G8/G20 Communique: Is the left abandoning the movement when solidarity is needed most?
July 20, 2010 - 9:21am
G8/G20 Communique: Is the left abandoning the movement when solidarity is needed most?
July 20, 2010 | By Krystalline Kraus |
I reported yesterday on the Civil Liberties rally in Toronto, attended by 300 (a generous estimate at Queen's Park). Where was everybody on July 17, 2010?
I was there. I think I saw you blowing bubbles :)
Not sure where everyone else was.
Yup, I was blowing bubbles (hard job, it is, to be a rabble reporter ; ) I had/have blond hair in braids with an eagle feather<--that's me
There was a "left" meeting going on at the same time (which I didn't make it to). I understand they agreed to do some G20 follow-up work but I haven't seen the details yet. Maybe someone else can provide a "report"? As to where everyone else was, maybe people are feeling a bit "demo'd out" in T.O.? Also, some people are undoubtedly out of town on summer weekends. Enough excuses :)
Is it even meaningful to talk about there being a Left in Canada in 2010? It seems that what Left there might have been is splintered into groups working to further a single or a few issues. What is the programme of the Left in Canada in 2010? If there was such a programme what would be the vehicle for furthering it? Has it ever been meaningful to talk a bout a Left in Canada and a left programme? Were the CCF/NDP and CPC/LPP competing Lefts in there day? it seemed like it to the actors of the day. Now what do we have?
Another thing that impacts on morale is "optics". I think that Queen's Park is over-used. Organizers should consider smaller venues that they can fill rather than gigantic venues which they can't. Seeing so much open space can be demoralizing. Filling up a space is always a success.
As well, asking people to sit in the sun for 3.5 hours in the middle of a summer afternoon is not necessarily appealing to everyone. At one time, there was a gazebo in Queen's Park. It was located near where the trees are on the east side of the park. However, it got torn down years ago. It was used as the main stage for the 1988 G7 Popular Summit protest. The sound system used on Saturday was not loud enough to reach people who were in the shady areas.
I was 2200 clicks away and did not join Cueball in Vancouver for the event there. I had planned, in advance, to attend a large music festival at Jericho Beach. There are all kinds of reasons why people don't show up to a particular event. It's the duty of the "left" (including me, obviously) to keep organizing. etc