Approximately 8000 people gathered at 10 AM this morning in Halifax's Grand Parade Square to send a clear message to George W. Bush: You're not welcome. (December 1)
Approximately 8000 people gathered at 10 AM this morning in Halifax's Grand Parade Square to send a clear message to George W. Bush: You're not welcome.
Organized in less than a week, this demonstration may be the biggest public protest in Halifax's history. The anti-war demonstration on February 15, 2003 drew an estimated 2500 Haligonians. By the time the march turned onto South Street, near Pier 21, the crowd stretched back 500 meters to Spring Garden Road. The ages of those in the crowd varied from high school students (at least 50-100 of whom staged a walkout at St. Pat's and Queen Elizabeth High Schools) to seniors. The march was intended to stop at a large park along South St, about a block from where Pier 21, where George Bush's speech was planned, however many at the head of the march simply decided to head directly to the Pier, and everyone followed. The march was then hemmed in along a long corridor running toward the police barricade. Jeers and chants of "Bush go home" and "occupation is a crime, from Iraq to Palestine" were shouted at the doors of the building.
At this point, organizers with the Halifax Peace Coalition and Block the Empire then managed to move most people away from this spot due to concerns of vulnerability to police enclosure in this cage-like protest pen.
While people gathered in the South Street park to listen to speeches, a separate march of approximately 1000, lead more or less by individuals associated with Block the Empire, started up again and headed downtown. The mood of this march was completely different, very festive. The march moved up to the corner of Spring Garden and South Park, and then turned into an open street party in the middle of one of the busiest intersections in downtown Halifax.
The sounds of drumming and chants of "No Justice No Peace, US out of the Middle East" filled the noontime streets as George Bush made his address to a small crowd. Using the excuse of "thanking" people of the maritimes for their generosity in housing stranded US airline passengers after September 11th, Bush wasted little time in pushing Canada to fall in line with State Department dictates, insisting that the US was bringing "freedom, not oppression" to the murdered citizens of Fallujah.
Housing rights activist Rick (last name?) spoke as well, emphasizing the hypocracy of the Canadian government's willingness to spend millions of dollars on Bush's state visit to the Maritimes, while providing woefully inadequate affordable housing for the country's poor and homeless. However, few of the other speakers emphasized the US occupation in Haiti, nor Canada's complicity in maintaining the legitimacy of Gerard Latortue's deathsquad regime.
The demonstrations continued for another two hours, occupying the intersection of Spring Garden and Barrington. Things were peaceful, but the downtown of Halifax was clearly controlled by protestors for most of the day. The protest ended back at Parade Square, where people were called to speak their mind. Police, dressed in low-level riot gear then made a point of walking through the square in teams, as well as blocking the exits in an attempt to belatedly make a show of control. Things got a little bit tense, but drumming and dancing continued in the square for about another half hour.
In some of the local media stories about today's events, particularly CBC radio and television, details of the protests eclipsed details of Bush's actual visit of three hours to this city. The demonstration controlled the streets for at least 5-6 hours with no arrests, and little police intimidation