when he wants and the hell with what Canadians say,the other issue is its a crime that theirs not another party out there that one would feel good about voting for,I myself would be compelled to vote for the party that helps the average worker,years ago that was the NDP,the liberals omg these people cant come up with a leader not only a plan to kick start the economy,so whos left the green party,well they cant get their facts strraight,its a sad situation we Canadians find ourselves in another one of those damned if we do damned if we dont!.
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This just shows again what a total control freak Harper is and he really does not care what people want. Harper has an agenda to keep control of everything and hoping for a majority in the next election. I also agree the real sad thing is that there is no viable parties out there. They are all self serving. Even if the election came now the voter turnout would probably be very low which is sad for the democracy we are supposed to be living in.
“It has been observed that a pure democracy if it were practicable would be the most perfect government. Experience has proved that no position is more false than this. The ancient democracies in which the people themselves deliberated never possessed one good feature of government. Their very character was tyranny their figure deformity.” Alexander Hamilton
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Lets not forget the role that the Governor General played in this fiasco. She could have told Harper to get back to work. Instead she caved in again…
Harper needs to wake up to the fact that not everyone in Canada voted for him and his “Conservatives”. Check out the numbers. Remember that with this shutting down of Parliament, all the bills wending their way through committees etc, are now dead. This includes Harper’s much vaunted crime bills…. Wake up Canada.
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