DePape has produced an extensive essay for the Council of Canadians on how we can be more engaged in political life and activism. rabble.ca is reprinting the essay in five parts, with part three running today. Links to parts one and two are below.
The Conservative government may have more resources than we do, but this is dwarfed by the greatest power of all -- people power.
Right after [my own] action in the Senate, while walking down Sparks Street as a Conservative politician scorned me for what I had done, a young couple and their son cheered wildly! A 91-year-old man phoned me to say that he has wanted to do something like that his whole life. Two weeks after the action, as I was crossing Rideau Street to make my way to the library, a young woman wearing a hood tapped me on the shoulder, flashed me a thumbs up, and then ran away. These kinds of encounters convince me that people in Canada want change.
The Harper Record, by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), outlines the weakening of public services and the expansion of corporate powers under the Harper government. As the CCPA explains, the Conservative austerity agenda cuts corporate taxes, erodes social services, weakens democracy, criminalizes people of colour, expands prisons, and undermines women's rights. Naomi Klein explains that Harper has taken advantage of the economy to advance policies that benefit corporations instead of the public good. In a speech delivered at the first rally against Harper after the last election, Mohawk activist Ben Powless described how Harper's agenda undermines Indigenous rights. George Monbiot of The Guardian said that under Harper, Canada is turning itself into a "corrupt Petro-state" who could scarcely do more to destroy the biosphere if it tried".
So what are we to do about it?
Using collective indignation as fuel
I am guided by the words of Council of Canadians' National Chairperson Maude Barlow. Following the election of a Harper majority government, she referenced an old union saying about facing adversity and advised: "Don't mourn, organize!"
How did you feel on election night when the Harper government took a majority despite the fact that only one in four people voted for him? Like most Canadians, I felt discouraged and defeated. And like most Canadians, I also felt a deep sense of indignation. Later, I felt re-energized to learn that collective indignation is a first step in building a movement to stop injustice. "Indignez-vous," is a French expression for becoming outraged at injustice. This sense of unfairness was a key catalyst for many revolutions. I am motivated by organizers and activists who are using their sense of indignation to fuel a movement. They have taught me that the best way forward is not to focus on what is done, but to get excited about what we can do. It's exciting to imagine the movement we can build if we use our collective indignation to create the Canada we want.
Leveraging the power we have
As a Senate page, I used the sliver of power that I had to voice my concerns. Actually, I was not the first Parliamentary page to use the page uniform to challenge injustice. In the 1990s, five House of Commons pages wrote a letter to the Mulroney government opposing the testing of nuclear missiles in Alberta. They issued a press release to ensure that their opposition was heard and received national media attention for their action.
Not all of us have the option of protesting in front of Harper, the governor general, and the Senate as I did. However, there are so many options for taking action, many more than I once thought. I have been amazed to discover the possibilities. In his book The Methods of Nonviolent Action, Gene Sharp outlines 198 ways to use non-violent resistance. Whether it's through petitions, vigils, signs, skits, public speeches, literature, the media or other actions -- the options are numerous. Economic boycotts or strikes, civil disobedience or government personnel blocking lines of command, fasts, non-violent raids, or guerilla theatre -- there is a method for all of us. We can also join existing actions. For example, many of us joined the picket lines in solidarity with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) when they were locked out of their jobs by Canada Post management. Or we can come up with something new.
Anybody can be an activist
Activists are ordinary people, like you and me. It is disappointing to see how activists are often demonized in the media as misinformed (or uninformed) hooligans. This is a tactic used by those in power to prevent people from disobeying authority. In reality, protestors can be anybody. The activists that I know are interesting, engaging people who care about their communities and the planet. Far from being misinformed, they are among the most knowledgeable and forward-looking people I know. Far from being troublemakers who just want to stir things up for the hell of it, they are caring and responsible individuals. The activists I know are deeply troubled by the state of our world. They care so much that they are doing something about it.
There is a popular misconception that activism is only for young people. However, anybody can be an activist, regardless of age. My Dad says that not enough youth have come together to establish the critical mass it took to achieve the successes of the anti-war movement. This seems to suggest that building a movement is only up to young people when in fact, it the responsibility of all of us. It was not only young people whose protests helped to end the war in Vietnam, and it will take people of all ages to confront today's battles as well.
I've been inspired to meet older people who are engaged and taking action. Take the Raging Grannies for example, a coalition of grandmothers united to stop war and promote social justice. They are strong voices at protests and actions. Another good example is Gandhi, who was 60 when he started his march against the salt tax and British Rule.
Taking action
During the days leading up to [my own] action, I was nervous. But as the governor general read his speech, I felt calmness. All of my frustrations with the neo-liberal agenda flashed in front of me. These thoughts carried me to make the first steps past the desks of the Senators. As a page, my place was against the wall behind the desks of all the Senators. When I planted myself in front of Harper, I was precisely where a page should not be, but felt like I was exactly where I should be.
