While we were sleeping
Random thoughts about Election Fraud protests
It was my 13th week on Parliament Hill when I wrote this, where a small but dedicated group of protesters have been rallying weekly to protest widespread election fraud in over 200 ridings in the May 2011 federal election. It's often the same faces who gather weekly in a circle to share updates on the Elections Canada investigation and ideas on how to inspire others to join our movement while engaging visitors to the House of Commons. Attracting Canadians touring the seat of our democracy on the subject of the most basic of democratic rights, the right to vote without intimidation, has honestly been a disheartening experience overall, peppered with moments of enlightened, rigorous debate with Canadian and international tourists.
There were a couple of new faces in our group today, one woman who drove in from Perth about 60 KMs west of Ottawa and a man who read our poster and felt compelled to come. As for interest from onlookers, I took heart from the group of Toronto visitors who first told me they were from out of town and therefore a protest in Ottawa did not concern them, but when I explained that this was a national issue of interest to all Canadians, they gladly signed letters to the Prime Minister, with one woman commenting election fraud was just too important not to act. I was perversely bolstered by the look of shock that came over a man's face who hadn't heard anything about the issue and was amazed that "it happened here, too" only to learn he was American. His ignorance was forgivable.His concern genuine.
But what about the Canadians on the Hill, those who readjust camera angles to block our signs from their shots of the Peace Tower? How to explain their ignorance of the issue? What of the man who told me he doesn't vote and therefore it doesn't concern him as he walked away from the Centennial Flame. It's that indifference that provided the environment for wide-spread election fraud to happen in the first place. He left me wondering why he bothered to bring his wife to Parliament Hill in the first place. It's just a tourist destination like any other in Ottawa, a monument to an ideal, like other museums in this city, celebrating historic achievements and the promise of our past, like the Canadian Museum of Nature, the National Gallery of Canada, the Museum of Science and Technology, the Museum of Civilization, and now the House of Commons.
His comment as he walked away still irks me. "I may not vote, but at least I have my sanity," implying that I didn't. For what is the definition of insanity: repeating the same action, but expecting a different result. Here we gather by the Centennial Flame, week after week, the same people in a circle reaching out to mainly indifferent, sometimes hostile, passersby.
Humans are hard wired for optimism, it's essential to our survival. So, that is why I keep coming back. I am encouraged by small victories, the shocked American dad, the Toronto ladies, the poster reader. I hold on to the image of Shi -- a new Canadian who joined our group because of the parallels he sees between the injustices of the middle east and what is happening here -- standing on the ledge of the Centennial Flame, his sign thrust high in the air, blocking the view of the peace tower, his gleeful face burned into dozens of shots of smiling tourists in the foreground. They can always blur his image, or crop his 'Stamp out election fraud' sign, but I'm hopeful that they will take the time to finally read it as they flip through their holiday albums, and maybe be compelled to act in some small way: talk about it, read about it or write a letter to the editor. I'm hopeful we are making a difference, no matter how small or incrementally large it may seem at the time.
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