Monday, April 18, 2011

Rallies and Elections

Lots has been going on in the activist community over the past month. I helped organize and performed at the National Day of Action on April 9, to call for an end to Canada's involvement in all wars. A federal election is on the horizon, and we were calling for an end to the Conservative government, as we feel little will change if Stephen Harper remains in power. Here are photos.

The week prior, there was a Friends of Medicare rally, calling for a public inquiry into the shutting up of whistleblowers in the healthcare system.

The upheavals in the Middle East has promted a large number of rallies locally, as members of the local Syrian, Bahrainian, and Libyan communities have been rallying weekly for Canada to support their kinsmen in these respective countries. In fact, this past Saturday, there were two rallies going on simultaneously in Churchill Square! This was a first for me, and it was rather surreal. Here is a look at the rally for Libya and for Bahrain

I am really not sure why these communities are so fragmented - to me, it would make more sense to have one rally supporting all of the countries in the Middle East experiencing upheavals, like this one from late March to support Libya, Bahrain, Syria, Yemen, and Jordan.

Besides playing at the National Day of Action, I also performed at two eco-events. Water for Life was on March 25 and dealt with access to clean water for children around the world. Living Green 101 was yesterday at Beacon Heights, and was an alternative to Earth Day celebrations which were cancelled in Edmonton this year. I was a musical guest of Music is a Weapon, and the power for the amplification was generated by riding stationary bicycles. One of my Facebook friends suggested my music now be referred to as "heavy pedal!"

YOu can check out videos from these and other events at my YouTube channel (activism) and my other YOuTube channel (music).

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