February 7th

Hey guys sorry this took so long to post, things have been crazy with exams and such.

For those of you who haven’t been keeping track, February the 7^th was the National Day of Action for the Reduction of Tuition Fee’s. The rally was amazing, but before I tell you about it I want to drop a few lines to explain why I participated. Obviously as a student I am the direct beneficiary of a reduction tuition fees, but this is not the only reason I participated. I believe fundamentally that education, especially higher education is the best investment anyone can make in the future of a nation, if Canada wants to stay completive in the rapidly globalizing market we need to specialize, and to do that training and higher education is necessary. Education, especially post-secondary education represents the perpetuation and advancement of everything extraordinary about society, whether it is in the arts or the sciences. It is not for my own selfish reasons that I was exited to protest on February the 7^th, it was because I knew that by participating I was encouraging a focus on education and that can only lead to a better future for all Canadians.

Anyway now that I have ranted I guess I can talk to you guys about the event of the day. The day started off with a 7 am information petition at the entrance of Carleton (which I was 2 hours late for). Then we set up in the Atrium to rally Carleton students. After that we got on busses to go to Ottawa University. When we got there we had another rally outside (brrrr) with a bunch of speakers. Full of energy we left the Ottawa U campus and started our march to Parliament. The march was a lot of fun, the cops shut down several streets for us to walk to parliament (2000-3000 students marching). Once we reached the parliament buildings we all gathered into the court yard where there bleachers and a sound system set up. A number of different people talked including my man Jack Layton (NDP Leader) and Mike Savage (the guy I have a ‘dinner date’ with). Overall the event was full of energy and tons of fun, this is why I came to Ottawa; nothing beats a showing of political interest and activism.

There is Nothing much else going on in my life right now, I have 3 more midterms in 3 days and then I am going home, and I cant wait.

Pictures:




Rally at Carleton


Jason and I on the bus (handsom devils)


Rally at Ottawa University


Marching out of Ottawa University


Grannies United Protest Group on the march!











Is it cold enough for you?





On the Hill:












Video's of protest:

I took so videos at the protest with my camera and posted them on YouTube.

You can see them in the following links:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbtZhY3ARJU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frKpAJnH0A8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KetebhrJ54A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO7Wir_w75I