I have realized that to create effective actions, we can learn through doing. It is not enough to think up interesting ideas; we need to try them. I find it helpful to think of actions as real world experiments, where we can only find out what methods are effective by testing them out. I was at a climate justice conference in Montreal when Judy Rebick offered simple yet empowering words: "Back then, we just did stuff." "We" referred to the women's movement of the 1970s. They had the spirit of determined experimentation needed to make fundamental changes.
It was not until I was walking past the desks of Senators to the middle of the Senate floor that I realized the power that I have, that we all have, to take action. I was as surprised as the Senators were. It was truly an incredible feeling.
Finding courage
I have discovered that taking non-violent direct action requires courage -- courage to live our values and do what we know is right despite society's attempt to normalize injustice by rewarding those who are silent and sanctioning those who speak out.
Some people have called my action courageous, and while I am grateful for the kind words, my one small action does not begin to compare to the courage of people struggling every day to survive and of those who risk their lives to stop injustice. What is truly courageous are the many Indigenous Peoples in Canada who have bravely put themselves on the line to defend the Commons -- the land, air and water we all share and depend on. One of the most inspiring examples is the chief of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI), an Indigenous community in northern Ontario, who bravely drove a motorboat to prevent a mining company's plane from landing, effectively making it impossible for the company to mine on their land. This is exactly the kind of courage and creativity we all need to protect and build healthy relations with the land that make sustainable communities possible.
Joining together
One person can make a difference. However, there is no doubt we are stronger together. Actions can be even more effective when they are done in groups. The first step is to join with existing social movements in Canada -- Indigenous Rights movements, women's rights movements, labour movements, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer movements, anti-war movements, environmental justice movements, and citizen movements such as the Council of Canadians, which, among many others, are working for these issues simultaneously. We can make fundamental change when we bring our voices together.
Protesting outside of the box
Some people claimed my action was ill-timed and inappropriate because it disrupted the Speech from the Throne as it was delivered in the Senate. However, non-violent direct actions are often most effective when they are staged in unexpected ways and in surprising places. In Ottawa we cling to Parliament Hill as our stage for protests. Other towns and cities may have their own symbolic places. But if we want to be effective, we need to think more strategically and creatively. How can we make the most impact? We need to think outside the box, and beyond the Hill. The large number of people who came out in support for the action show the breadth of people in Canada who are ready for unconventional means to affect change.
A wonderful example of protesting outside the box is when activists staged an intervention during the signing ceremony for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1992. The Council of Canadians, including National Chairperson Maude Barlow, was present as one activist held up an American flag behind Prime Minister Brian Mulroney as he signed the deal. The photo went viral. The image spoke truth to power by vividly showing how the Mulroney government was signing away Canada's sovereignty to the United States. This action resonated with people all over Canada.
I am also inspired by UK Uncut, a movement that has emerged in Europe to challenge Britain's cuts to social services, which offers many great ideas for people in Canada protesting against austerity in creative spaces. Hundreds of thousands of people have protested, and many have participated in inventive and well-orchestrated mass direct actions such as the occupation of banks. Similarly, the UK Uncut "Emergency Action" had people stage a "die-in" by dressing in doctor's costumes and as sickly patients to show the harm caused when government makes cuts to the National Health Service. They demonstrated that banks are the ones that are sick, gambling and causing the financial crisis, yet perversely, getting rewarded and bailed out by the government. By creating accessible and inventive actions in high-visibility locations, the movement has mobilized en masse against austerity.
Shifting power
I find it empowering to know that anybody can take action and bring about change. Power in Canada does not only flow downwards from the top, it also flows upwards from the bottom. Harper is powerless if citizens refuse to take orders or follow his agenda. Following Sharp's consent theory of power, if people in Canada decide to stop obeying Harper's agenda, power will shift back to us.
Think of the relationship between Harper's government and Canadians as a house. The Harper government and his corporate friends are at the top; they are the roof. The rest of us are the walls of the house; we are the basis of support for the roof. When the walls of a house are removed, the roof is no longer supported. If we refuse to support Harper's government, the roof falls.
But it's not only under a majority Conservative government that we need to reclaim power. We need to do this in the face of any government that doesn't reflect the values of its people. Sound decisions can only be shaped by the convictions and engagement of citizens.
During the struggle against British Occupation, Gandhi asked, "how can 100,000 British troops control 50 million Indians?" While coming from a very different context, his words resonated with me and shed light on our current reality. How can 166 Conservative MPs and 57 Conservative Senators dictate the future of 33 million Canadians? They can only do it if we let them.
In part four of activist Brigette DePape's essay, which runs in rabble.ca on Tuesday, Sept. 27, she looks at Challenging the Status Quo. This article is part of an essay that was published by The Council of Canadians. It can be read in full here.
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Source: Rabble.ca
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