Canada’s National Day of Action supported by local initiatives
A rally was held outside of the office of Guelph Member of Parliament (MP) Lloyd Longfield, in protest against the Liberal government’s decision to abandon electoral reform. This was the second rally organized by local concerned citizens to voice their displeasure on the issue.
Approximately 200 people attended the rally on Feb. 11; seniors, parents, students, and children all gathered outside the MP’s downtown office. This was one of many rallies occurring simultaneously across at least 17 cities in Canada, in what was being referred to as Canada’s National Day of Action.
Many community members carried signs that held messages such as “No reform, no re-election,” “Keep your promise,” or “In 2019, I want my vote to count.”
There were several speeches given by Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner, former New Democratic Party candidate for Wellington-Halton Hills Anne Gajerski-Cauley, and rally organizers Shayne Douglas Ward and Nathan Dyck, among others.
All speakers expressed the need for protesters to forget party allegiances, set aside differences, and come together as Canadians to address reform.
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Ward encouraged protesters to tweet at Longfield and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about their attendance at the event as well as their desire for electoral reform.
Protesters echoed the feelings of frustration and disappointment; many commented that they felt it showed that the Liberal party was no different now than they had been the last time they were in office. Several protesters voiced concerns that this was not the first time that the Liberal party had made promises in their campaign that they did not intend to keep.
Assanta Marcolongo, who emigrated to Canada from Switzerland, showed up to protest in favour of abandonment of the first-past-the-post voting system.
Marcolongo said in an interview with The Ontarion, “I come from Switzerland, one of the only countries in the world with a true democracy. It’s disappointing to see the Canadian government back away from their promise.”
The news that the Canadian government would not be pursuing electoral reform came from a new mandate letter publicly issued to Karina Gould, the minister of democratic institutions. The letter stated that there was not enough consensus for a new electoral system based on outreach by Members of Parliament to 360,000 individuals in Canada through the MyDemocracy.ca survey. However, public response has been in opposition to this claim.
“It doesn’t stand up to other polls,” said Richard Anstett, a protester at the rally. “This is another example of the Liberals promising too much and not being able to follow through.”
On the goals of the rally, Ward said that he hoped it would show Longfield that the citizens of Guelph want the Liberal government to push towards proportional representation.
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Longfield was not present at the rally, but has started engaging with members of the public on the matter. After several Guelph citizens approached Longfield in concern over the change to the Liberal mandate, in an open letter published by The Fountain Pen, the Guelph MP challenged the constituents to draft a proposal for a system of proportional representation that he could present in parliament.
David de Weerdt was one of those citizens who met with Longfield. On drafting the proposal, de Weerdt said in an interview with The Ontarion that he felt Longfield’s challenge was fair and that he was working with several other citizens on the task. They have no confirmed name yet, but de Weerdt said they were temporarily calling themselves the Guelph Citizens’ Assembly.
The rally lasted a little over an hour and ended with protesters marching from Longfield’s office to Guelph City hall where the crowd disbanded.
“It’s about holding the government accountable,” Ward said about his reasons for organizing the rally. “During his campaign, Trudeau made a promise and now he needs to keep it.”