Red Friday Rally Today on the Hill

[WannaBeFlyer]

Walking around here at DND in Ottawa and it is great to see just about everyone in red. Saw a lot of red at Timmie's this am too; its nice to see all of the support.

Today's the big "Red Friday Rally" at the hill. If you can't make it or are out of town, you can watch it using the hill cam..

http://www.parliamenthill.gc.ca/text/hillcam_e.html

 

[Pea]

Seems to be a sea of red forming now. Wish I could be there. 

 

[HItorMiss]

So do I pea, so do I

 

[Pea]

I was able to listen live via the radio, and watch on the Hill cam. What an awesome rally. The PM made a very good speech I must say. 

They announced that the Liberals and the NDP were being represented there as well. When they said NDP, I heard a huge BOO from the crowd.

 

[cplcaldwell]

Story at CBC, This link

 

[HItorMiss]

I just heard the PM's speech and I must say it was probably the best and most stirring speech I have seen a PM give.

Excerpt includes: " WE do not start fights but we finish them, and we never leave before our work is done"

Now that my friends is a leader!

 

[Mike Baker]

Now that my friends is a leader!

+1

 

[karl28]

" WE do not start fights but we finish them, and we never leave before our work is done"

I know I liked the PM for a reason  come next election date he will be getting my vote again

 

[MarkOttawa]

The rally to support all our troops overseas and their families was quite impressive. I would estimate 3-5,000 people (but I'm hardly an expert). Not bad considering that almost all the advance publicity was done by one media outlet: CFRA, Ottawa.
http://www.cfra.com/red-fridays/index.asp?id=8

Prime Minister Harper gave one of the most impassioned speeches I have heard from him. He pointedly stressed that our journalists only have their press freedom as a result of the sacrifices of our military--an obvious reference to these famous lines:

    The Soldier

    It is the soldier, not the reporter,
    who has given us freedom of the press.

    It is the soldier, not the poet,
    who has given us freedom of speech.

    It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
    who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

    It is the soldier, not the lawyer,
    who has given us the right to a fair trial.

    It is the soldier,
    who salutes the flag,
    who serves under the flag,
    and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
    who allows the protester to burn the flag.

    By Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, USMC

The prime minister also usefully re-empasized the UN mandate for the forces in Afghanistan.

Messrs Graham and Dosjanh from the Liberals were there along with Peter Stoffer from the NDP (good on him).
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Editorial/527114.html

A sea of red.

Earlier in the morning MND O'Connor and Gen. Hillier were interviewed on CFRA--audio here:
http://www.cfra.com/chum_audio/SM-O-CON.mp3
http://www.cfra.com/chum_audio/SM-HILLI.mp3

Mark
Ottawa

 

[sleeman]

I was on the Hill for the rally.  It was amazing!

I absolutely loved PM Harper's speech. 
" WE do not start fights but we finish them, and we never leave before our work is done"  That is an awesome line, the crowd went wild when PM Harper said that! 

And yes, the crowd booed when they announced the NDP.  I made sure to boo as loud as I could! LOL

GO TROOPS!!  Keep up the good work! 

 

[Signalman150]

Okay,

I just read the CBC article, and the Yahoo Canada article on Red Shirt Day.  As an aside, I noticed that there were several headlines on Yahoo related to the Afghan mission, and all were primarily reporting support for the mission from different sectors (i.e. Mr. Karzai's visit and speech to parliament.

My comment to the women and men in the Ottawa area--Good on you.  

Thank-you from the very bottom of my heart.  I don't have a stake in this the way that currently serving soldiers and their loved ones and dependants do, but it still matters very much to me. You showed--right there in the nation's capital--how so many of us feel.  At the end of the day, thousands of people converging on Parliament Hill means much more than all the silliness issuing from Taliban Jack's mouth, and the ineffective yelping of Ujjal Dosanjh.

Ladies and gentlemen, my thanks and warmest regards.

 

[COBRA-6]

I was there, one RCMP guy I talked to said it was well over 10,000 people, fantastic!

You should have seen the CDS try and get out of there, everyone wanted to talk to him, it's like he's in a boy band or something...  ;D

 

[Jack O.]

Wish I could have been there.

 

[Mike Baker]

Wish I could have been there.

I second that. Don;t it look pretty 

 

[WannaBeFlyer]

And this is just the people who were at the Hill. There is a lot of red all over the Ottawa area today; a lot more than I have seen on previous Fridays. Great to see!

 

[armyvern]

I hope all our men and women currently in the sandbox get nice big copies of these pics to put up. Whooo Ottawa. Good on ya!

 

[COBRA-6]

They had a photographer in one of the office windows of the parliament buildings, and some big prints of everyone waving and cheering  will be distributed both to overseas missions and bases here in Canada!

 

[cplcaldwell]

Excerpt includes: " WE do not start fights but we finish them, and we never leave before our work is done"

I like that. 'Got me a new signature.

 

[Old Sweat]

My wife and I attended the rally and deliberately arrived before 1100. As a result we had a spot within a few metres of the podium, where we were able to get a close look at the various MPs and members of the media, most of whom seem on their best behaviour. Other speakers included a representative from the Afghan-Canadian community and the two military wives from Petawawa who originated the wear red on Fridays idea in Canada. These two ladies - and I mean it in the classic sense of the word - were a class act, even in more than a little dazed by the magnitude of the event.

One protester surfaced during the PM's speech but was hustled away by the police, after two or three spectators in red ripped up his sign and decked him. Unfortunately all this happened a few metres from a journalist who will go nameless but publishes a military magazine. His lackey was trying to get a picture of the jerk's sign, but the crowd, including yours truly, moved in and blocked his view with Support Our Troops signs.

It was one of the most impressive events I have ever attended, ranking with the 4 CIBG 1 July 1967 parade in Germany, and I have never heard a crowd sign the national anthem with such enthusiasm and emotion. One can only hope the media give it the coverage it deserves.

 

[vonGarvin]

One protester surfaced during the PM's speech but was hustled away by the police, after two or three spectators in red ripped up his sign and decked him. Unfortunately all this happened a few metres from a journalist who will go nameless but publishes a military magazine. His lackey was trying to get a picture of the jerk's sign, but the crowd, including yours truly, moved in and blocked his view with Support Our Troops signs.

Shall we call him Scott T.?  Oh, that's too obvious, how about S. Taylor?


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