Protests and Rallies

Protests and Rallies
To-day a newscast anchor asked one of the best questions I have heard for quite some time; he asked what it would take for the viewers to march in the streets demanding perhaps as much as a change in government. The question is related to the marchers in Egypt and the courageous protesters demanding Mubarak step down.
I inferred in the question that perhaps he thought that things had to get worse than they are now to motivate the viewers to march. As I thought about this I wondered what is keeping people off the streets in Canada right now or in the case of the news anchor, the United States. It goes without saying that Canada is in a much better position than Egypt or perhaps almost every country on Earth. The United States would not be far behind. Despite the obvious differences in the state of Egypt as compared to Canada it would be my opinion that we in Canada are well beyond the basic prerequisites required to hit the streets.
If we examine what Canadians have lost and what is under attack it would seem that there is ample reason to hit the streets in huge numbers. If we only look at the time period since the inception of the first free trade deal in 1988 Canadians have lost millions of well paid (mostly unionized) jobs in the manufacturing sector, the agenda of privatization and deregulation has jeopardized our healthcare and turned many of our public services needlessly into for profit enterprises and put at risk pensions and the future dignity of workers throughout the country. Without going over the top on this issue it is the bizarre ideology of leaders married to the current obtuse version of conservatism that seems to preach a “screw the worker” ideology and a form of aggressive behaviour that puts market and market forces as the most important aspect of their belief that provides the basis for workers considering hitting the streets.
I, along, with millions of Canadian workers (and Americans as they have experienced similar if not worse degradation) should find our current situation more than enough to go to the streets and that is the answer that the news anchor should get. Of course Ontario Workers have been here before during the Harris years, but it may be time for another version of the same thing.
Dave Trumble
President
Grey-Bruce Labour Council