March 28

Activist Brigette DePape was a page in the Canadian Senate when she came to the attention of the public on June 3, 2011 by a protest she made during the first throne speech of the majority government of Stephen Harper. By silently holding up a sign that said “Stop Harper!” she earned dismissal from her job, the media nickname “the rogue page,” and the admiration of Canadians concerned with the undemocratic, ideologically extreme tendencies of the Harper government.

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 two running today. Read part one here.

Democracy is not just about voting every four years. We have been deceived to think that our responsibility to our communities ends at casting a ballot. The notion that democracy is limited to choosing a member of Parliament who will then make decisions for us is preposterous when you think about it. Imagine if this was the case in your personal life: every four years you cast a ballot for the person who would make key decisions about your life including where you will live, whether you will have children, who your partner is, etc.

Would you trust them to know what was best for you and just let them make all the decisions? Of course not. We would not leave these important decisions to someone else, and we cannot leave the decisions about our country to politicians. We need to be active and engaged every day: asking questions, reacting and taking action. By taking to the streets, we become agents of democracy, rather than the subjects of a flawed system. We become a living, breathing force for change.

While working in a Conservative-dominated Senate, I watched as politicians passed Harper’s dangerous agenda. I watched when Senators rejected Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act and our one hope for at least some action on climate change. I watched when Senators passed tough-on-crime legislation that puts the most marginalized people in our communities behind bars. I saw firsthand that it is crucial not to leave decisions up to politicians when the values of those in power do not reflect our own. Now, with a Conservative majority in both the House and the Senate, it is clearer than ever that the opposition parties alone can’t stop Harper’s agenda. Social movements have a crucial role to play. With limited checks and balances within Parliament, it is up to us to hold the Harper government accountable.

Grassroots organizing is key to creating and building the values of the majority, to open up discourse for real solutions, and making space for more progressive agendas.

Beyond “Hill hugging”

When I first came to Ottawa, I knew that I wanted to make change, but I had the wrong idea of how that would happen. We are taught that it is through Parliament that we can affect change. Believing this, I acted on the premise that you have to “wear the suit to change the suit”; that you have to work for the system to change the system. I became a page because, in my mind, I saw it as a stepping stone to being a government official, a politician, or a lobbyist — to wearing the suit and then changing it. But I realized that I was acting on false premises. System change is not made possible by working for the system, but by working with other organizers to challenge it.

Many people continue to work for the government with the hope that the government will improve. This is a false reassurance. We can hope that there will be a better government in four years, but history suggests it will only be incrementally better unless we see a significant turn-around in the way government operates. Government officials are spokespeople for the government’s agenda and politicians, who often vote on party lines and whose agenda is largely determined by the goal of getting elected, are limited in what they can achieve. It is certainly not by working our way up in the government that we can expect this kind of change. Rather, this would require a major shift in public consciousness that we can only bring about by working with social movements.

I was wrong, too, to think that societal advancements would be achieved if I just learned how to lobby politicians better. I have begun to use the term “Hill-hugging” to describe the over-reliance on Parliament for affecting change. I realize now that writing letters to our MPs is not enough. Real change will be made not only by lobbying, but by the tireless work of activists and grassroots community groups to raise public consciousness around issues, to propose alternatives, and to embody the alternatives ourselves when the government refuses to listen.

Taking back decision-making power

Ensuring that democracy flourishes in Canada requires the meaningful engagement of people every day. Consider the destructive extractive industry projects spearheaded by the government and corporations that have been postponed or stopped because of the Indigenous peoples rose up against them by using direct action. The blockades at Grassy Narrows, where Indigenous peoples used roving blockades to stop logging corporations from pillaging their lands are one of a long list of examples. These actions are essential parts of larger campaigns and movements that have had other positive long-term effects. It is thanks to Indigenous struggles that we have many of the environmental regulations that we rely on to protect our land, air and water today — from Supreme Court precedents to international legal instruments.

Lessons from Bolivia

I had the privilege of traveling to Bolivia where I was inspired to see direct action for democracy in the streets. After years of neo-liberal leaders, people in Bolivia refused to continue to accept the privatization of essential services, such as water, at the behest of for-profit interests. In an incredible moment in world history, thousands of people in Bolivia took to the streets to stop the privatization of their water by transnational corporate water giant Bechtel. This exercise of people power trumped the power of the neo-liberal regime and the Bolivian government had no choice but to return water to public hands. The capacity of the social movement that was built through the fight against water privatization continued in future landmark battles, including the fight against the privatization of the gas sector.

I am inspired by the words of Oscar Olivera, a leader of the water war, whom I had the great pleasure of meeting when I was in Cochabamba:

“…democracy is, above all, about who decides. And since April 2000, the Bolivian people began to say that it is the people who decide. We not only recovered our water, we recovered our voice.”

Part two: Dissent is both a right and a responsibility

It is our right to dissent

It was inspiring to be in the streets of Toronto during the G20 summit, surrounded by tens of thousands of people exercising their right to protest. Stephen Harper, who spent over one billion on security for the G8 and G20 meetings, tried to undermine our civil liberties and our right to dissent in an attempt to thwart our ability to challenge global neo-liberal policies. Hundreds of arrests — the most in Canadian peacetime history — jailed and silenced dissident voices. With most of these charges dismissed or withdrawn, one can’t help but wonder: where is the accountability? Who will answer for the decision to use police force and confinement against Canadians who were only doing what they are legally allowed to do?

To be honest, I have taken our right to protest for granted. But now I see that it is because of the ongoing struggle of activists in Canada to defend our civil liberties that we can protest. I was inspired by the G20 Redux event, which took place on June 25, 2011 in Queen’s Park in Toronto, one year after the G20 meeting. Determined organizers continue to work to expose police violence, demand a public inquiry, and fight for all charges against protestors to be dropped.

It is our responsibility to dissent

Ed Broadbent’s response to my action [in the Senate] very succinctly captures our responsibility to speak out despite sanctions from the establishment: “What’s the real offence, silently watching growing injustice, or upsetting the sensibilities of those who should be doing something about it?” he asked.

When a government’s agenda does not reflect the true values of its people — as is the case with the Harper government — it is up to every one of us to act to stop it. As Henry David Thoreau explained in his classic 1849 text titled Civil Disobedience, people have a duty not to permit their governments to overrule their consciences, and to not stand by while government makes them agents of injustice. As citizens of Canada during the Harper majority, we are agents of injustice so long as we are silent.

I have been enlightened by the teachings of many Indigenous peoples about the responsibility we all have to Mother Earth and future generations. This is explained by Aymara Elder Marcelo Saavedra-Vargas in Crucial Indigenous Responsibilities: “Given that we draw life from Mother Earth, we have a responsibility to protect her well-being. Given that we are expressions of nature, we have a responsibility to protect ourselves. Given that we are all interconnected and interdependent in the sacred circle of life, we have a responsibility to defend each other. Our responsibility does not end in the present, but until the next seven generations to come.” By taking direct action and building a movement, we are taking responsibility for each other and for our common future.

In part three of activist Brigette DePape’s essay, which will next run in rabble.ca on Monday, Sept. 26, she looks at People Power. This article is part of an essay that was published by The Council of Canadians. It can be read in full here.