CUPE Local 3913

Posts Tagged ‘rally’

Monday July 5th
6pm
Guelph City Hall

For Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights!

June 25th-27th, Toronto saw a meeting of the leaders of the top capitalist economies in Toronto. They met at a time when the economies they manage are in a deep crisis, inflicted by their own policies. Their aim at the G8 and G20 summits was to hash out a plan to transfer the costs of this global crisis onto working people, while ignoring the growing environmental crisis.

This past weekend Toronto saw one of the most terrifying shows of police repression in Canadian history. The volume of reports – of attacks on protesters not even engaged in property destruction, on demonstrators seated in the ‘designated protest zone’, journalists and passersby; of threats of physical and sexual violence; and of actual physical and sexual assaults – does not suggest that in a massive sea of riot police, several officers, under severe stress, made mistakes or off-colour remarks. It suggests that orders were given to disregard our human rights.

The City of Guelph’s resources also had hand in the shameful events that unfolded last weekend. Guelph Police sent 13 Guelph officers to the G8-G20 Summit Integrated Security Unit as well as a canine team. Ten of those officers were involved in front line police duties.

What thousands of people saw in Toronto this past weekend was a colossal and systematic attack on our fundamental right to demonstrate, in the streets, our resolute refusal to accept the attacks on working people globally which were developed at the G8 and G20 summits. What we saw was an attempt to criminalize dissent and protest, to terrorize us, and to keep us off the streets.

This cannot be allowed.
*** if you or someone you know were a victim of police brutality or have a statement to read on behalf of yourself or someone else please email: demandg20inquiry@gmail.com

*** crisis counseling will be available at the rally

On December 30th Stephen Harper announced that he will be Proroguing Parliament and suspending democracy until March 3. This is the second time he has done this in under two years. Proroguing means:

1. All 37 bills being debated in Parliament are thrown in the trash. Discussion on bills starts from scratch in March, wasting months of hard work by all parties. These bills included new crime legislation, limits on credit card insurance rates, etc.
2. Committees investigating accusations of torture of Afghan detainees stop working
3. Discussions and decisions about the pension crisis affecting Canada’s seniors stops
4. Questions about Canada’s inaction at the Copenhagen climate-change summit are silenced. Opportunities to move forward with Canada’s plan for sustainable development are stalled for over a month.
5. Your MPs cannot raise your concerns in Ottawa

In Guelph there will be a rally to protest the proroguing starting in St. George’s square on Jan 23rd at 1:00pm.

For more information check out the website noprorogue.ca, or the local chapter’s Facebook page.

Tony Saxon/Guelph Mercury

Thanks to everyone who came out and participated in the Drop Fees rally on Nov 5th.

Posted below is the article from the Guelph Mercury covering the event.

Students protest high tuition fees

By Thana Dharmarajah, Guelph Mercury, Nov 6, 2009

Leandra Correale expects to graduate with a debt of $38,000.

The 23-year-old biological science student has worked nearly every summer while attending the University of Guelph, but it hasn’t helped very much.

“You can tangibly see that it’s not paying for a better education,” Correale said, about the high tuition fees she’s paying while watching cuts to programs.

Ontario’s university tuition fees are the second highest in the country, nearly $1,000 over the national average.

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